Name: Rapids Lake Trail
Rating: 3.0

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Features Birding · Fall Colors · Historical Significance · River/Creek · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The Rapids Lake Visitor Center is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10AM to 5PM. It's closed federal holidays and may be closed due to weather if local schools are closed. There are no fees or permits required to hike on the refuge or park at the Visitor Center. The trail may be closed in the Spring if the Minnesota River floods.

Need to Know

Early on, you'll pass the Gehl-Mittelsted Farm house and the foundation of one of its barns. This farm was founded by Henry Gehl in 1867 and remained with the family for five generations before being sold to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in 1995 to become part of the refuge.

Description

The Rapids Lake Trail begins at the Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center parking lot and is paved for 0.25 miles to just past the historic Gehl Farmhouse. It then becomes a dirt doubletrack that goes through river bottom forest and
past marshes. At 0.6 miles, you'll pass a pond at the base of the ridge. At about 1.2 miles from the Visitor Center you can (at low water) see Carver Rapids in the river. These rapids aren't big by today's whitewater standards but they were big enough to block steamboats from going any farther upstream. The official trail ends here and no longer connects to the Carver Creek Loop due to flood damage. A use trail does continue north from the rapids but it can be vague and hard to follow or impassable due to residual flood water. It's best to return to the Visitor Center the way you came.