Lilydale regional Park

 Lilydale regional park is on the south side of the Mississippi River near Harriet Island regional park.  Lildale used to be a little town but it kept getting flooded and so does the park.

They have been working on the park all summer and it was supposed to be done last August.  Last week I rode my bike on some of the newly completed but still closed bike trails.  I have to say I love the new trails but what used to be a wild area is now looking a little too tame and seems to be missing a lot of trees.

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Pickeral lake – click to view large photograph

There are still woods and of course the remains of the old brick plant.  there are still turkeys and deer in the woods and wildflowers too. There are just less woods and more road. 🙁   I still love the Lilydale area and will try to get more photos when the new trails officially open.

After going on last weeks St. Paul Classic bike ride which was on city streets I can tell you that the bike paths in the park are in much better shape than out city streets. 

St. Paul by bike

 Here are some of the sites from a recent bike ride.  I took the Samuel Morgan trail from UpperLanding Park to the Bruce Vento trail.  I crossed Warner road on the footbridge and went through Indian Mounds Park to get onto the Bruce Vento Trail.  I went a little over 11 miles and it took more than an hour and a half because I stopped to take pictures along the way.

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Bike Ride Map using the Runtastic App
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Indian Mounds Park – scenic overlook 
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On Commerce street 

The second picture was taken from the Bruce vento trail.  There are acres of parkland along the trail that has been converted to nature preserve.  It is beautiful but you can’t see much of it from your car.