Blue Hill Trail - Sherburne Wildlife Refuge

Trail: Blue Hill Trail at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge.  Here's a map and some other info.  If the Mahnomen Trail is anything like Blue Hill, I want to explore it too.

Parking and Logistics: This trail head has a legit identifiable parking lot off 289th Ave NW.  It has pit toilets which are clean and well tended, just lacking plumbing.   It's good enough to check all the items on my list.

Hills:  Not really.  This route had a couple speed bumps but was pretty flat.  There was an optional quarter mile climb up a hill to an outlook which I did not do because of scheduling issues.

Ease of Running: This is one of the most runnable trails I've ever been on.  I wish it wasn't so far away.  This starts out on a semi-sandy part, goes to praire, lake shore, pine forests, and then oak/cottonwood forests before coming back to the parking lot.  Everything is wide and totally runner friendly.  I had a blast.

Nature: I did not see any Sandhill Cranes, but I may have heard them.  I heard lots of birds and all of the little frogs.  I saw a lot of what I believe is fox poop.  I had to google black bear poop to make sure it wasn't that.  I was all 'what would I do if I saw a bear out here on this prairie?  I would be dead.' 

 
Will I come back: I mean, I hope so.  That trail was wonderful, just the right distance, and utterly runnable.  There's another trail down the road I'd like to check out, and it's also close to Sand Dunes State Park.  I've been there, guess I should write that up too.