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BRAINERD — The Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park on County Road 11 in Pequot Lakes is open for the season.

Travis Grimler / Echo Journal

Park visitors can now climb this over 100-foot-tall tower that was built in 1935. The park also has numerous picnic shelters, a vaulted toilet and three miles of walking trails with many interpretive signs along the way.

Nancy Vogt / Echo Journal

Other county parks include Big Island on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes, Milford Mine Memorial Park just a few miles north of Crosby, and South Long Lake Community Park located at the south end of South Long Lake.

Contributed / Jim Brandt

Also, coming in 2024, the Little Emily Lake Park located on Little Emily Lake in Emily.

Crow Wing County has many great opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy the outdoors including over 300 acres of parks, 32 miles of nonmotorized trails, 215 miles of motorized multiple use trails, 15 miles of single track off-highway motorcycle trails, and over 100,000 acres of public land.

Erin Bormett / Echo Journal

In addition to parks, the 1,000 plus miles of trail opportunities are diverse and cater to all including nonmotorized uses such as hiking, horse riding and mountain biking, as well as motorized uses such as ATV riding, off-highway motorcycle riding and snowmobiling. The trails are monitored and maintained by both county land services staff and trail user groups.

Contributed

Maps of all county trails are available in the Land Services building. A full list of all Crow Wing County parks, trails and recreational opportunities can be viewed at .

Contributed / National Loon Center

The National Loon Center and Northern Waters Land Trust, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Loon Restoration Project, will again host a summer workshop series: "From Land to Water: Conserving Minnesota’s Loons."

Learn about the fascinating world of Minnesota's iconic state bird and the vital freshwater ecosystems they call home. These interactive workshops are designed to educate participants on loon research and diverse conservation methods aimed at protecting loon habitats, food sources and nesting grounds.

A new and expanded format will offer two programs each month: a specialized conservation topic with guest experts and an introduction to loon surveys, providing hands-on training for statewide loon monitoring initiatives.

This is an in-person workshop with an outdoor field component aboard the National Loon Center's StewardShip on Cross Lake. Life jackets and binoculars will be provided.

Ten workshops will be offered on Thursday afternoons from May through September.

Conservation Topic of the Month workshop (2:30-4:30 p.m.)

• May 30: Resilient Shorelines/Landscaping for Loons
• June 27: Loon Safe Boating
• July 25: Aquatic Invasive Species
• Aug. 22: Water Quality Testing and Monitoring
• Sept. 19: Loon Friendly Fishing

Introduction to Loon Monitoring workshop (5-7 p.m.)

• May 30: Intro to Loon Monitoring
• June 27: Loon Nesting Behavior
• July 25: Loon Chick Development
• Aug. 22: Late Summer Behavior
• Sept. 19: Pre-Migration Behaviors

This workshop series is free and open to the public. Spaces are limited. To secure a spot, register online through the Northern Waters Land Trust website at northernwaterslandtrust.org/events .

For more information about the events, call 218-547-4510 or email info@nwlt-mn.org.

The annual Pine River Garden Club plant sale will run from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Friday, May 24, at the farmers market near the Historic Pine River Depot.

This annual sale features perennial plants from area gardeners’ gardens, demonstrating they will do well in this growing zone. Typically there are perennial flowers, rhubarb, some annuals such as tomatoes and a variety of annual flowers, dahlia tubers, canna bulbs, gladiola corms, hostas, day lilies, black raspberries, anise hyssop, Queen of the Prairie, hops, bergenia, daisies and more.

It’s an effective way to learn about plants hardy to zone 3 and an opportunity to try something new. The gardeners can provide tips about location for planting whether in sun or shade and the best type of soil for the plants.

Proceeds from the sale go toward costs of maintaining area public gardens in Backus and Pine River, along with monthly programs for club members featuring topics such as growing dahlias, raising monarchs for release, growing peonies, raising lilies, building soil, crafting a piece of garden art or a fall item for display, and touring local gardens in the summer.

The club typically meets the third Tuesday of the month from March to October. For more information on the Pine River Garden Club, contact President Sherry Fitch at 218-821-4855.

The farmers market runs from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Fridays, May 24 through the end of September, and features many local growers and crafters with produce, plants, berries in season, crafts, canned goods, baked goods, honey and more.

For more information about the farmers market, contact Tanya Villano at 612-247-6118.