Lake Itasca State Park Minnesota

It appears my lot in life is to arrive one week before peak colors on my fall color tours. This year I had no choice but to pick the week to head into the woods. As this post is being published, we are on our way south to our winter home, a bit earlier than usual because we are doing some extra traveling in October. For the first time, we decided to overnight at Itasca State Park so I could get some sunset and early morning photos. We had a great time in the park as we met some friends there who were staying in one of the campgrounds. They had been in the park nearly a month and they knew all the places to take us. I captured over a hundred images, and will share a bunch of them in future posts. For now, I’ve got an even dozen to share.

Lake Itasca is the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It is from this lake that the mighty Mississippi starts its 2552 mile (4104 km) trek to the Gulf of Mexico. The above image features sunset on Lake Itasca.

I rose early to get into position to capture morning light just prior to sunrise. Lake Mary is just a short hike from our cabin. The view of the lake gave me my first real views that indicated the colors were not yet at their peak.

I wasn’t alone that morning. I looked down the road from where I was taking photos to capture an otter just finished crossing the road on his way to a morning swim. I didn’t have enough time to get any more than this single shot.

 As the sun climbed higher, it started to illuminate the trees on the western bank of the lake giving them a surreal glow. The morning was calm and a slight mist rose from the lake surface. By this time, the mist was barely discernable along the shoreline.

Lake Itasca is on the left of the rocks, on the right is the Mississippi River. During the more popular times of the year, many park visitors cross the Mississippi using those rocks as stepping stones.

Later that morning, we took the scenic Wilderness Drive. Fall colors were more prevalent along this road around the park. I will have more photos from the Wilderness Road in the gallery and in a future post. Click on any image in the gallery below to enlarge it and to scroll through the gallery.

Along the Wilderness Drive

Lake Mary shoreline.

A bald eagle high on a dead tree.

We stayed in one of the Fourplex cabins.

Cosy room with a fireplace at reasonable prices.

The Chester Charles cruises Lake Itasca in the summer months.

A tributary feeds Lake Itasca.

Wilderness Drive.

Itasca 2015 – Fall Color Trip

Lake Mary Shoreline.

Early morning Otter Walk.

Lake Mary.

Sunset on Lake Itasca.

Lake Itasca on a still morning.

John Steiner