Mendota Bridge

The Mendota Bridge is located in Minnesota and spans the Minnesota River.

When it was built in 1926, it was the world's longest concrete bridge. Before then a railroad bridge spanned the river here and the ruins of that bridge are barely still visible.

The Mendota Bridge was designed by C.A.P. Turner and Walter H. Wheeler. Mr. Turner also designed Duluth, MN's famous Aerial Lift Bridge.

The arches in this picture are from the original bridge but a new deck was installed between 1992 and 1994.

This shot was taken within Fort Snelling State Park located in the Twin Cities, MN. The park itself contains 3,000 acres of forest and wetlands, along with historic Fort Snelling which was built in the 1820's. The hiking, skiing, and biking trails within the park connect with a few other regional trails.

A nice swimming beach is also available inside the park on Snelling Lake, which happens to sit below the end of the Minneapolis / St. Paul International Airport. Float on your back as you watch the low flying jumbo jets approach and depart overhead.

Wolf Creek Falls

Wolf Creek are found near Hinckley, MN at Banning State Park. Banning is an interesting park on the Kettle River and contains the ruins of an old sandstone quarry.

To get to the falls, hike along the river through the 40 foot bluffs and past the ruins of the rock crusher and power plant. Check out Hell's Gate where the narrow river bottlenecks and deepens to 100 feet.