A view from atop the prairie at River Bend Nature Center. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
WITH TREES MOSTLY STRIPPED of leaves, a visible shift in seasons has begun. But look closer, beyond the trees, and even more signs of a transition toward winter appear.
A weathered trail marker. I love these rustic, handcrafted signs placed throughout River Bend. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
I’ve found the much-beloved River Bend Nature Center in Faribault an ideal landscape in which to hike, observe and photograph the nuances of seasons.
A view of River Bend from the overlook shows the interpretative center and adjoining parking lot plus the surrounding woods. The nature center covers some 823 acres. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
So on a recent unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon, my husband, Randy, and I hiked on the north end of River Bend, first to the overlook providing a sweeping view of the land below. And then we returned to the woods before aiming through swampland toward the prairie.
A splash of color among more muted and golden tones. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
All along our route, I paused, photographed and appreciated.
Sumac. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
Beauty, for me, is not splashy, but rather subtle. A dried seed pod. The rusty hue of sumac clumps. Red leaves twined to twigs.
Luna, riding in a bicycle basket, wears goggles to protect her eyes from trailside branches, her owner said. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
In the distance, leaves still clung to a few trees in a stubborn refusal to let go of autumn.
Towering swampland grasses sway in the wind. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
The wind blew fierce on this first day of November, making photography a challenge at times. Yet it was the wind which made for the best part of the hike—the dance of the tall grasses. I’ve always been captivated by the way the wind gracefully bends grass stems. It’s poetic and lovely and mesmerizing.
Towering grasses dwarf Randy as he hikes. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
I stood next to the towering swamp grasses—as high as 10 feet—for a while, studying the angle of the sun edging toward sunset, watching the slender, grain-heavy stems bend, bow, lean into one another.
A view on a portion of the Prairie Loop Trail leading to the top of a hill.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
And then I headed up hill to the prairie, low gray clouds sweeping the sky, a hint of blue remaining. I thought of Willa Cather who wrote of the prairie. And Laura Ingalls Wilder who lived on, and also wrote of, the prairie. And my own prairie upbringing which influences my work as a creative.
A drying cattail. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
Fungi. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
Randy found an interesting stone along a trail. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
Much beauty exists here beyond a first glimpse. A puff-tipped cattail. Fungi laddering a tree trunk. A stone found on a trail.
A biker and his dog head up a trail toward the overlook on the north side of River Bend. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo November 2026)
On this balmy, for November in Minnesota, afternoon, hikers and bikers migrated to River Bend, some alone, others in pairs, some with their dogs. All were enjoying a day that felt like a fond farewell from autumn. The wind and warmth kissed us as we embraced this loveliest of lingering autumnal days.
All along, and on, our route, we saw farmers working, bringing in the harvest. This scene is near Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
LAST WEEK’S STREAK of gloriously warm, sunny days here in southern Minnesota beckoned Randy and me to hit the road on Friday to view the fall colors. We’d worked hard earlier in the week, me writing and painting and he laboring over automotive jobs.
A sign propped outside a downtown Cannon Falls business fit the focus of our day trip. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
As life-long Minnesotans, we understand that these golden autumn days are fleeting. And, indeed, the weather has now changed to cold, gloomy and rainy. So our decision to take a day off and away proved the right choice.
Grazing in a pasture near Nerstrand on a beautiful autumn morning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
I love these day trips into the countryside and into the small towns in our region. It’s an opportunity to get out of Faribault, reconnect to our rural roots and delight in new discoveries.
The sky of sunrise as photographed from my home on Friday, October 23. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Before this outing even began, though, the day opened with a sunrise so lovely that I simply stood at my living room window taking in the scene before me. Light in shades of red, gold and orange fired across the eastern sky, blazing between clouds, creating a painterly visual.
Soon we would be off, picnic lunch packed, driving east into a landscape hazy with wind-blown harvest dust and land in need of a good, soaking rain.
The colorful Big Woods of Nerstrand on October 23. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
We saw our first masses of color in the dense woods of Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. We opted not to stop at this busy fall destination park, but rather continued on to the small town of Nerstrand.
A home decorated for autumn in Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
A quick drive-through didn’t reveal much new in Nerstrand. But I did spot the most inviting front porch area graced with autumn décor of pumpkins, mums and a corn shock plus a vintage bike and lush ferns. I wanted to walk right up the front steps, knock on the door and ask to sit a spell in one of the comfy wicker chairs for conversation and perhaps a mug of steaming coffee. I’ve always wanted to live in a house with a front porch.
A colorful treeline between Nerstrand and Dennison. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Onward we drove, winding our way toward Dennison, past farms and occasional splashes of colorful trees.
The name of this new business in Dennison, with the grain complex in the background, grabbed my attention. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Once in town, I noticed a new establishment, Cattlemen’s Saloon, which seems a fitting name for this small farming community. The saloon, previously the 625 Bar & Grill, opened a year ago under the same ownership but with a new focus and branding.
Warning signs posted in a vacant storefront window in the heart of Dennison. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
I also happened upon some no trespassing signage that left me feeling uneasy. I got the message, as intended, that I ought to stay clear of this vacant property or else. I just don’t share the owner’s sense of humor regarding weapons.
Next we aimed toward Cannon Falls, twisting through the picturesque Sogn Valley area. Some fall color tinted hillsides of trees, but nothing spectacular. We realized that perhaps we were a week late to see the peak of autumn hues here.
This up-high vintage draws my attention in Cannon Falls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Yet, a drive like this doesn’t depend on a singular attraction to make it enjoyable. Rather, I delight in the unexpected, the quirky, the details that help define a place. And first off in Cannon Falls, that was an old John Deere tractor hoisted high atop a metal frame on the south edge of town. I wondered how that tractor was lifted into place.
With sweet treat murals painted on front display windows by Dani Liana of Red Wing-based Legacy Murals, there’s no mistaking this as a bakery, Sweet Kneads bakery in downtown Cannon Falls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Beautifully-decorated cookies in a display case at Sweet Kneads, Cannon Falls Bakery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
But it was in downtown Cannon Falls where I found the highlight of the day—Sweet Kneads. I love a good local bakery. Only on day trips do I treat myself to a bakery sweet, this time a blueberry Bismarck donut that was over-the-top yummy, oozing with blueberry filling that tasted fresh, not canned. It was one of the best bakery treats, if not the best, I’ve ever eaten.
Cannon Falls businesses, like this floral and gift shop, do a good job of creating inviting exterior seasonal displays to draw customers inside. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
With sweets fueling us, Randy and I were ready to hit the road again, but not before a quick look at seasonally-decorated storefronts at neighboring businesses. We could easily have spent several hours downtown, home to restaurants, boutiques, a cheese shop, florist, winery, brewery, antique store and much more. Cannon Falls offers a lot. We’ve previously lingered for hours here. But this trip we focused on finding fall colors. So out of town we headed, eastward bound toward Welch.
FYI:Please check back as I continue on this fall color day trip into rural southern Minnesota.
In late September, minimal fall color showed in Mission Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
WEEKS AGO, Autumn whispered in the woods of Mission Park in the Brainerd lakes area. I expect, though, if I traveled Up North today, Autumn will have mostly exited. The same is happening here in southern Minnesota, the voice of this season diminishing, yielding to Winter.
In the woods, a face on a tree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
But on that late September morning in Mission Township near Merrifield, only a few deciduous trees among the endless conifers were tipped in hues of orange, yellow and red.
The ridges and orangish hue of this mushroom drew me closer. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
Following paved, dirt and grass trails into the woods, I also noticed an abundance of mushrooms. Fungi fascinate me. Those found here differ from mushrooms I’ve seen in my region of the state.
Look at the size of this mushroom compared to Randy’s boot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
As someone who likes to eat mushrooms, I wish I could identify wild ones as edible or not. Interestingly enough, Faribault-based Forest to Fork grows mushrooms inside a former canning company complex in my community, far from the forests of northern Minnesota. I really need to try these locally-grown mushrooms found in grocery stores, restaurants, co-ops and more in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
Besides mushrooms, I am also fascinated by dried seedheads such as these in the wildflower patch. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
The mushrooms of Mission Park drew me close to admire their ridged edges, their shapes, sizes and hues. They seem magical without being magical in the psychedelic sense.
Gnomes welcome hikers to the trail system at Mission Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
This park offers its own bit of magic in the form of dozens of gnome statues hidden in the woods. I’ve always liked treasure hunts so searching for the mythical creatures adds an interesting element to hiking and photographing here.
One of numerous patriotic-themed gnomes scattered throughout the park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
An angler gnome seems appropriate for this area of lakes and woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
In honor of America’s 250th birthday, a full-on patriotic gnome. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
The gnomes are usually sitting out of reach in trees, most high enough to protect them from mischievous park visitors who want to have a little fun and move them. That would probably require a ladder or climbing a tree. A few, though, are within easy reach on tree stumps and spots lower.
A bee gnome sits high in a tree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo July 2026)
And, yes, some gnomes have been relocated despite the posted warning: “Leave the gnomes be or bad luck will follow thee.” None of us needs bad luck. I’m not willing to take the risk.
A feather found on a grassy trail in Mission Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file July 2026)
I see details like leaves shadowing on a tree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
A woolly caterpillar, which I moved off the trail. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
Rather, I enjoy the hunt, the photography, the beautiful natural world that surrounds me whenever or wherever I hike. A feather. A leaf shadowed on a tree trunk. A woolly caterpillar in danger on the paved trail.
A blaze of color on a maple tree in the park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2026)
Autumn beckoned, first whispering, then shouting in colorful language that calls all of us to slow down, look around and fully see the beauty before us.
This view from hilltop City View Park in Faribault shows the beauty of the autumn landscape. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
AUTUMN RATES, undeniably, as my favorite season. I love the crisp mornings and evenings, the often sunshine-drenched afternoons. I love wrapping myself in the warmth of flannel or fleece. I love the cinnamon scent of apple crisp baking in the oven, the smell wafting through the house. I love roadside stands packed with plump pumpkins. I love hiking in woods, fallen leaves crunching underfoot.
My husband, Randy, photographs the vibrant trees across Kelly Lake, rural Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
But, above all, I love the fall colors. In shades of red, orange, yellow and brown, singular trees, pockets of trees and entire hillsides are ablaze. Now is the time to get out and view the colorful landscape before wind, rain and time strip those trees bare.
South Cordova Farms, Waterville, set up this roadside pumpkin stand in a rural area near Cordova. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
In the four-plus decades I’ve lived in Faribault, I’ve found this community and the surrounding area to be especially colorful. So there’s no need to leave town or travel far to enjoy the hues of autumn.
City View Park offers a bird’s eye view of Faribault and beyond. Here buildings at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf poke through the treetops. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Several local spots draw me back year after year. In town, City View Park by the water tower and just above Roosevelt School on Faribault’s east side, offers a spectacular vista view of the valley below. I picnicked there the other day at high noon, taking in the tree-scaped land for as far as my eyes could see. Even in the haze of the dusty air, colors popped in the mass of dense trees. It’s a spectacular setting any time of year.
A maple in City View Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Among all those trees, I picked out local landmark steeples, struggling to identify some, sure of others. I also paused to appreciate the colorful maples in the park.
From the public boat landing, I zoomed my camera lens to photograph the distant color-splashed shoreline of Kelly Lake. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
To the west of Faribault, Kelly Lake, as viewed from the public boat landing, rates as another favorite local color spot. Each October I walk out on the short dock and take in the scene across the lake, the orange treeline slicing color between blue water and blue sky.
Whether in town or out, autumn shows her rugged beauty, here along a gravel road buffeted by cornfields. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Within the Faribault city limits, the Straight River bluff packs a colorful punch as do trees along many streets, like Second Avenue and Seventh Street. The campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, a place where I sometimes walk, presents more color.
Driving into woods along a back gravel road west of Faribault, exact location unknown. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
As with anything, we often bypass beauty that lies directly before us, blending into the background of daily life. In my own backyard and next door at my neighbor’s, maples fire orange and yellow.
On a fall color drive in the Montgomery area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Consistently each autumn, fall color drives take me along roads around area lakes like Roberds, Union and French. I have yet to do the complete lake tour this year. I’ve found fall colors aplenty in the Montgomery and Lonsdale areas, too.
A rural fall scene of harvested corn along a hilly gravel road, Falk Avenue, near Cannon City and Nerstrand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
I have not yet headed over to the Nerstrand area for a stop at the historic hilltop Valley Grove churches where color splashes a treeline across the prairie. Nearby Nerstrand Big Woods State Park rates as a popular fall color destination, parking lots crowded to overflowing on October weekends. I prefer the quiet of Valley Grove.
A farmer picks corn along Falk Avenue near Cannon City against a colorful backdrop of trees. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
Mostly, I simply want to immerse myself in autumn. Visually by viewing distant treelines and rolling farm fields along Falk Avenue northeast of Cannon City. Or up close along Farmer Trail, a twisting gravel road snugged by woods.
Across fields, I photographed this picturesque farm site near Richter Woods County Park west of Montgomery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2026)
I love autumn. The woodsy, earthy scent. The feel of soft flannel and cozy fleece. The crunch of biting into a locally-grown apple. The taste of cream cheese frosted pumpkin bars. And, above all, the oranges, reds and yellows of this season blazing color across the southern Minnesota landscape.
City View Park on Faribault’s east side provides a sweeping, colorful view of the city in October. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2022)
IF I WANT TO VIEW fall colors, I needn’t go far. I can step into my backyard to see glorious golden maples. Up the street from my Willow Street home, more trees blaze. If I follow Second Avenue to its intersection with Seventh Street, I’ll find especially vibrant trees on a corner property owned by friends Mark and Laurie. There are more splashy hues along Seventh Street and all about town. Tree-lined bluffs rising above the Straight River burst with color. Faribault is a beautiful, historic riverside city anytime, but especially in autumn.
A view of the Cannon River from the pedestrian bridge at the Cannon River Wilderness Area between Faribault and Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Yet, even with all the colorful trees in town, I like to go into the countryside to see the colors, too. And it’s not just about the orange, red and yellow leaves. It’s also about sky and water, fields and farms, the “all” which comprises and defines rural Minnesota in September and October.
This weathered barn with the fieldstone foundation sits along the gravel road leading to Richter Woods County Park west of Montgomery in Le Sueur County. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
It’s also about following back gravel roads, the vehicle kicking up dust. It’s about meeting massive farm equipment on roadways. It’s about stopping to look at a weathered barn. It’s about traveling at a slower pace.
A view of Kelly Lake and a colorful shoreline. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And it’s about stopping, exiting the van to walk into the woods or stand along the shoreline of an area lake to admire a colorful tree line.
A sweeping view of the countryside in the Union Lake area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
As a native of the mostly treeless southwestern Minnesota prairie, it was not until I moved to Rice County in 1982 that I fully realized just how overwhelmingly stunning this season is in our state. I didn’t grow up going on vacations with the exception of two—one at age four to Duluth and the second to the Black Hills of South Dakota during my elementary school years. But each autumn, my siblings and I piled into the Chevy with our parents for a Sunday afternoon fall color drive along the Minnesota River Valley from north of Echo to Morton.
A partially-harvested cornfield in the Union Lake area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And so my love of Sunday drives (which were frequent during my youth because Dad wanted to look at the crops) evolved. As did my understanding that all we needed to do was travel a short distance to see a different landscape. One with woods, colorful woods, in autumn.
Colorful trees by Union Lake. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The topography of Rice County is incredibly diverse. From the familiar flat prairie to rolling hills and valleys to lakes and rivers and streams, it’s all right here. Lovely.
Sometimes you just have to stop and look up, here in Richter Woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I encourage Sunday afternoon drives, or whatever day works for you. Forget about schedules and the work at home. Get in the vehicle and go. Go local. Appreciate what’s right in your backyard.
Pull over along a gravel road, if it’s safe to do so, and take in the countryside. Stand along the shore of a lake. Walk into the woods. Hear the crunch of dried leaves beneath your soles. Look up at the colorful leaves. And see, really see, the autumn beauty that surrounds you…before winter strips the land, leaving it naked and exposed.
Driving along Rice County Road 30 from Nerstrand toward Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
A HILLSIDE ABLAZE in color appears before us as our van descends Rice County Road 30 northwest of Nerstrand. The road curves, twists into the valley between farmland and farm sites until we reach our destination, Valley Grove churches.
The gated entry to the historic Valley Grove churches near Nerstrand and south of Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Randy steers the van off the paved road onto the gravel driveway leading to these two historic Norwegian immigrant churches standing high atop a hill overlooking the rolling countryside. This secluded place rates as a favorite destination of ours any time of year, but especially in autumn.
From the churchyard, I focus my telephoto lens across the prairie to the distant woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The hilltop location offers a sweeping view of the surrounding land, including the Big Woods, especially colorful now. I simply cannot get enough of the red, orange and yellow tree lines that provide a painterly backdrop to this bucolic setting.
The 1894 wooden church opens today for weddings, a Country Social, a Christmas Eve serviceand other special events. The stone church serves as a fellowship hall/gathering spot. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Here the 1862 and 1894 churches rise, a testament to the faith and endurance of the Norwegian immigrants who settled this area. The topography likely reminded them of the homeland they left for new opportunities in America.
The prairie fronts woods ablaze in color, as viewed from the churchyard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
On this day, as the wind blows cold and strong across the churchyard—so much so that we eat our picnic lunch inside the van—I ponder how these foreigners felt once winter arrived in all her cold and snowy starkness. Perhaps they wondered why they ever left Norway.
A vibrant bush on prairie’s edge. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
But on this fall day, I recognize also how much they must have appreciated this beautiful hilltop location. The Valley Grove Preservation Society works hard to retain the natural beauty of these 50 acres of land. The trees. The tall prairie grasses. The wildflowers. They also maintain the two aged houses of worship—the old stone church built first and the adjacent wood-frame church constructed 32 years later.
Grassy paths lead into and through the prairie. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Prairie wildflowers dying and going to seed. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Randy steps up for a better view of the distant Big Woods from the prairie. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Beyond the churches and surrounding cemetery, we follow an uneven path into the prairie, pausing occasionally to take in the colorful, distant trees. Randy steps atop a limestone slab for a better view. I spot a garter snake a step down from his feet, then edge away, not at all fond of snakes.
On the other side of the rolling prairie, the churches rise. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Turning back toward the churchyard a bit later, I see the churches rise like ships upon an ocean of prairie grass. It’s not hard to visualize Norwegian immigrants boarding ships, sailing across the massive ocean bound for America.
Aged and new tombstones fill the Valley Grove cemetery. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
The hopes and dreams they carried to America and eventually to Minnesota imprint upon tombstones in names and dates and words. Their hopes imprint, too, upon this land.
Zooming in on the colorful trees surrounding Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
When I walk this ground, I feel the imprints of souls beneath my feet. This place seems sacred. Sacred in the voices I hear if I lean into the wind and listen. Sacred in the vistas I view.
Found at a gravesite, a serenity stone. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Valley Grove is a place of serenity. Of quiet. Of natural beauty unequal in the autumn of the year.
A farm site nestles among the woods below Valley Grove. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
All of this I find, feel, experience, see on an autumn day at Valley Grove, among the rolling hills and valleys of northeastern Rice County.
Hiking toward Hidden Falls at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
TO WALK INTO THE WOODS, any woods, but especially the Big Woods, calms the spirit in a measured way that feels poetically soothing.
Stunning fall colors draw visitors to the Nerstrand park. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Surrounded by trees stretching high, the wind winging through the woods, Randy and I hiked at nearby Nerstrand Big Woods State Park on a recent autumn morning. We left behind work, worry and chores as we aimed northeast of Faribault to this popular fall color destination. We arrived early enough in the day to mostly avoid other leaf peepers. The park can get crowded this time of year.
The sun breaks through cloudy skies while we hiked deep in the woods along Hidden Falls Trail. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Changing colors draw visitors to this remaining remnant of the Big Woods. Those woods once stretched from western Wisconsin into south central Minnesota, covering some two million acres of land in this part of Minnesota. Nearly all of that long ago hardwood forest is now farmland with a few exceptions like the Big Woods outside the community of Nerstand, population around 280.
A few wildflowers are still blooming even this late in October. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
That those before us had the foresight to preserve this forest with the establishment of Nerstrand Big Woods State Park by the Minnesota state legislature in 1945 is a testament to its value. This parcel of woods is truly a natural haven here in Rice County, drawing appreciative nature lovers from all over to see the rare Dwarf Trout Lily and other wildflowers in the spring and colorful trees in autumn.
The beautiful tree canopy along another trail we hiked. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
My first introduction to the Big Woods came as a child when an elementary school teacher read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, including Little House in the Big Woods, to me and my classmates I listened with full attention to the stories of young Laura, born in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin. As a child of the prairie, the idea of “woods” was unfamiliar to me. But Wilder’s writing proved so descriptive that I could imagine myself there in the thick of all those trees.
As we returned from Hidden Falls, these hikers walked toward it. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Today I don’t have to imagine. I can walk among those trees in the state park outside Nerstrand only a 20-minute drive from my home. Upon our recent arrival at the park, Randy and I headed straight for the half-mile trail leading to Hidden Falls. Deep in the woods, Prairie Creek spills over a limestone and shale shelf forming the falls.
Steps twist along the Hidden Falls Trail. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
It’s a bit of a challenge to get to and from the falls. I felt like I was always watching my feet, assuring I wouldn’t trip over a root or uneven ground or, on the many uneven wooden steps, misstep and fall. I realize my vision issues contribute to my cautionary approach. Randy sometimes lent a steady hand. I managed and made it all the way down the hill to the waterfall. Climbing back up the hill, as you would expect, was harder, but not difficult.
Hidden Falls. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Because of recent dry weather and resulting low creek water level, the falls wasn’t exactly gushing water. Still, it was worth seeing. And hearing. Even minimal water, when it cascades over rock, roars.
Be still and the birds are, too, at least long enough to photograph. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
But mostly, unless you choose to talk, the woods are quiet. Still. Calm. Cocooning. Sheltering.
Everywhere I turned on the second trail we followed, I saw colorful leaves. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Our pace was not keep-your-heart-rate-up fast. We were here to immerse ourselves in the woods. To notice the details that comprise the whole. I paused often to photograph orange, red and yellow leaves. I bent low to the ground at times, other times aimed my camera lens upward to the tree canopy.
I photographed this bird near the park entrance where food was placed for the birds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Masses of colored leaves drew my eyes upward. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I appreciate the patterns of fungi, like outdoor art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
I noticed birds flitting among trees, the last of the season’s flowers, dried goldenrod, bright red wild rose hips, fungi on a fallen tree…
Welcome to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, established in 1945. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And I heard a young mother tell her children to listen for the wind in the woods. These woods—the Big Woods of south central Minnesota.
This towering maple on the campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault is by far the most vibrant orange tree I’ve seen this fall. I took this photo nearly two weeks ago. The leaves are no longer as brilliant and many have fallen. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
FROM CITY STREETS to gravel roads, Randy and I have traveled many miles in October to view the fall colors. Autumn rates, undeniably, as my favorite season except for the part of knowing what comes next—the cold and snow of a Minnesota winter.
A full view of that MSAD maple, photographed on October 12. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
We’ve stayed close to home, driving around our home county of Rice and also heading into portions of neighboring Le Sueur County, then Nicollet and Blue Earth counties. Admittedly, the lack of color has sometimes disappointed us. Blame the current drought, the too-warm weather or the hazy, dusty skies of windy days. Yet, the color is there, just not as abundant or brilliant as some years.
One of my favorite spots in rural Rice County is Valley Grove, two aged churches atop a hill near Nerstrand. Views and fall colors are beautiful here. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
A colorful tree line backdrops Valley Grove Cemetery. On this visit, skies were mostly cloudy and hazy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
These beautiful trees hug the bluffs along the Straight River near downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Favorite area fall color spots include Valley Grove churches near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, Dudley Lake in Rice County and right here in Faribault, along city streets, on the campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, along the Straight River bluffs and even in our own backyard.
Setting out to fish on Dudley Lake Sunday afternoon. This was photographed from the dock at the public boat landing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
It’s not too late to catch some of the colors. But they are fading, morphing, with many trees now stripped of leaves.
The Nicollet County Trail Association is hosting a second weekend of the Haunted Hayride from 7-11 p.m. October 28-29 at Riverside Park-Mill Pond Municipal Campground in St. Peter. The ride will wind through woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Every leaf is worth study and appreciation for its fall beauty. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Fall is a popular time for church dinners, including this one advertised on a flyer taped to the checkout counter at the St. Peter Thrift Store, St. Peter. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
We hope to take one last fall color drive along the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota…if it’s not too late. Time is fleeting.
I photographed this bucolic rural scene along Canby Way just outside Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
Fall color drives are rooted within me. As a child, my parents, siblings and I piled into the Chevy each autumn for a Sunday afternoon meander along the Minnesota River Valley from the Granite Falls area to Morton. That annual outing imprinted upon me the seasonal beauty of September and October in Minnesota. I felt then, and still feel now, a close connection to the land during fall color drives.
More colorful trees, photographed October 12, on the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf campus. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
There weren’t a lot of colorful trees on the rural southwestern Minnesota prairie where I grew up. There weren’t even all that many trees. Maybe that’s why I appreciate the trees blazing orange, red and yellow into the landscape in this area of Minnesota.
Monday morning I stood in my backyard and aimed by camera lens upward to my neighbors’ trees with the fading moon in the backdrop sky. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2024)
I love slowing down to view stunning tree lines or a single brilliant red leaf. The nuances of nature, of the countryside, of small towns this time of year are worth noticing. And appreciating. Soon winter will be upon us. Stark. Devoid of color.
Individual leaves, like this maple, are works of art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
TEMPS DIPPING INTO THE LOW 20s definitely feel more like winter than autumn here in southern Minnesota. I pulled on my parka, stocking cap and mittens earlier this week for my morning walk.
A still colorful treeline behind Pollard Hall. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
But the weekend, oh, the weekend, even if only in the 30s, was a wonderful one for final fall walks. I wanted one last glimpse of the foliage. Leaves have dropped from many trees, but some remain, like stubborn, defiant kids refusing to leave the playground.
A solitary oak set against the backdrop of Noyes Hall is simply stunning. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Per our usual weekend walking route, Randy and I headed to the campus of the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf on Faribault’s east side. I love walking here. It’s quiet, secluded and just plain achingly beautiful. From aged limestone buildings to green space to a wooded area behind the buildings, there’s much to appreciate. Nature and old architecture always appeal to me as does a safe, unimpeded place to walk.
The woods I was drawn to explore. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Typically we stick to following sidewalks or crossing parking lots. But this time we diverged into the wooded area behind Pollard Hall, a boarded up building and the HVAC and maintenance headquarters. I’d previously seen people with their dogs tracking across the grass near woods’ edge. But we’d never detoured to explore, mostly because in the summer and early autumn the woods appear a dense forest. Now with most leaves fallen, the space opened up, drawing me in.
We followed a leaf-strewn, narrow dirt path for a ways into the woods. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Since I’m directionally challenged in a town that is not prairie grid straight, I wondered what lay beyond the woods, below the bluff. After a bit of crunching over leaves, dodging branches and skirting trees, I saw the answer. Below lay the river and train tracks and Straight River Apartments next to Fleckenstein Bluffs Park. Finally, I understood my geographical placement.
Woods, hills, fallen leaves and creek bed meld behind MSAD. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Mostly I took in the topography of hills bumping into each other, a dry creekbed twisting between. Yellow leaves covered the hillsides as thick as shag carpeting, but much lovelier.
Oak leaves blanket the lawn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Once out of the woods, Randy alerted me to two deer near the HVAC building. A third had already run away upon spotting us. But the other two stood still as statues, fully aware of our presence. We mimicked them, opting to stand quietly and appreciate their unexpected appearance. As much as I dislike deer along roadways, I find them endearing in any other location. Finally the pair decided they’d had enough of this stare off. They white-tailed it across the grass, disappearing over a hill.
Sometimes you have to look up, directly up, to see the beauty, like this oak tree. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
And so we continued on, me pulling out my cellphone once again to snap photos of the remaining colorful trees. My mind understands that soon this landscape will be devoid of color, transformed to the black-and-white of winter. But on this weekend, I pushed those thoughts mostly aside, focusing instead on autumn’s lingering beauty.
Stunning fall colors along Farwell Avenue north of Warsaw. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
AUTUMN BECKONED US RECENTLY to forgo the yard work, the half-finished interior paint job, the anything that would keep us at home. Rather, we hit the backroads, taking in the glorious fall colors which finally exploded. I can’t recall leaves ever turning this late in the season here.
One of my favorite old barns in Rice County, located along Farwell Avenue north of Warsaw. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
This region of Minnesota seems vastly undiscovered as an autumn leaf-peeping destination. But I learned years ago that the Faribault area offers stunning fall foliage, especially along our many area lakes and in stands of trees among rural rolling hills.
This gravel road, Farwell Avenue, took us past beautiful fall foliage. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
I like nothing better than to follow gravel roads that twist through the countryside. The slower pace connects me to the land, to the lovely scenes unfolding before me. Dust clouds trail vehicles rumbling along sometimes washboard surfaces. Combines kick up dust, too, as farmers harvest corn and soybeans, grain trucks parked nearby to hold the bounty.
A rare find, a vintage corn crib packed with field corn in northwestern Rice County, in the Lonsdale area. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Even inside our van, I can smell the scent of earth rising from freshly-tilled fields. Some acreage lies bare while others still hold endless rows of ripened crops awaiting harvest.
The Theis family has created a welcoming outdoor space for Apple Creek Orchard visitors to gather beside a fireplace against a wooded backdrop. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
At Apple Creek Orchard west of Faribault, families gathered on a sunny weekend afternoon to enjoy fun on-site activities like apple picking, bean bag toss, apple slinging, wagon rides, jump pad, corn maze and more. We wandered the grounds, admiring the improvements and expansions made by the Theis family to grow their orchard in to an agri-entertainment destination. They’ve also added an event center to host weddings and other gatherings.
Autumn-themed pillows are propped on the sitting area next to the outdoor fireplace at Apple Creek Orchard. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
As Randy paid for a half-peck of my favorite Minnesota-developed SweeTango pulled from a store cooler, I greeted Tami Theis, congratulated her on their upgrades. She inquired about my family. I got to know Tami and her daughter Amber sometime back while at the orchard. They are a delight— friendly, caring and, oh, so welcoming to everyone. Amber was running the concession stand on this busy afternoon and I gave her a hard time after learning the donut machine wasn’t working and I would get none of the mini donuts I craved.
Dudley Lake, one of my favorite places to see colorful lakeside treesin Rice County.(Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
No matter my disappointment in the lack of a sweet treat, nothing else about our afternoon outing disappointed. Onward Randy and I went. He turned the van left out of Apple Creek Orchard onto the paved roadway. Eventually we took gravel roads again, meandering past lakes and fields and farm sites, stopping occasionally so I could snap photos.
My next-door neighbor’s flaming maple. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
I love this time of year. The scent of decaying leaves. The sight of trees flaming red, yellow, orange. The muted fields that define the landscape. The apples and pumpkins and gourds. The bold blue sky. The bringing in of the harvest.
Looking up at our backyard maple, the wooded hillside and at our neighbor’s trees on a recent afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2023)
Back home, the down side of autumn awaited us in outdoor chores—removing leaves from rain gutters, raking/mulching layers of maple leaves in the backyard, washing windows… To everything there is a season. And the season of autumn means taking time to view the colorful fall foliage when the trees are turning. The work can wait.
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