BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
I guess we can get a little tunnel-visioned here in South Minneapolis with all the great stuff we have, but we have always been aware of the Ford Parkway/46th Street bridge and the fact that it takes you to a surprisingly close-by and interesting “little” area of Saint Paul. Some of us go there only for pie at a certain chain restaurant. Some of us go there only for the Barebones Halloween celebration. But in case you didn’t know, there is a lot more to Highland Park than just the hole where the old Ford Plant used to be and Baker’s Square.
For one thing, it’s not so little. Saint Paul is divided into districts, and Highland Park, besides being a neighborhood, is an entire district, District 15, sitting within a big bend in the Mississippi River, which forms its western and southern boundaries, and stretching north to Randolph Avenue and east to I-35E. It has a population of at least 25,000 in its approximately six square miles of residential area. Due to also containing the riverside environments of bluffs, wetlands and shoreline, and a huge city park, with an 18-hole golf course right in the middle, it has a lot of non-residential land too. That’s even without the big hole where the Ford Plant used to be.
And that’s really a good thing. True, the houses and apartments in Highland Park are lovely and desirable, and the commercial strip known as Highland Village, consisting of Ford Parkway and its side streets, is charming and attracts shoppers from all over. But the real hidden gems of Highland Park are its wilder areas, places you cannot live in, only visit. In fact one of them is even called “hidden”—Hidden Falls Regional Park.
Hidden Falls Regional Park is on Hidden Falls Drive, a turn off of Mississippi River Blvd just a short way south of Ford Parkway. It contains a small but picturesque spring-fed waterfall, from which it takes its name. The park dates back to 1887, when it was selected by Horace Cleveland, a nationally known landscape architect and park planner, as one of four major park sites for the City of Saint Paul. No major changes were made in Hidden Falls Park until 1936-37, when the WPA carried out an extensive improvement program on the site. Then in the mid-1960s, work began on the park’s four primary use areas: the primitive area, boat launching area, general picnic area and scenic falls area. Camping and alcohol are not allowed in the park, but picnics, including BBQ grilling, hiking, fires in a firepit, boating and fishing all are available, and despite its proximity to urban areas, the primitive area is quite wild and natural.
Hidden Falls is also known as the site for the annual Halloween Festival/Performance put on by Barebones Productions and a host of community volunteers. The shows have a different theme each year, although always in the realm of autumn, death, rebirth and scary stuff, and feature stilting, aerial acrobatics, giant puppets, bicycle puppets, fire juggling, light shows and live music. At a minimum, Barebones pays for these free-to-the-public shows through donations, grants and fundraisers. One of their fundraisers that is really fun and in the Barebones spirit is the Dumpster Duel. This is a timed competition on the model of Junkyard Wars, but the creation to be made is art rather than technology. Each team is given a dumpster full of junk and in 30 hours they must conceive and build puppets, along with a story and then perform it. The next Dumpster Duel starts at noon of July 30 at House of Balls, 1504 S. 7th St., just near the Cedar-Riverside LRT station. The competition culminates with three performances at the same venue July 31 at 6 p.m. Suggested donation of $10 to $20.
A little farther south and east along the Mississippi is another unspoiled riverside park—Crosby Farm Regional Park. Thomas Crosby obtained the original 160-acre farm in 1858 and farmed it until his death in 1886. Cattle, dairy cows, horses, pigs and chickens were raised on the farm, along with crops including potatoes and apples. A succession of others farmed the land until 1962, when it was bought by the St. Paul Port Authority and leased to the city to be used as a park. Crosby Farms Regional Park at 736 acres is the largest natural park in the Saint Paul system of parks and it is an important component in a string of parks that protects the biodiversity of the Mississippi River corridor through the Twin Cities. The park protects mostly floodplain forest and wooded slopes cloaked mostly in oak along the Mississippi. The park also contains two small lakes and scattered wetlands.
Amenities in Crosby Farm Park are similar to those in Hidden Falls: picnic areas, fishing (both in the lakes and the river), hiking, cross-country ski trails in the winter. It is also a popular site for canoeing and birdwatching (not necessarily at the same time, of course). And it’s also listed as one of the Top 10 Twin Cities Parks for geocaching, and is a good place for ice climbing, according to CBS Minnesota, or for “getting lost,” according to City Pages. There is a small marina in the park, and a picnic shelter that seats 50, with electricity provided.
Another great park in Highland Park is called—Highland Park. It’s actually a complex of parks, including the park itself, the 18-hole National Golf Course, the 9-hole golf course, the Highland Park Aquatic Center, and the Highland Park Community Center. It’s a little bit golf-crazy over there; as if a total of 27 holes of real golf weren’t enough, there is also DiscGolf and FootGolf, (Don’t ask). The Aquatic Center is a modern facility with a two-story water slide, lap swim pool, children’s splash pad, diving boards, aquatic climbing wall, party rentals, concessions, swimming lessons and more. But there is also an Old Pool House, originally built by the WPA in 1936. There is a Friends of Highland Arts working on “the future of this building,” but in the meantime, it doesn’t stand idle but occasionally hosts concerts or movies. In addition to cross-country ski trails and a sledding hill in winter, the park has the usual picnic pavilion, fire ring and playground—no, make that two playgrounds. There’s also a horseshoe court and tennis courts. And of course a Booya Shed. Ya gotta have a Booya Shed.
Circus Juventus, a very successful and unusual arts nonprofit, is located within the environs of Highland Park, in a “Big Top” circus tent. Circus Juventus is a fairly young organization, founded in 1994, and offers circus training to young people ages 3 to 21. Circus Juventus’ summer show for 2016 is titled “Wonderland—A Journey Down the Rabbit Hole.” It runs from July 28 to Aug. 14. You can get tickets through the website: http://circusjuventas.org/wonderland-summer-show/ and click on the “Get tickets” link.
