Crow-Hassan Park Reserve

Tree Swallow in Crow-Hassan Park Reserve

Diversity

Located near Rodgers, Minnesota, is a 2,600-acre park called Crow-Hassan Park Reserve, which is part of the Three Rivers Park District. This district’s mission is to “promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system” and Crow-Hassan represents the largest restored prairie complex in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area (link).

My wife and I affectionately call this place “Crow” and visit it quite often. It’s actually quite an unassuming park given much of the area is more wide open, which is part of the appeal. Initially, this former farmland was to be reforested, but they discovered the soil to be perfect for prairie restoration and as a result, we have a unique park with prairie, patches of forest, riverbanks, and miles of trails.

Dusty and our dog Henri meeting

Crow is a popular destination for those with horses and it’s not uncommon to strike up a conversation as we pass through the horse trailer parking area. After a long hike one Sunday, we came across Marc and his horses Daisy and Dusty. We learned Dusty is a special horse, who is extremely well-trained and even has a published book (Dusty’s Adventures)! We had a lot of fun chatting with Marc and he even let Kathleen ride Daisy around a bit. Thanks Marc!

Big Sky

It’s not ‘Montana’ big sky, but it’s not that often you find yourself in the middle of large open prairie. When we know the weather is going to be nice and we want a long hike, we look forward to exploring Crow. There are two small dirt roads that intersect in the middle of the park and somehow you can’t help but stop and look around at the landscape and really appreciate we have this open chunk of land for us to enjoy.

With my photography, I try to keep the image as simple as possible and limit the distractions. It makes you think differently about the angles, what is in the fore and background, and how everything comes together. When you have an interesting sky, it can really make the image stand out and with open prairies, nice clouds or color, and a simple composition, the outcome is usually pretty decent.

Below are a few examples of this. They’re not overly special images, but gives you an idea of the openness of Crow mixed with a nice sky and fairly simple compositions you can get there.

Wildlife

My wife mentioned once that water is life. Crow has several ponds mixed throughout and the Crow river makes up its west and north borders and with that all sorts of animals. I spotted a loon fly over me once but they may have been just flying by since the ponds are probably too small (loon picture is below).

Crow is large enough where they allow special permit deer hunting in the fall and I’ve spotted a few coyotes (also pictured below), but what you see mostly are different species of birds. I barely know what a robin is let alone less common ones, but we have come across several ‘birders’ while hiking and have had nice conversations and compared gear.

Not pictured below, but also spotted were eagles, sandhill cranes, plenty of mallards, and various other birds. Unfortunately, the mosquitos can get quite bad in the woods or along the water, especially after some wet periods. The nice thing about Crow, however, is that you can stay along the trails within the open sections, which gets you some bug reprieve.

Scenery

I stated at the beginning that at first glance, Crow is an unassuming park. There isn’t one thing that really stands out on its own here, but the sum of Crow is greater than its parts. What keeps us coming back are the pockets of beauty that exists, but in a way that requires a bit of work to find. It’s the kind of experience that you continue to savor after you return from a trip and you look forward to going back.

If you’ve ever shopped at Costco, there is a bit of an analogy there. Each trip is a bit unique as the experience (or products) changes each time you go and its the hunt that makes it fun. Add the change in seasons, the unpredictable weather, and a chance of spotting of some wildlife, all this keeps us engaged and returning.