Willow River State Park has some pretty cool sites and sounds:  rolling bluffs, loud waterfalls, and beautiful lakeshore views.

 This was the first time I had been to Willow River State Park, and boy, what a beautiful park it is!  It's only abou 30 min from the Twin Cities (I live in St Paul), and is really easy to get to.

There was a suprising 2 - 4 inches of snow throughout the park, which made for a slightly more challenging hike, considering the slick spots under the snow.  I brought my camera and dog and we hiked around for about 2.5 hours.  The trails were well marked and easy to follow.  We even met a couple that had camped the night and was warming up by a fire.  

The snow covered trees along the trails were just stunning, and the falls were beautiful as well.  There was a nice ridge on the left of the falls, and snow covered rocks along the river.

I will definitely be coming back to this park, both for a snowshoeing trip, as well as for camping next spring.  There are some beautiful camping sites with car access (great for car campers).