Paradise in the Twin Cities

I was first introduced to the Bloomington Nine Mile Creek area in the 1970’s when I started dating my now current husband. We had just taken an ornithology class together and no better place to practice our birdwatching skills than along Nine Mile Creek. I was amazed at how natural, wild, and unspoiled the area was and that such a place could exist in the Twin Cities. It was so quiet along the creek that I could hear the water running over the rocks and the insects buzzing in the air. The creek easily won me over that day with its natural beauty and serenity and, as an avid dog walker, bird watcher, wildlife photographer, and nature enthusiast, I have continued to enjoy the Nine Mile Creek area for more than 40 years. You can find me along the creek in the springtime with my binoculars looking for migrating warblers, vireos, and kinglets, or searching for emerging plants such as skunk cabbage, marsh marigolds, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit. On the path, I am always on the look-out for garter, fox, and red-bellied snakes. Standing on the bridges over the creek, you’ll see me searching for creek chubs, sunfish, mink, and beaver. My progress through the creek area is slow as I spend a lot of time stopping, listening, and looking.

When my kids were young, we did a lot of exploring along the creek. I have a favorite picture of my son sitting and playing in Nine Mile Creek. I fondly remember playing “explorer” with our kids using our walkie-talkies to keep in touch as they adventured on the lower creek trail and my husband and I kept an eye on them from the upper trail. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, if the weather was good, our family tradition was to walk along the creek after a big holiday meal. Although my children have grown up and I’m in a different stage of my life, I still love walking along the creek, identifying plants, animals, and insects with my husband, daughter, and our three dogs. This past weekend, we took my two-month old grandson (our first one!) on a stroller ride along the creek, and plan on many more trips along the creek with him. Thanks to this beautiful, natural area, my entire family has a deeper appreciation and love for nature.

Although there are other trails in Bloomington, I choose the Nine Mile Creek trail because it is quiet, peaceful, shaded and I don’t have to worry about bike traffic on the path. When I walk shared-use trails, I constantly have to stop what I am doing to move out of the way for bikes. Sometimes, I can’t hear the bikes coming (bad hearing) and am startled when they zoom by me without warning. At my age, I worry about falling and breaking a bone and don’t feel safe on paths where bikes are coming at 10-15 mph, or even faster.

I’m not sure which former city officials had the foresight to set aside and preserve the Nine Mile Creek area, but they were very wise and I hope that current and future city officials have this same foresight so that we can continue to preserve and enjoy this natural, quiet, and beautiful area.