St. Croix Boom Site State Wayside — Attraction in Stillwater Township

I was surprised to find this treasure at the bottom of a staircase. The river was warm and my toddler loved playing in it. The streams that feed into it are ice cold and it's neat to feel the temperature difference as you walk along in the water. There is a substantial amount of graffiti on the rock walls and liter all over. The broken glass makes you want to watch each step, seriously, a ton of glass everywhere. The walking trails that have fallen trees across them made a great experience for my adventurous son. If it wasn't for the glass, this would be a fabulous place, please...

This is a beautiful area that has been marred by vandalism.

It makes me sad that there are apparently so many people whose idea of a good time involves destroying natural history. I took a beautiful photo with my family during our last visit and got home to discover that some of the graffiti directly behind us read "666". I fixed my photo, but the fact remains that this kind of defacement is unacceptable!

If you can get past the excessive and demonic graffiti, this is a nice place for a short hike.

The photo I attached is just a small preview of the graffiti that...

The Boom site is a top notch places for a short hike and a picnic. The park offers plenty of picnic tables, parking, and views. You will find historic kiosks around that help explain what happened in the location years before you visit. It's quite interesting !

Be sure to head down the stairs to check out the waterfall (seasonal) and rock faces, cave, and of course, the St. Croix River. On top of all that, it's free! We were there in the winter, so it just a few ice fishermen and cold weather adventurers...