As I got close to the park I noted an air quality drop that appeared to be from nearby grass fires (maybe controlled burns) in the general area. The winds were not up much and the whole area had a haze about it that didn't look great. When I jumped out for my sign selfie the heat was stifling and brutal. It was just past midday and the area bird song had bottomed out completely.
Hot and oppressive, but still getting another park on the list.
After finding a trail head I figured with limited options I would try out the hiking club trail. The area had a nice look to it with the Crow Wing and Mississippi Rivers adding water to the park features. It was a very strange vibe though as it seemed like all life had been sucked out of the area and migration had nearly skipped the park to this point of the year. It did not have a fly way vibe to it at all and I would have expected even in the doldrums of a hot day for something to be bouncing around and feeding after a night of migration. I recall at this time a birder on a Facebook group begging for migration to start in this county as they had seen almost no warblers on the year to this point. This really drove home for me the disparity you can see across the state as the east side of the state can just be unreal, while the central to north-central areas might be complete dead zones in some areas.
I ended with 21 species in about an hour of hiking the 2.5 miles in the park. Only 4 of those were warblers with Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Palm, and Pine making up those members. It was all very strange and likely generated an unfair assessment in my mind of the park. This is after all another space on the Mississippi River that should have some pretty extreme potential during migration.
I did note some fun historic buildings on my hike complete with signage for those looking to explore the roots of the area and how it formed portage opportunities across the river for settlers in the area and Native Americans.
One of the historic structure along the Red River Oxcart Trail adding some nice historical flavor to the visit.
Given nice weather I think this would be something to come back for with my wife and give myself another chance to see what the park has offer in the way of bird species.
The Great: With many historic locations in the park this is a great place to explore a park, but also see a bit of state history. I can see a number of extra trails along the river providing hiking value and I think on a better weather and air quality day this would be a much better visit.
The Meh: A number of the signs did seem to be near end of life and in need of repair or replacement at the park. Of course the heat and air quality had me a bit off most of the time and it was already my 3rd park of the day on a loop that never really felt like it had a ton of awesome going for it so it is perhaps likely that Crow Wing simply got short changed on this trip of just barely 1 hour.
The Verdict: I really need to come back in the future and give this place a chance with some real hiking to see what it can offer. The problem some days with hitting over 70 parks in one year is something has to give and a park will not get a serious effort that may deserve full attention. For now I won't likely make it back this year, but I'll have it on my list of locations to revisit down the road.
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