Gale Woods Farm – Photos by Chip JonesThis past week I visited the Gale Woods Farm in Minnetrista, Minnesota and I wanted to share a few photographs and thoughts about this great local destination.
November can be such a challenging time to get inspired as a landscape photographer. The leaves are all off the trees, and all plant life and vegetation is going dormant for the long Minnesota Winter. November is the calm before the snow and cold sets in.
Ironically though, I find November to be such a uniquely beautiful time of the year and I wanted to get out into the country a bit to capture some of it’s beauty.
Gale Woods Farm is working farm maintained by the Three Rivers Park District. It was originally owned by Richard Gale, a Minnesota State Representative and U.S. Congressman in the early 1940’s. The farm was donated to the park district in 2000. The farm primarily provides educational programs for visitors of all ages so that they can gain an understanding of agriculture, food production and land stewardship.
I found this location to be a great spot for photography, BUT you have to do a bit of hiking to really capture the beauty of this unique place that’s located about thirty miles due west of downtown Minneapolis.
This is a working farm, and you’ll see chickens, cows, and sheep. Close to the farm is the turkey roost. The dog shown here was on alert and protecting the brood, but he didn’t seem too concerned about me.
There’s a 2.2 mile hiking trail that goes behind the main buildings on the farm and down to Whitetail Lake. To the right is the view from the trail while hiking back to the farm.
The Limestone Trail goes down to the fishing pier on Whitetail Lake. Unfortunately there’s no way to get on the dock, at least in November. This is a shot looking south toward the dock from the shoreline.
If you’d like to see larger photos from my visit to Gale Woods Farm, be sure to visit my Gale Woods Farm Photo Gallery page.
