Saturday was one of those beautiful October days when you just have to be outside. So after finishing up the required lawn work Lexi and I went on an adventure. We went to Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, a former brownfield and railroad yard and now a swatch of park land just east of downtown St. Paul. The site itself has tons of history and interesting features, including the North Star Brewery Cave, an odd Imnizaska/sand castle restoration area (that’s what the sign says, I don’t know what that means), the bluffs, wildlife, planes, trains, great views of downtown, remnants of the train yard, remnants of the Lowertown Depot building (which I still can’t find any information on) and, of course, Carver’s Cave, perhaps better referred to as Wakan Tipi since the cave is sacred to the Dakota people (never mind that the railroad obliterated much of the cave’s grandeur).

It’s a great little park, especially now that it connects to Swede Hollow Park and Mounds Park and now that they’ve added some signage to explain the significance of the area. There’s also more work to be done as they try to connect Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary with the Mississippi River–no easy task since you have to get past a slew or railroad tracks and the four-lane Warner Road. There’s also a proposed interpretive center, though it’s hard to find specific updates on that (though using the abandoned Lowertown Depot building seems like a no-brainer).

As you might guess, we took a few pictures. We also took a few videos, including one of the North Star Brewery Cave, a couple of trains, one under the overpass, and a more typical one:

Walking in Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary from kevinhendricks on Vimeo.