Sakatah Lake State Park

Hiking Club Trail #8

​HIKE DETAILS
Date: October 15, 2017
Location: Waterville, MN
Length: 2.2 Miles (Hiking Club Trail)
Difficulty: Easy: (HCT) a few hills - the acorns and hazelnuts on the ground were the biggest hazard  
Cumulative Hiking Club Miles: 20.2 of 197

We started out this day intending to go check out the fall colors at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park - my mom grew up near there and had never visited... We got there and it was packed with people and just about every single one of them had a dog. Normally this wouldn't be a problem - I love dogs. But Penny has a crazy amount of dog anxiety - that I can't seem to figure out how to help her control. She was a shelter dog before I rescued her - she has her issues. I try to socialize her but this was going to be WAY too much - so turn to plan B, Sakatah Lake...

This Park wasn't my favorite - it was small (only 5 miles of trails), there was nothing special to look at, the trails we super easy and it runs along a main road for much of the hike, so instead of hearing nature you hear traffic noise.

It was pretty enough but I feel like I saw the whole park - it was nice to be the only ones in the Park though.

In the end this one was more of an obligation hike for me - just one to check off the HCT list.

​I do have to remind myself though that not all these parks will be large, not all of them are going to have impressive features but I do have a large appreciation for the natural environments that MN is preserving for us and that I have the ability to see the beautiful scenery and wildlife step-by-step!