Banning state park, conveniently located in central Minnesota, boasts 13 miles of winter hiking trails, ruins from a late 19th century sandstone quarry, and a sensibly sized waterfall on the Kettle River.
On March 11, 2017 Dylan proposed to me in front of Minnehaha falls.
The second weekend of March 2018 we went on a Spring Break trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park, where we hiked to three different falls.
This year, we decided to make this pattern a ‘thing:’ a new waterfall every year to celebrate our anniversary.
After some light research (thank you so much Minnesota DNR for having this page!), we decided to try out the Wolf Creek Falls in Banning State Park.
I had called the park ranger station ahead of time to check on trail conditions. He said the trails had been groomed about 10 days ago and it had recently rained. He warned me to be prepared for icy trails, but assured me I should still be able to make it to the falls.
So we packed up our snowshoes and a light lunch and headed out for a walk… well first a two hour drive to Sandstone, MN… then we started our hike.
The Hike
As you can see the trail is well groomed and well trod, making for an easy walk if one pleases.
We did not think this trail looked like much fun. We opted for a detour from the groomed trails by hopping onto a non-groomed hiking trail. Unknowingly, we had taken a trail that took us past ruins from the Banning Quarry that once overran the river.
I had no idea Banning was once home to a booming rock quarrying industry. As we meandered our way beside the river we were treated to a little history lesson told through the bones of buildings and informational plaques.
From this trail we took an even lesser used hiking trail that followed right alongside the river bank. We were treated to gorgeous views of small rapids, ice covered river, and all kinds of critter tracks in the snow.
My favorite part of the hike was seeing the ice build ups on the bluffs.
Me standing beside the above ice formations 
I REALLY love ice
While we were enjoying our walk along the river, we had no idea how far we were straying from the groomed path. We had a map with us, but didn’t really bother looking at it. We thought as long as we were following the river we’d hit the falls eventually, right? And so, we kept on walking.
Here is where we made a critical mistake:
“Hell’s Gate Rapids? It’s probably just a silly name. Let’s go for it.”
Look at those adorably excited unsuspecting faces. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
Hell’s Gate trail is NOT JUST A SILLY NAME.
When I started out on my hike I never expected I would be climbing rocks, sliding down ten foot drops, or deciding whether or not I wanted to walk over the HALF FROZEN RIVER! But yet, I did all of those things.
This does not look nearly as difficult as it actually was 
Another deceiving rock climb, but my face tells a different story
About half a mile down Hell’s Gate Trail we reached a point of impassibility (is that an actual saying, or did I just make it up?). Instead of risking our lives walking over the half frozen Kettle River, we decided to climb up the bluff and rejoin the groomed trail.
This was not an easy tasked. It required crawling, scrambling, slipping, reaching, and even tree climbing! But we made it to the top and had the incredible view of looking twenty feet down to the Kettle River and its rolling rapids.
After getting back on the groomed trail (what turned out to be High Bluff Trail), we found a bench and sat down to enjoy our lunch.
The Falls
After lunch we just had a quick quarter mile jaunt to the Wolf Creek Falls.
Another anniversary, another waterfall. Honestly, I think frozen waterfalls are much more impressive than running falls. But then again, I really love ice, so of course I’d say that. Maybe Dylan and I will get the chance to revisit Banning State Park this summer. Then we can actually hike Hell’s Gate Trail and I’ll be able to definitively decide what season the falls look best in.
The Look
Again I have a locket full of snowflakes. But what would be a better representation of a winter hike (and all of the snow in my boots), than a bunch of snowflakes. I also added the lightening bolt charm in there to represent the difficultly level of this hike.
Sometimes the locket itself tells more of a story than the charms inside. For this look I chose the Aqua Gem Locket Face from the 2018 Spring Collection because it reminds me a lot of a frozen waterfall. As does this blue stone chain, which is also from the 2018 Spring Collection.
The Charm
Adventure is a really awesome charm of life. We set out on this hike looking for a little adventure to a waterfall and we ended up with a little extra adventure than we originally intended. We took some risks, we faced a little danger, but we did it together. And getting to do life together is an amazing little charm of life that I am forever excited about. Here’s to another year of engagement!
Looking for more Minnesota Winter Adventure ideas? click here.
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