Travelers looking for Midwest Victorian charm need drive for less than 45 minutes from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to find it. Hastings, Minnesota at the confluence of the St. Croix, Vermillion and Mississippi Rivers, has that charm plus all the ingredients for a delightful holiday.

Down by the Riversides

Hastings visitors in search of recreation don’t have to venture beyond its rivers. To the northeast of the city on the bluffs of the St. Croix, Afton State Park offers hiking and mountain bike trails, picnic grounds and campsites. The trails, which are great for trekking in summer, become a cross-country skier’s delight in winter. The park also includes a swimming beach that’s accessible by trail only. Another park, just off Highway on 21st Street East in Hastings, is known for hiking, biking and views of spectacular Vermillion Falls.

Most exciting of the rivers is the Mississippi, which with the two other rivers flowing into it, becomes significantly wider at Hastings. The observation platform near the 600-foot long lock and dam is the city’s number one spot for watching barges and pleasure boats pass through.