Monday, April 9, 2018

New Hiking Guide from Rob Bignell



Day Hiking Trails of St. Croix County
Rob Bignell
Atiswinic Press
ISBN: 978-1948872027
$9.95 Print, $0.99 Ebook
136 pp
Buy on Amazon

New travel guidebook describes more than 100 day hiking trails in Wisconsin’s St. Croix County.

Day Hiking Trails of St. Croix County by Wisconsin author Rob Bignell, covers trails in Hudson, River Falls, New Richmond, Somerset, Baldwin, Woodville, Glenwood City and the surrounding area, including Amery, Osceola, Spring Valley, Clayton and Clear Lake as well the Minnesota communities of Stillwater, Woodbury and Afton.

“St. Croix County is chockful of great trails and hidden wonders,” Bignell said. “You can stand before a waterfall that plunges a fifth of the way down a 20-story canyon. You can walk beside premier trout streams running through picturesque fields and charming woodlands. You can stand atop the Midwest’s largest earthen dam.”

A state park, a national riverway, great city parks, and a variety of other public lands all are open to hikers, bicyclists and other outdoors lovers in St. Croix County. Many are free while the others carry a nominal entrance cost.

Bignell grew up just two miles east of the St. Croix County line and has hiked many of its trails since childhood. He is a 1989 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where he majored in journalism and English.  

The book provides a plethora of information about each featured trail, including:
• Driving directions to the trail
• Where to park and find the trailhead
• Course the trail takes
• Scenic points to look for on the trail
• Wildlife and flora you might spot
• Interesting tidbits about regional geology and history
• Best times to hike the trail

“These trails are perfect for families with children,” Bignell said. The trails run from a tenth of a mile to seven miles in length, with most only one to three miles long.

“Day Hiking Trails of St. Croix County” is the latest in several bestselling hiking guidebooks Bignell has authored. Last year, his “Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Parks” spent more than two months at No. 1 on Amazon.com’s bestsellers list for Travel>Tennessee ebooks. Several other books about Wisconsin, Minnesota, and national parks have hit No. 1 on Amazon.com lists during the past five years.

More than three years of research went into the book. Bignell’s son Kieran accompanied him on a number of those hikes.

An avid backpacker and long-time editor, Bignell is uniquely qualified to write about hiking, especially for families. Bignell has served in the Army National Guard and taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin. A former newspaper and magazine editor in California, his journalism work has won several awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott Journal, which he served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. 

This is Bignell’s 21st hiking guidebook, almost all of which focus on Wisconsin and Minnesota. He now lives with his son in western Wisconsin.

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