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Don Husnik, 651-407-8320 for event information.Call 507-362-4438 for park information.
P
r e - r e g i s t r a t i o n D e a d l i n
e
Wednesday, March 25. We recommend that you pre-register, especially if you wish to participate for an award. Click here to download the PDF pre-registration form.
Start/finish: Picnic AreaStart times: You may start anytime after 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Refreshments: Water and restrooms are available at the registration area. NSTT will offer a participant "picnic" for a donation to cover the cost.
The event is sanctioned for 11km (6.9 miles) made up of two shorter loops of 5km and 6km. Trails are combination of single file hiking trails, wide grassy trails and paved bike trail. Walking sticks recommended. Rating: 2+.
Award is a Pileated Woodpecker leather pin, $8;
IVV event book credit, $3;
walk only, $2.
Pre-registration for award is recommended:
deadline is March 25. Awards will be reordered with an additional $1 to cover mailing cost.
Pre-registration form PDF.
The park entrance is located off State Highway 60, one mile east of the ihntersection on State Highway 13 and 60 at Waterville, 14 miles west of Faribault.
Sakatah-Singing Hills State Trail runs through Sakatah Lake State Park and stretches 39 miles from Mankato to Faribault. The paved trail offers hikers, bikers, skiers, and snowmobilers beautiful scenery through Minnesota's hardwoods. Sakatah Lake, a natural widening of the Cannon River, lures canoeists and anglers.
Members of the Dakota Nation, the Wahpekita (Wapacoota) tribe inhabited the area that is now the park. Some of their burial mounds remain in the park. They named the area Sakatah, which translates to "Singing Hills," hence the name for the state trail. The Cannon and other area rivers served as an important Indian water route between south central Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Big Woods made land travel difficult and a water route allowed larger loads. Numerous trading posts and Indian villages existed along the route. A village site is believed to have existed in the area of the point separating Sakatah and Lower Sakatah Lakes.
European settlement came in the late 1800s, and a rail line was laid between Faribault and Waterville in 1882, and extended to Mankato by 1886. In 1862 a trader by the name of Alexander Faribault established a post on the northeast shore of Cannon Lake &emdash; one of the first white settlements in the area. He eventually opened at least five other trading posts along the Cannon River.
By chance, the forest on the south shore of Sakatah Lake was never logged, and a 1962 inquiry into making it a state park received much local support. Sakatah Lake State Park officially opened to the public in 1967. Although there was a rail line running through the park, it was only used occasionally, and in 1976 the owners sold it to the state, which converted it into the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail.
Super 8, Mankato
51578 US Hwy 169 N
Hwy 169 N and Hwy 14 JCT
Mankato, MN 56003 US
507-387-0600Days Inn, Mankato
1285 Range Street
Hwy-169 & Hwy-14
Mankato, MN 56002 US
Phone: 507-387-3332Best Western, Mankato
1111 Range Street
Mankato, MN, 56003
507-625-9333AmericInn, Mankato
240 Stadium Road
Mankato, MN 56001
800-396-5007 or 507-345-8011Sakatah Bay Resort Motel
815 E. Paquin Street
Waterville, MN 56096
507-362-8980
N
e a r b y F o l k s p o r t s
Riverbend Striders hosts a number of seasonal walks in the Mankato area. For information contact Earl von Holt, 507-625-5375 for more info.Twin Cities Volkssports hosts a number of seasonal walks in Southeastern Minnesota. For information contact Gene Schutte, 651-429-6938 for more info.
N
e a r b y S t a t e P a r k s
Nerstrand Big Woods State ParkRice Lake State Park
Minneopa State Park
DNR: Sakatah Lake State Park
Current weather information and forecast:
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