On a beautiful last day of summer weather a few weeks ago, Kayla and I decided we wanted to take full advantage of one of Minnesota’s best features: its lakes. After the somewhat lackluster experience sitting beside Spring Lake in Mankato, I did some Googling and found that there was a park with hiking and a lakeside beach less than a half hour away in Madison Lake, MN. So we packed our bags and headed out to Bray Park.

We started our day in Bray Park by driving back towards the campgrounds to hike the mile-long nature trail on that part of the property. The circular path weaves through swamp and forest, the green algae casting the sunlight in a strange, sci-fi-like glow. It felt like the kind of place where Tolkien might have imagined there being wood elves or other fantastical creatures.

After this short hike, I wanted to find the 70 ft. swinging rope bridge that I’d read about online when looking up the park, so we drove back to the main parking lot beside the beach and volleyball court. From there, it was a very short hike up a creek bank to the bridge, which swayed and bounced and rocked over the creek bed below.

After our hiking, we found a stretch of grass along the shoreline, and Kayla set up her hammock while I spread out a blanket. The sun sparkled on the water, the lake lapping up on the nearby beach.

Overall, I found Bray Park and Madison Lake to be a lovely, not too crowded, place to spend some time in nature, let the cold lake water lap against your ankles, or feel sand between your toes. And now that it has already snowed (in mid-October, I know!), I can’t wait until it’s warm enough in the spring to return to the park for some more sunshine and lakeside-lounging.