Woodland Trails Regional Park

Woodland Trails Regional Park
Elk River, Sherburne county, MN
427 acres; oak woodland, wetlands and restored native prairie habitats

Park Notes
The park has a mixture of paved and non-paved trails. A 2017 source said "nearly eight miles of bituminous trails and over seven miles of natural mowed trails." The paved trails were wide and vegetation had been mowed about 2 feet back from the pavement so one could hike without tick protection on those trails. Mosquitoes weren't bad but we used spray. The non-paved trails looked wide enough not to have to bushwack but I would suggest using tick protection on those trails. There were benches along the paved path. (We didn't walk the mowed paths).

Trail maps were available but, on our visit, they had gotten wet from a recent rain and were not usable. There were maps posted along the paved trails and we did alright by them for the most part (we got turned around once). Reviews of the park mention people getting lost in the non-paved trails in the eastern part of the park due to multiple paths coming together at one point.

There is a good sized paved parking lot with a port-a-john.

Traveling through Woodland Trails Park is the Great Northern Trail - a 4.5 paved trail located on an abandoned railroad grade. See links below for more info on that trail.

Visits
early Sept 2019
We hiked the paved Prairie Loop and Poplar Loop trails which was a doable hike. Warblers had been seen further north on the Great Northern Trail which runs through the park but we didn't want to hike that far from the only access point we could find. (the parking lot at the address below). [Edit to add: @eknuth has added info on how to access the Great Northern Trail either just north or just south of Woodland Trails Regional Park - see that information below in her comment]

Birds seen: Turkey Vulture, Common Yellowthroat, Canada Goose, Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Red-eyed Vireo, Eastern Pheobe, Cooper's Hawk, American Redstart, Gray Catbird, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-and-white Warbler, American Robin and possibly either a Cuckoo or Great Crested Flycatcher - couldn't get a good look at it in the leaves.

Insects seen: Painted Lady butterfly, Monarch butterfly, Giant Swallowtail butterfly, White-faced Meadowhawk, Scudder's Bush Katydid, Carolina grasshopper.
Fungi: can't identify these but there was lots!
Other: Gray Tree Frog (lots)

We'd gotten a good start on the day and decided to drive north 20 minutes and visit Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge after eating lunch in the parking lot.

Useful links/info
entrance to parking lot : 20135 Elk Lake Rd NW; Elk River, Minnesota 55330
Woodland Trails Park : unofficial Facebook page
Woodland Trails Park : Elk River site (links to trail maps available at this page)
eBird hotspot reports
Great Northern Trail : TrailLink site
Great Northern Trail : Elk River site
info on how to access the Great Northern Trail either just north or just south of the Regional Park can be found below in a comment from @eknuth.

Posted on February 26, 2020 07:35 PM by mmmiller