Adventure Report: Kensington Rune Stone Park

Jan 20, 2023Adventure Report, Skiing

A man and a woman ski through a snowy field with a red barn in the background

Whether the Kensington runestone is a real artifact left behind by Viking explorers or an elaborate hoax, it changed Olof Öhman’s life and brought attention to the hamlet of Kensington, MN. At his farmstead about 15 miles southwest of Alexandria, the Swedish immigrant farmer claims to have found the slab of stone while clearing trees from a field one day in 1898. Its runic inscription, dated 1362, tells the tale of a fishing party returning to camp just to find 10 out of their 30-man crew “red of blood and dead.”

Today, the stone is displayed at the Rune Stone Museum within view of Big Ole, the 28-foot fiberglass mascot of Alexandria, MN in Douglas County. The Öhman farm site has become today’s Kensington Rune Stone Park and a hiking trail leads to the place where the stone was allegedly discovered. The park has a groomed eight-mile multi-use trail system for hiking, skiing, mountain and fatbiking, a sledding hill and a modern, heated trail center with interpretive displays. Recently, the Trails team gathered its own band of explorers in search of the truth, but only found a great day outside on well-groomed trails-without bloodshed.

Two people stand on a leaf-covered path in a forest with fall foliage. Text promotes Minnesota state parks, fall colors, and the Department of Natural Resources.

Click Images for Slideshow

A woman points at a map on a sign post in a snowy forest
A woman skies on a groomed trail in a snowy forest
A man races up a hill on a groomed trail in a snowy forest, followed by a woman
A man and a woman ski on a groomed trail through a snowy forest
A man skis on a trail past a sign reading Nokke Veien 8km, Norwegian for Quite the Way
Two women wearing read coats ski on a groomed trail through a snowy forest
A woman wearing a red coat stands on skis, looking over a frozen lake
A man and a woman ride down a snowy hill on a tobboggan at high speed
Spiky frost needles appear on a tree branch
Two women ski on a groomed trail in a snowy forest
A woman wearing a red coat skis across a flat, snowy field at the edge of a forest
Spiky frost needles appear on a tree branch
A man and a woman ski past a red barn on a snowy field
A woman wearing a red coat skis past a white farm house on a snowy field
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About me

A person wearing a yellow helmet, sunglasses, and warm winter clothing smiles while outside in a snowy Minnesota landscape. They are pointing at something, perhaps one of the scenic mountain bike trails nearby, as the sun shines brightly overhead.

I’m Jan, the publisher of Minnesota Trails Magazine. I’m looking for that one trail, the next ride, a new discovery and other reasons to never sit still in Minnesota.

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