Walnut Grove is located in Redwood
County, Minnesota, about 160 miles southwest of
Minneapolis. It is 112 miles east of De Smet on
U.S. Highway 14. The
Chicago and NorthWestern
Railroad bed and tracks are still
within sight of the highway for much of the
distance between Walnut Grove and De Smet. Walnut
Grove's original main streets were 6th and Main;
today, 8th Street is more prominent and becomes
County Road 5 both north and south of town.
Plum Creek
flows north, through both the Ingalls Preemption
and Tree/Homestead Claims to empty into the
Cottonwood River.
The Ingalls Preemption Claim (called the Ingalls Homestead by the owners) is located east of County Road 5, 1.5 miles north of Walnut Grove. Here, you can see the depression believed to be the Ingalls Dugout Site on the banks of Plum Creek.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum has its headquarters in town on Eighth Street, just south of the railroad tracks.
The town of Tracy is located seven miles west of Walnut Grove. The easiest way to get there is to take Highway 14 west, although County Road 20 is the original route, and would have been in use in the 1870s. The Wheels Across the Prairie Museum features railroad memorabilia, early wheeled farm machinery, a 1915 steam engine and caboose, depot, schoolhouse, and Monroe Township Hall. An 1866 log cabin is being restored.
The Wahpeton Prairie Preserve is five miles north of Walnut Grove off County Road 5. Managed by the Nature Conservancy, the 80 acre site is used for educational and research purposes. Here you can see what the prairie looked like prior to farming and development, with native wildflowers and grasses, and a lake formed when the Cottonwood River abandoned its original channel.
Many of the sites of interest in Walnut Grove are
within walking distance of each other. From the
Wilder Museum at the corner of County Road 20 and
8th Street,, it's a short walk to the City Park,
and only a few blocks to the School and Church
sites. Shopping and food available in town, with
ample picnic spots.
The "Fragments of a
Dream" Pageant site and
Pioneer
Festival site are a short drive from
town, south on County Road 78. For more than
twenty-five years, the summer outdoor
pageant has been presented along the banks of
Plum Creek, with moveable sets and special
effects. The Pioneer Festival offers crafts,
music, and good food, with special activities for
children.
