Gooseberry Falls Park in the Winter
Duluth, Minn. — It’s been a very snowy winter, and now the deep cold is moving in. This could mean that Cabin Fever is at your doorstep and it’s time to begin to fight that feeling.
Ted Kent, who was at Gooseberry Falls Park said, “So beautiful, especially when it’s snowing.” As he was talking you could hear the birds chirping away as they were at a nearby bird feeder.
Gooseberry Falls is almost a hidden gem in the winter, not nearly as many people visit this state park when the snow flies. Park Manager Audrey Butts says the park can still get busy during the winter, “We’re a little bit closer to the cities and to Duluth so it’s an easy first, you know a first step up the shore, but heading outside is just good for you.”
There are a lot of different ways to enjoy the park. For Mound residents, Ted Kent and his wife Terri Buhrer who are 85 and 80, they’re going to enjoy the park by cross country skiing on the groomed trails. The two of them said, “It’s nice and flat for the older people. He’s a newer skier than I am. Well, I started 5 years ago with Terri here.”
If you’re not a skier or don’t snow shoe, hiking through the park is an enjoyable way that many people commune with nature at the park.
Gooseberry Falls in the winter is a totally new experience. There’s obviously much less water moving, and the park is coated in snow. The snow softens the sharp edges in the park. It’s also a very quiet place where you can experience deer watching you, while you’re watching them.
Brent Peterson from Crystal agreed that Gooseberry Falls is special in the winter. “Oh, it’s totally worth it to be able to come up. It’s a completely different point of view and you truly get to see the power of water and just see the ice formations it creates and how the water will actually keep some areas open and really it’s quite spectacular.”
One other nice thing about Gooseberry Falls Park is that the visitor center and its parking lot are actually considered a wayside rest. That means you won’t need to pay the one-day $7 parking fee that’s charged to enter any Minnesota state park.
