Governor Dodge has lots of trails. We started with the short trail down to Stephens Falls, which we had both visited previously. Right now, admittedly, an unimpressive waterfall.

Then we decided to follow the stream. This is called The Lost Canyon Trail.

Pretty quickly we were into some impressive rock formations.

The formations reminded me of Parfrey’s Glen, which is near Devil’s Lake State Park.

The stream flowed back and forth over the rocks and through the fallen leaves.

Until a beaver dam slowed the flow and created a beaver pond. At least that’s what it looked like, though no beaver huts were in evidence.

At the far end of the trail it bent uphill and turned back. Soon we were looking out over the tops of the trees below, a beautiful sight.

At certain places we could see the trail below where we had been walking a few minutes earlier.

But wait, there’s more. We then arrived at a secluded glen which contained the history of the farmsteads which were formerly located at this site. This farm was settled by Norwegian immigrants. The cabin was built in 1855, the year that my ancestors settled about 50 miles to the west in Grant County. This small cabin, outlined by the remnants of the stone foundation, was eventually home to a family of nine.

Some of the farm tools from decades gone by are still on display.

And nearby, much like the farm that I grew up on, there was a spring house. Before refrigeration the water pooled inside was used to keep food cold, including the milk cans after the cows were milked. We greatly enjoyed our Tuesday trail trek on the Lost Canyon Trail.