“The Residents Truthfully Call It “‘Picturesque Highwood'”

August 1, 2025

31.3 miles

Downtown, Battle Creek, Highwood Hills

The map below shows the route of the August 1, 2025 ride. Note that I am trying a new mapping program, Ride with GPS. It provides more information about rides, including mileage, speed and elevation data. If you have thoughts about this mapping platform (or anything else about SPBB) that you’d like to share, you can comment at the end of any post.

East bound and down

The Samuel H. Morgan Regional Trail weaves and winds its way for eight miles along Shepard and Warner Roads. Following the east bank of the Mississippi River, the trail extends between Crosby Farm Regional Park to just shy of where Warner and Highway 10/61 meet. I enjoyed the unobstructed views of the Mississippi River on my right and the landscape to my left as it shifted from residential to industrial to parks.

Mississippi River with foggy St. Paul skyline in background — The view of Downtown and the Mississippi River from under the Smith Avenue High Bridge.

a bench under a a-shaped cover. It is painted with a woman waving a sheet. — Fun and funky seating along parts of the Sam Morgan Trail. The bench under the painted covering (foreground) is made from retired wind turbine blades.

Close up of QR code explaining the artistic bench along the river — Learn the story of the bench and artist Xena Goldman, who painted the scene on the covering, by scanning the QC code.

Three CP Rail locomotives clime an incline on the way past Downtown St. Paul — Three Canadian Pacific (CP) locomotives climb the grade below Downtown on their way to the CP Pig’s Eye Yard.

Low angle image of rocks lining the bike path undergoing renovation — A half-mile section of the Sam Morgan Trail was being rebuilt. Although officially closed, traversing the rock subbase of the new path was doable with a mountain bike. On my hybrid, it proved to be extremely jarring.

A barge near the shore of the river. Between it and the shore, dozens of sticks and logs that have floated along the river — A large amount of detritus, mostly sticks and logs, got trapped between docked barges and the shore.

The bike trail and Warner Road ascend beginning where Childs Road splits off to the south. The reason for climb in both is two fold. First, Warner Road has to clear west bound Childs and several busy railroad tracks. Second, the elevation of Highway 61 is more than 100 feet higher as Warner Road and the bike path rise between Childs Road and the highway.

Looking southeast from the Warner Road bridge over Childs Road. To the far left, the Mississippi River, Childs Road in the center and on the left, the Cemstone concrete plant.

Crossing Highway 61 on surface streets, in this case Burns Avenue, requires diligence. Bike riders (and pedestrians) must maneuver three through-lanes and a left turn lane in each direction to get to the other side of the dangerous highway. Usually I’d avoid this intersection. However, the Fish Hatchery Trail running along the west side of 61 remained closed for reconstruction.

Two barricades with Trail Closed sign attached; an orange and black sign with black arrow pointing right with Fish Hatchery Trail and Detour signs. — Something tells me I’m not taking the Fish Hatchery Trail on this ride.

Upper Afton Road

Upper Afton Road gracefully undulates back and forth from Burns Avenue at Highway 61 eastward to Ruth Street. Between Ruth and McKnight Avenue, Upper Afton becomes straight as an arrow. The nearly 2-mile section within Saint Paul runs roughly northwest-southeast.

After riding close to a mile on Upper Afton, White Bear Avenue appeared. I turned south there, pressing on through Battle Creek.

The split personality of White Bear Avenue

It’s a good bet you think of White Bear Avenue as a frenetic, vehicle-centric road. This major East Side route is a county highway (Ramsey County 65) that carries both locals and commuter traffic. With two lanes in each direction, left turn lanes at major intersections, sidewalks only a couple of feet from the road, a frequently-exceeded 35 mile per hour speed limit and no bike lanes, it’s challenging for motor vehicles. For bikers and walkers, White Bear is plain treacherous. Except for the southernmost three blocks, that is.

Shot of paved street with 3 cars parked on the right. Both sides are tree-lined. — Trees and little traffic make this small section of White Bear Avenue unrecognizable compared to the other 3.3 miles of the street that slices through Saint Paul.

Nearly immediately after turning, I learned about the mellow side of White Bear Avenue. It’s something I never knew existed. Lined with tall trees, their leaves fluttering in the gentle breeze and the chorus of warbling birds, you’d never know this is a continuation of the chaotic street just to the north.

Paved road with a driveway going to the right and trees on both sides. — A peek to the south and the end of White Bear Avenue.

The ABCs

A street named A Street meets White Bear Avenue a block from its southern end.

Lamp post with A Street and White Bear Ave. signs and trees in the background

I kept riding for one more block, to the south end of White Bear Avenue. The only break in the thicket of trees and shrubs there is to the west, where C Street connects. It’s also where it registered that I was doing the “A, C, Bs” rather than the traditional A, B, Cs.

top of a lamppost with White Bear Ave and C St. signs.

Nearly all of the Battle Creek and Highwood Hills neighborhoods are built into bluffs that steeply ascend from Highway 61. Therefore many lots are hilly.

Wide shot of three single story homes in the background. Large lawns with a few mature trees in the foreground — 83, 77 and 71 B Street (left to right). The front yards slope only slightly toward the street but behind the homes, there’s a serious drop-off.

three black mailboxes labled 52, 51, 45. Behind them, two garages and part of one home. — 51 and 45 B Street and their mailboxes; 52 is across the street on the east side of B Street.

Gravel driveway with the top of a vehicle showing in the middle of the image. In the background, what appears to be light industrial buildings — The driveway to 35 B Street exemplifies the precipitous change in elevation of the B Street properties.

A paved street on the right, grass in the foreground left. Metal street sign post in the middle with green & white street signs that say "A St" and "B St"

In case you’re curious, there are no other streets named with a letter of the alphabet in Saint Paul.

Highwood

The Highwood Hills area was considered “the country” a century ago. Oakland and Highwood were the two “railroad” or “commuter suburb” stations. A 1911 promotional article in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press claimed “…this stretch of hills, bluffs and plateaus known as Burlington Heights (Highwood) will be prized more and more as people come to realize there is right here at home scenery as lovely as they may find by toil and travel. The residents truthfully call it “Picturesque Highwood.'”

To this day, it is indeed “Picturesque Highwood.” It remains significantly different from the rest of Saint Paul. The twisting streets, oddly-shaped lots and dense foliage make it easy to forget it’s just a four mile ride to Downtown.

An old map featuring a detailed layout of a neighborhood, with streets and plots outlined, alongside landmarks such as Pigs Eye Lake.

In this 1908 map, some Highwood streets are platted and Lower Afton Road is simply named Afton. No roads had been built east of Burlington Avenue, even though the city extends beyond. Note the Oakland and Highwood train stations just east of the C.B.& Q. tracks, serving what were known as “railroad suburbs.” Borchert Map Library, U of MN

By 1922, several roads reached the eastern border of the city. The Boys Farm, later renamed Totem Town, had been built, and Afton Road was now known as Lower Afton. Borchert Map Library U of MN

A vintage map depicting the area of Highwood and Oakland, highlighting streets and Highway 61.

More streets, to the east and south. were added to Highwood, as you can see in this 2014 map. The dashed lines indicate gravel roads. Yes, another quirk, and one of my favorites, of Highwood is several unpaved streets.

A house on Marillac

A dark brown wood sign with 2206 Marillac Lane engraved. Behind it are hostas, trees and a portion of gravel driveway. In the background, part of the house — Notice how the address sign on the right closely resembles a park sign.

Dave and Lynn Sundmark have resided at 2206 Marillac Lane since 1977 in the often overlooked and to many, unknown, Highwood neighborhood.

Tree-lined residential street on a sunny day with a clear road and vibrant green grass. — Mature trees provide shade for the homes along Marillac Lane.

While undoubtedly different than when they moved in, Marillac Lane, like nearly all of Highwood, has held onto the unique charm and rural solitude that have attracted residents for decades.

A woman, Lynn, and a man, Dave, stand behind the wooden Highwood sign. Trees and shrubs in background — Lynn (left) and Dave Sundmark in their yard, with a sign that once stood outside the Highwood Recreation Center.

Lynn and Dave are both Saint Paul natives. Lynn grew up in the Midway and attended Central High School. Dave spent much of his life in Highwood and attended Harding High. You could say Lynn and Dave have a mixed marriage.

Call it happenstance, luck, serendipity or a fluke, but Dave stumbled upon the Marillac Lane house while on a project for Saint Paul’s forestry department. “I was working in the area marking diseased elm trees and diseased oak trees. And I saw a for sale by owner sign…”

So Dave paid a visit to the homeowner, an elderly woman named Laura Schleicher. She and her brother built the house in 1955 and 22 years later, she was unable to keep up with maintaining it. Laura Schlicher mentioned that a woman, a realtor, had her eye on the house.

“I talked to her (Laura) and told her that I was just married. I grew up in this area. I wanna live in this area, and I would raise a family here and maintain it and add onto it and so on. And she decided that she wanted to go with me rather than the realtor lady.” Dave stated, “I was happy as a lark,” even with a significant amount of upkeep he knew would be required.

The septic system was one substantial project. “All I had for septic was a couple of tanks that would fill up and have to get pumped. So when I first moved in, I hand dug another septic area with holes in the side that could drain.” Still, it didn’t function properly. It turned out other neighbors had issues with their septic systems as well.

The solution was convincing the city to install sanitary and storm sewers. “I finally was able to get enough neighbors to say they wanted it and they finally put it in our street because, before that, it was a gravel road and all the rain from this side of McKnight Road would run down McKnight and right down our street.”

The gardens, the yard, the trees

Dave and Lynn’s property is much larger than the standard city lot—nearly an acre—with many dozens of trees and several gardens. It is no surprise that a retired arborist and his wife have in excess of 70 types of trees and scores of flowers.

A cozy, single-story house surrounded by greenery, featuring a wooden front door, a yellow bench, and a decorative fence in the front yard. — The Sundmark home, 2206 Marillac Lane.

Plants and flowers growing in various containers — Some of the many plants Lynn and Dave plant and care for. These are on the flat roof of the house.

Dave grows a couple of varieties of tomatoes and several different peppers. He also tends to dahlias, while Lynn primarily cultivates the perennial flowers, from astilbe to wisteria. In all, Lynn cares for more than 80 different perennials and about 30 annuals! The large number and variety create a yard with multi-hued blooms pretty much from spring into fall.

Hostas, ferns and other plants surround the patio and deck of Lynn and Dave’s home.
The archway leads to the large back yard and many of the more than 40 varieties of deciduous and about a dozen conifers in the yard.
A storage building is nearly hidden by shrubs and plants. Dave rescued the forestry sign from destruction while working for the city.
Dave’s dahlias.

Dave’s early years

Dave was born at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which was in Downtown Saint Paul. For the first six years, he, his parents and brother lived with his grandmother at 515 Burlington Road in Highwood. It was one of three homes on the block built by family. “My grandfather had built my grandmother’s house where she was living in at 515, my uncle’s house where he was living in at 517, and also a house couple doors up at 499 Burlington.”

A white 1 and 1/2 story home with black shutters and two dormers bordered on the sides by tall trees. A green lawn in front. — The home Dave’s grandparents owned at 515 Burlington Road, and in which he lived for the first six years of his life. Dave’s grandfather built the house.

After six years, Dave explained, “My parents decided they didn’t really wanna live with grandma anymore, so they built a house in North St. Paul…”

Following the birth of two more brothers—four boys in total—the Sundmarks found the North St. Paul home too small. So, back to 515 Burlington they went while Dave’s dad and uncle built a new home next door for his grandmother.

At that time, much of Saint Paul had been, or was being, developed. Not so much in Highwood. It remained country living—with thick groves of trees, large lots, gravel roads and a lack important city services, like water. “She (mom) also walked to Springside (Street), pulling a wagon to get well water out of a spring that ran out of the hillside…”

Water wasn’t the only basic service missing. Most homes had septic tanks, Dave recalled. “I can remember as a kid, having to dig out septic tanks to make them work again. And, eventually to tear the tops open and fill them in when we finally got city sewer and water.” That sounds like a rather unlikable job, to say the least.

A free range kid

Highwood Hills in the ‘50s and ‘60s was the perfect spot to grow up. Bluffs, woods, streams, and down the bluffs, the Mississippi River and railroad tracks. It all yielded nearly unlimited possibilities for entertainment. “Our normal playground was riding and walking and hiking, and the bluffs of the Highwood area,” Dave said.

The boys played pickup ballgames at nearby S.S. Taylor School or in the yard of a boy who lived off Burlington. For organized team sports, they had to travel about three miles to Conway Recreation Center on the East Side.

Snow and rain

Sledding the hills of Highwood in winter was big fun. More than once Dave and friends piled sand and sod up on a hill to create a bobsled run of sorts. Then the guys would methodically pour water, which quickly froze, on the trail. “We’d carry sprinkling cans, whatever we could, to ice ’em down. That was a fun thing until one year we said, ‘Let’s try a toboggan!’ We got going down there. We got to that curve…” You can probably guess what happened next. “We went right up and over and we landed in some of the sumac that was over the edge of the hill.”

Spring snow melt and rain, and a lack of storm sewers, occasionally created flooding below his friend John’s place. “It (water) would all collect in the low area and we would build rafts out of whatever materials we could get from anybody’s yard.” Then they’d float across Burlington Road and beyond in flood water that was anywhere from two to eight feet deep.

One escapade in which Dave took part occurred at S.S. Taylor School, which he attended for fifth and sixth grades.

St Paul Pioneer Press article 9-26-1926 with photo of Taylor School. Headline: Taylor School Most Rural — When S.S. Taylor School opened in 1926, it was the “most rural” school in Saint Paul according to this September 1926 Saint Paul Pioneer Press article. Samuel Sargent (S.S.) Taylor is the man pictured within the circle and after whom the school was named.

One winter, overabundant snow gave students unusual access to the roof of a small shed next to the playground. “…we were able, with the snow, to climb up on the roof. We were jumping into the thick snowbanks off the roof of that. They rang the recess-end bell after lunch and we got back into the building.”

When students returned to the classroom, the teacher determined one boy was missing, “so she sent some of us back out. We found him. He was stuck up to here in the snowbank,” said Dave, gesturing to the top of his shoulders, “and he couldn’t get out. So it took us a while to shovel him out and get ’em back in.” That ended jumping off the shed at recess.

Boys Totem Town

Another nearby spot that attracted Dave, and friends was Boys Totem Town. Totem Town was a Ramsey County detention facility for youths. It housed boys from eight to 18 years old who committed low-level criminal offenses. Authorities believed the boys would be better off with deterrence at BTT rather than punishment at an adult correctional facility.

The south entrance to Boys Totem Town was less than a tenth of a mile from Dave’s house.

Black and white aerial view of Boys Totem Town. A building complex is in the foreground and land with trees, a pond and open space surrounds it. — In this aerial photo of part of the Boys Totem Town grounds from about 1942, you can see the cluster of building on the lower left.

Dave recalled volunteering at Totem Town. “ When I was smaller, before I was in school, my grandmother knew a elderly lady that worked in Totem Town helping to serve lunch. And she was just like an extra grandmother to us and so we were invited up to help out in the kitchen with serving or setting tables or whatever and got to know some of the people up there.”

A black and white photograph of a kitchen featuring hanging pots and pans, kitchen equipment, and chefs working in the background. — Workers in the Totem Town kitchen in 1942. MNHS

Black and white photo of a group of cows near a fence on a farm, with a barn and trees in the background. — Cows doing cow things in a pen next to the barn at Totem Town. Date unknown. MNHS

With 72 acres of prairies, pasture, a pond or two, woods and only a few buildings confined to one area, it was a boy’s dream come true. For many years, Totem Town staff and residents grew produce and raised animals, including cattle.

One time, Dave and company were hiking around the property.”…we had a dog named Moochie. And he came with us and we got into an area where we were close to the cattle and the mama cows had babies, calves. They didn’t like that dog, so they took off after the dog. The dog ran at us and we found the closest tree we could climb and climbed up to let the dog fend for itself.”

Other times, Dave and his friends scaled trees—without the motivation of a protective cow. “We used to climb some of the younger pine trees that were probably about 20, 25 feet tall,” reflected Dave, “What we tried doing at the time was climbing as high as we could, trying to swing the tops towards another tree and switch trees. Well, that went fine until the neighbor, Terry Katz, might have gotten a little too high. He swung out and the top broke out and he fell all the way to the ground through the branches below him. Luckily he didn’t get hurt, but we had decided to quit climbing the trees there.”

View of a fork in the road at Boys Totem Town, featuring stone pillars and trees lining both sides. — The north entrance to Totem Town in the 1970s. MNHS

Pig’s Eye Lake

Pig’s Eye Lake, at the bottom of the bluffs, was another tempting place. “ When I was really young, we used to go with my uncle trapping down there. He trapped muskrats and he actually raised mink in his backyard.”

Crossing several railroad tracks was the easiest way to get to Pig’s Eye Lake “We were warned by our parents, ‘Do not cross those tracks!’ They didn’t want us getting run over by the trains, even though we were faster than the trains were when they started from the stop. You could hear the trains starting to move ’cause of the clank, clank. “

Naturally, they ignored those warnings. “ We still crawled through the culverts, underneath the railroad tracks down there. So we’d go down there and fish or spear. And in the summer we’d bring carp back for my grandma, who was a avid flower gardener. And for my uncle, who was an avid vegetable gardener and lived right next door to us.”

Working life

Likely it was his upbringing, but Dave loves the outdoors. It’s that fondness that led him to a decades-long and notable career with Saint Paul’s Parks and Recreation and Forestry Departments. He began working part-time in parks and rec at Groveland Recreation Center in 1970, while in college.

During the summers of 1972 and‘73, he served at two other rec centers. It’s also when he ran into trouble, first at Margaret Rec Center. “(I) found out some of the kids were stealing from the neighbors, flushing credit cards down the toilets.”

Dave contacted the police department, explained the situation and asked them to stop in occasionally as a deterent. The only person he told about the card thefts, aside from the police, was the director at Margaret Rec Center.

“And a little bit after that, one of the kids came up to me and said, ‘We know you called the police on us. You’re gonna get something happen to your car or yourself.’” That was enough for Dave. “So I quit there and they sent me over to El Rio Vista (rec center.)”

A different rec center but a similar situation. A boy threw a smoke bomb in the building. “I took a swipe at him with my foot as he went by me. (I) yelled at him to get out, and right away somebody else pulled a knife on me and said, ‘You want to die,’ or whatever.”

The final affront came shortly thereafter, when yet another person pulled a knife. Dave quit the rec center went back to school.

He graduated from the U of M in 1974 and took a job with Hennepin County Parks (now Three Rivers Park District.) About a year and a half later he was hired as an arborist (later renamed city foresters) for the City of Saint Paul, where he worked full-time until retiring in 2008.

Trees, disease and helicopters

An early forestry department task for Dave was marking utilities so tree planting crews did not hit water, natural gas or electrical lines. A nearly endless variety of assignments followed.

Park worker holding ropes. Child with harness and hard hat climbing a tree. Yellow pickup truck in background. — Dave poses while helping a child climb a tree. Date unknown. Courtesy Dave Sundmark

The city’s forestry department staff, Dave included, battled several destructive non-native invaders. Two of the better known are Dutch Elm Disease and Oak Wilt.

Another arborist and Dave uncovered a new infestation around 1981. Somebody brought him an unusual moth. Checking reference books, he determined it was a Gypsy Moth (now officially called a Spongy Moth.)

The moth was discovered in a forestry department holding lot where the trees were stored prior to planting. Dave reported it to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Department. He said, “I was put in charge of working with the Department of Ag and doing aerial sprays using helicopter to spray pesticides over on the east side…” More than 40 years later, the moths remain a serious threat to trees in Minnesota and beyond.

One parks and rec assignment, photographing a concert on Harriet Island, came from that experience. First, he went up in a small plane to take photos. Then he jumped in a State Patrol helicopter, which had no doors, to take more pictures.

That required Dave lean out the open window. “I got air sick. And when I got on the ground, I don’t think I threw up, but I had to sit on the curb for about an hour while my stomach recouped. I never volunteered to do that again.”

The Parks & Forestry office was located in the old streetcar station at 1224 North Lexington Parkway.
Dave, with the help of city gardeners, created an elaborate garden each spring in front of the former streetcar station office. Photo courtesy Dave Sundmark
Before desktop computers, Dave drew the garden layouts by hand. The concentric circles in this 1987 design represent different flowers and plants.

Some of the many other projects Dave undertook included:

creating an inventory of more than 100 of the largest trees of every species he could find in St. Paul;
publishing the ‘Forestry Gazette,’ a newsletter detailing forestry division work distributed to libraries and community councils;
chairing the Minnesota Tree Climbing Championships. The Minnesota champion took second place in the international competition during his tenure.

Back on the bike

After spending several hours talking and touring with Dave and Lynn, (including enjoying the wonderful lunch they prepared) I needed to start the 15 mile trek home. After one measly block, some tree art led me to an unexpected pause.

Three wooden sculptures of cardinals, painted red and black, perched on a tree stump in a grassy area in front of a building. — Once a tree, now three cardinals in the backyard of 1285 McKnight.

My last stop in Highwood came for an interesting wood and stone home on a tree-filled lot along Point Douglas Road. The amount of foliage and length of the home made it impossible to capture it in one photo.

A scenic view of a house with a stone exterior and a wooden structure, surrounded by lush green grass and colorful flowers.

This eye-catching home is at 432 Point Douglas Road.

Over and out

A tugboat navigating under a raised steel bridge over a river, with sunlight reflecting off the water and a clear sky in the background. — A tug pushes a barge down river, under the Union Pacific lift bridge.

Cruising along the Samuel Morgan Trail again, the tug and barge motoring under the St. Paul Union Pacific Vertical-lift Rail Bridge in Downtown struck me as an excellent photographic conclusion to the ride.

With this trip, I’ve visited the fascinating and unique Highwood neighborhood by bike three times. Still, I’ve got one or two more visits before I’ll have ridden every street there. The hilly, twisty roads and uniqueness of Highwood make it more challenging to cover, not that I’m complaining. If this post isn’t enough to inspire you to visit, perhaps featuring some of the parks and natural areas within Highwood on an upcoming trip there will.

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