With just over 1,100 acres, Lake Shetek State Park in Currie, MN is a smaller park in Minnesota’s system. In fact, the lake it’s named after is three times bigger and is the main attraction for many visitors. Tucked into the southwestern corner of the state, some 40 miles from South Dakota and 20 miles from Iowa, the lake draws visitors into Minnesota from several states. Things settle down during the cold months, but the 14-mile trail network still gives you plenty to explore.
Weekend at Lake Shetek
On a cold January day, we paid a visit and stayed in one of the park’s camper cabins. We arrived in time to watch park staff dig out our cabin from under eight inches of snow. When they were done, we wasted no time, moved in, strapped on the snowshoes and went for a hike. Lucky for us, Picnic Trail passed right by our cabin and went north past the beach and the boat landing to the Loon Island Causeway. It was about 20 degrees with a stiff breeze coming off the frozen lake. The trail was mostly covered in snow, but a blizzard with 40 and 50 miles per hour wind gusts had deposited huge drifts that snaked like white fingers across the trail, some several feet thick. That’s what snowshoes are for and we got a kick out of hustling up the drifts one side and yelling “Wheee!” on the other side, like we were descending a mountain on skis. The causeway is a narrow land bridge between the state park and Loon Island with a 1,000-foot span. Here, the icy winds were howling across the skinny trail and made our eyes water. Snowshoes were useless on this stretch, because there was not a flake of snow here. We took them off 8 Winter 2021-2022
State Park
by Jan Lasar
The walk around the island was invigorating. We had first tracks through some thick drifts and trees and bushes were coated with puffy snow on the side that had faced the blizzard. and hurried across the bay. Just before we reached the island, however, it was like someone had turned off the wind tunnel machine. One second we were leaning into the arctic blast, the next minute the wind had stopped completely as if on command. Not even the grasses next to us moved. I took a few steps back and there was the wind again, in full force. Loon Island isn’t huge and the hiking trail that circles it is less than a mile long, but it’s definitely worth it. Interpretive signs will tell you about the area’s natural history and what makes Loon Island so special. The first thing you’ll learn is that Loon Island is a misnomer because people mistook the cormorants that used to nest here, for loons. You’d expect this to be a haven for cormorants, but the colony was wiped out by a special hunt, staged by area residents in the early 1900s, who felt the birds were eating too much fish
from the lake. This story makes a great argument for outdoor education and preservation, but then again, humans built the causeway we walked to get to the island to read the signs that told us how humans interfered in nature. The walk around the island was invigorating. We had first tracks through some thick drifts and trees and bushes were coated with puffy snow on the side that had faced the blizzard. It looked like fake spray snow, the kind you’d find in department store displays. It was a great snowshoe hike through basswood and hackberry forest that blocked the wind and allowed us to marvel at a beautiful winter landscape. Back at the cabin, Jen checked her Avenza tracker. We had managed to get in three miles, which was not bad for an afternoon. The next day we got going a little earlier, planned for a longer trek on snowshoes and were looking forward Minnesota Trails
