Star Tribune
Minnesota state parks took major weather, flooding hits, too
Heavy rain and flash flooding across Minnesota have washed out state park campsites and trails, damaged regularly used bridges and roads, and altered popular attractions to a statewide scale unlike any other time in recent memory, according to a state manager.
Rachel Hopper, of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Parks and Trails Division, recalled regionalized weather-related damage such as the flooding in 2012 that hit the Duluth area and took out the Swinging Bridge over the St. Louis River at Jay Cooke State Park. The current aftermath is different, she said.
“We don’t recall every having seen something like this,” said Hopper, who runs visitor services and outreach, referring to the breadth of the damage.
Current cancellations by campers are three times their normal rate for this time of year, she added.
“That we’ve have had such extensive wet conditions and, layered on top, the most recent rains that have led to flooding … we have never seen that across the whole state,” Hopper said.
While the DNR continues to assess trouble spots and watch rising water at places along the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, here is some of what is known by region:
North and northeast
Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park: Severe flooding in the mine shaft has closed tours, and crews continue to pump out water in stages, said Chuck Carpenter, DNR northeast regional manager. The main shaft runs to about 2,500 feet. More than 8 inches of rain fell in the Lake Vermilion area June 18. Mine tours reopened to the public over Memorial Day weekend after the mine was closed by the COVID-19 pandemic and then needed repairs. The DNR said the current damage is unknown. Above-ground tours continue.
Other parks: Trail damage is a concern at four North Shore parks, including paths along the Gooseberry, Baptism, Manitou and Temperance rivers.
Hopper said the recent weather exacerbated the erosion of paths at Gooseberry, where flooding that consumed boardwalks and stairways at the lower falls last week has receded in recent days. Carpenter said an already-saturated section of trail on the northeast side of the trail collapsed into the river.
As is the case at Gooseberry, water has closed off areas of Tettegouche State Park, near Finland. Cascade Falls along the Baptism River at the park is inaccessible after a hillside broke away on the trail, and Superior Hiking Trail (SHT) users have been forced to detour off the path near the High Falls.
Trail association operators director Tamer Ibrahim said there are reports of damage to bridges on the East Baptism River closer to Finland, too.
“There is a lot out there that we still don’t know,” he said, after hearing reports of other bridge damage and parts of the trail washed out.
Ibrahim said hikers should approach any trail crossings near a river or stream with “extreme caution,” owing to possible erosion.
At George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, the Manitou River Bridge was damaged by water and debris, detouring SHT users. Also, several backpack campsites are off-limits, including one area that slid into the river.
Baptism River flooding overran and closed the Eckbeck campground in the Finland State Forest, and damaged parts of the camping area in Finland. Elsewhere in the state forest, the Sullivan Lake campground in Two Harbors is closed for flood damage to everything from vault toilets to campsites.
Savanna Portage State Park: Flooding and washouts have closed several roads to lakes, including the route to the group camp at the park north of McGregor. The water is off in the campground indefinitely to fix broken pipes, according to the park website.
Central and metro parks
Wild River State Park: Parts of some trails are closed at the park east of North Branch and along the St. Croix River. A damaged water line has closed the dump station indefinitely. Reservations are off for the guest house, owing to electrical problems.
Fort Snelling State Park: The popular metro location is at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in Hennepin County between Minneapolis and St. Paul, and could be closed for several weeks, the DNR said. The Mississippi River is forecast to crest Saturday afternoon in St. Paul. The agency anticipates the rivers will leave behind extensive silt to clean from park buildings, as well as road damage. The park closed from mid-March until July after flooding in 2019.
Afton State Park: Also along the St. Croix River, the popular metro park has some flooded trails, road washouts, and public areas underwater, like the swimming beach and parts of the lower picnic area. Swimming is discouraged. The river continues to rise and is expected to crest sometime early next week.
Minnesota Valley State Trail: There are fears for the impact of flooding on the construction work underway on a new phase of the multiuse trail, in the Bloomington area between the Xcel Energy power plant and Old Cedar Avenue Bridge.
To the south
Minneopa State Park: The Mankato area park, home to the part of the Conservation Bison Herd that draws thousands of visitors this time of year, has dealt with heavy rain and subsequent flooding. The bison drive has reopened but several trails are closed (Seppman Mill included), in addition to access to Minneopa creek and falls.
Blue Mounds State Park: There are wet conditions around the park, outside Luverne, and the campground, but flooding has receded. Vehicle tours of the bison range are tentatively set to resume Thursday.
The DNR has reminded the public that much of the parks and trails system is unaffected. As for the other areas that are in flux, like Ibrahim, Hopper emphasized caution in the days ahead, avoiding flood-damaged areas even if they are unmarked, for example. She also encouraged visitors, ahead of their plans, to check alerts and closures from the parks’ web pages and the DNR social platforms.
“We still don’t know the extent of the damage everywhere,” she said, “and in some places we won’t know until flood waters recede.”
Carpenter, the northeast regional manager, said resources can only take so much amid more extreme bursts of rain, wherever it happens.
“The volume [of rainfall] is more and the intensity is more and it is really putting a stress on the facilities, the trails, everything.”
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault as part of a nondisclosure agreement, though he maintained that their encounter was consensual, according to a statement from his lawyer Saturday and other documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said that Hegseth was “visibly intoxicated” at the time of the incident, and maintained that police who were contacted a few days after the encounter by the woman concluded “the Complainant had been the aggressor in the encounter.” Police have not confirmed that assertion.
Hegseth agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the woman because he feared that revelation of the matter “would result in his immediate termination from Fox,” where he works as a host, the statement said.
The statement came after a detailed memo was sent to the Trump transition team this week by a woman who said she is a friend of the accuser. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, alleged he raped the then-30-year-old conservative group staffer in his room after drinking at a hotel bar. The person who sent the memo to the transition team did not respond to requests for comment from The Post.
The accuser, whose identity has not been made public, filed a complaint with the police alleging she was sexually assaulted days after the Oct. 7, 2017 encounter in Monterey, California, but the local district attorney did not bring charges. Police confirmed that they investigated the incident. After she threatened litigation in 2020, Hegseth made the payment and she signed the nondisclosure agreement, his attorney said.
The detailed, four-page memo about the incident has set off debate among senior Trump transition officials, but so far Trump has stood behind Hegseth. Spokesman Steven Cheung earlier this week said: “President Trump is nominating high-caliber and extremely qualified candidates to serve in his Administration. Mr. Hegseth has vigorously denied any and all accusations, and no charges were filed. We look forward to his confirmation as United States Secretary of Defense so he can get started on Day One to Make America Safe and Great Again.”
The documents from Hegseth’s attorney and the memo to the transition team from someone who said she is a friend of the woman and was “present and involved” in the case tell drastically different stories about what happened seven years ago at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa – although both sides agree that Hegseth had a sexual encounter with a woman there.
Hegseth, whose second wife had filed for divorce the previous month, had traveled to Monterey to speak to a California Federation of Republican Women conference. Afterward, according to his lawyer, he went to the hotel bar with a group of attendees.
The Gophers women’s hockey team contained longtime WCHA rival Minnesota Duluth, winning 3-2 Saturday afternoon to sweep a series at Amsoil Arena. The No. 3 Gophers haven’t lost to the No. 4 Bulldogs since the NCAA regional final in mid-March 2022.
Peyton Hemp, Gracie Graham and Emma Connor scored for the Gophers (10-3-1, 6-3-1 WCHA), with Abbey Murphy getting two assists. UMD’s Kamdyn Davis and Nina Jobst-Smith scored for the Bulldogs (6-55-1, 5-4-1 WCHA).
Gophers freshman goalie Hannah Clark had 31 saves; UMD’s Eve Gascon had 35.
UMD freshman defender Davis scored her first career goal off a backhanded pass from sophomore winger Grace Sadura. Davis skated in from Clark’s left side and lofted it to the right corner in the first five minutes of the opening period. Freshman defender Graham whipped the puck past Gascon midway through the period to tie the game. Peyton Hemp scored a power-play goal in the final two minutes of the first period, poking the puck in low on a rebound of a shot by Nelli Laitinen. The Gophers closed the period with a 2-1 advantage.
UMD’s Sadura left the game near the end of the second period after taking a major misconduct penalty for making contact with an opponent’s head. The Bulldogs were able to kill the penalty to close the period.
Gophers junior winger Connor scored midway through the final period, putting a rebound past Gascon. The Bulldogs had a 5-3 power-play advantage when Jobst-Smith sent the puck sailing high past Clark in the final five minutes of play. UMD pulled Gascon in the final minute but wasn’t able to tie the game.
The Gophers eased past the Bulldogs 4-1 in Friday’s opener, helped by two goals by Ella Huber, one shorthanded, the other an empty-netter, and two assists by Natalie Mlynkova. UMD’s Gascon had 48 saves, tying a personal best.
The Gophers host No. 8 St. Cloud State for a home-and-home series next weekend. The Bulldogs host unranked Bemidji State.
Dassel-Cokato went 79 yards in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter, scored on a 5-yard run by Kobee Thielen with 51 seconds left and tacked on a two-point conversion to rally past Pequot Lakes 29-26 in the first Class 3A semifinal game Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Pequot Lakes built a 19-point lead early in the third quarter, then tried to cling to that advantage, but Dassel-Cokato’s rushing attack proved too potent.
The Patriots (11-1) scored the first time they touched the ball, on a 13-pass from Mike Oseland to Bryar Nordby for a 6-0 lead.
Dassel-Cokato (11-1) responded two drives later, Thielen scoring on a 1-yard fourth-down run. Thielen had carried the ball on each of the two previous runs and appeared to have scored on each, but officials didn’t see it that way. Thielen’s score gave Dassel-Cokato a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.
It was the last time the Chargers had the lead until the final drive.
Pequot Lakes, making its first state tournament appearance since 2017, leaned on the arm of Oseland to build that 19-point advantage. Oseland went 15-for-22 in the game for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
Dassel-Cokato rallied in the second half, getting rushing touchdowns of 30 and 2 yards from running back Caleb Smock, cutting the Pequot Lakes advantage to five, 26-21, early in the fourth quarter.
