Today we are exploring Itasca State Park. This is Minnesota's oldest state park, and it's known for
one special thing in particular. The headwaters to the mighty Mississippi River start here.
The state park was founded in 1891 to protect the pine forest and the basin around the Mississippi
headwaters. And from here, this source of the Mississippi, it flows 2552 miles further all
the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. We're actually still sitting in our campsite at the moment, but we
are getting ready to go exploring. We're actually staying in the state park this time, and there's
one particular thing about this campground that's a little bit unlike some of the other campgrounds
we've stayed in. Actually it's very unlike others. The campground itself is very nice. We love
state park campsites. But the checkout time here is 4 p.m. Have you ever experienced that before? Typically
they kick you out at 11 which truthfully we have a hard time making. 12 o'clock,
you know that's reasonable that's okay. 1 or 2 feels luxurious, but 4 p.m. that just blows my mind.
So we're really lucky today because we only had one overnight here. And the reason for that was
because of the tire issue that Kevin showed you in the last video. Luckily we got those replaced
without any further issues, but that meant that our stay here was shortened and we just had the
one overnight. If we'd been kicked out at 11 this morning, we don't know if we really would have been
able to see the park or we would not have been able to film it and show you. So we feel grateful
for that. And on that note that means we do only have a few hours left so let's get going.
Definitely doesn't look like much from here does it?
So here we are at Itasca, and what I find interesting is that it actually flows northward.
I was trying to figure it out on the map earlier. I was like oh that's interesting let's see if that's
actually what it does or if I'm looking at it wrong. But sure enough it goes northward,
east, and then begins its long trek south, south, south, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
This sign documents how the Mississippi headwaters were originally found because there were numerous
explorers that came through this area trying to find it. And it wasn't until Ojibwe Chief Ozawindib
guided Henry Rowe Schoolcraft here in 1832 that that hunt was over. And there's an excursion boat
called the Chester Charles that you can get on and follow the same route that they took. I think
my favorite line here is that there's a specific diary entry that mentions the voracious long-billed
dyspeptic mosquitoes that were here back in the day, and I can vouch that they are still here today.
Right behind me here is Lake Itasca.
And right over here is the river crossing where the Mississippi River begins.
Wow. Yes. So we just you know did our obligatory stream crossing back and forth a couple times. And we were
lucky because we got here just in time before some massive crowds showed up. It got crazy really fast
so we moved on down the stream just a little bit. It's much nicer if you just go right down
past that log bridge. Everybody else is in front of the log bridge closer to the headwaters and
Lake Itasca. This is much calmer. We're gonna let the kids splash and play here. But look. Remember
we had that log bridge like all to ourselves? Look at that. There's also a boardwalk over here,
right about there. And that follows up and down the creek. Which I keep calling it a creek; it's
actually the Mississippi River. You can follow that up and down here. There's also a playground and a
swim beach, which would be fun if you wanted to spend the day here. You could just spend the day right
here in the creek I think, but there more things right around this area. But we're going to get
on the Wilderness Drive Loop that will take us on a scenic drive to see the rest of the park.
While we didn't really feel like the scenic drive itself was that interesting, there are
several trailheads along it. If we had had more time we would have liked to
explore the Aiton Heights Fire Tower. It's a 2.2 mile out and back trail with a 100
foot tall observation tower that no doubt would provide some nice views.
And with that we've got just a couple of
hours left to get everybody fed lunch and get out of here. With that we are
done with Minnesota, and we are heading on to North Dakota. See you all next time. Bye.