Sakatah Lake State Park is an

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, USA, on a natural widening of the Cannon River near the town of Waterville. The

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

native to the area called it "Sakatah" which means "singing hills". To honor this native heritage, some of the trails in the park have been given Dakota names. The

Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail is a paved multi-use rail trail connecting Faribault, Minnesota, Faribault and Mankato, Minnesota, Mankato, Minnesota. It is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which converted it from a ...

, which connects Faribault and

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

, runs through this park.

Natural history

The park sits on a thick

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

deposited during the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

, resulting in a rolling and uneven topography. Blocks of ice left behind as the glaciers melted formed the basin in which Sakatah Lake now lies. The park preserves a mixed transitional habitat where the

Big Woods Big Woods refers to a type of temperate hardwood forest ecoregion found in western Wisconsin and south-central Minnesota. "Big Woods" is a direct translation of the name given to the region by French explorers: . Trees and native vegetation ...

(

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

basswood ''Tilia americana'' is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to ...

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

) of central

blend into the

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

barrens of the southern part of the state. During drier eras patches of

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

arose, although they are now succeeding back to hardwood forests. The landscape is further diversified by wetlands and agricultural fields.

Wildlife

This park is home to

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

s, and

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

s. These mammals are commonly seen by visitors. Bird watchers get an opportunity to view songbirds,

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s, various

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

s, and various

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s in this park.

Cultural history

The Wahpekute band of

Dakota Sioux The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...

traditionally inhabited this area, using the Cannon River as an important transportation route. Some of their burial mounds remain in the park. European settlement came in the late 1800s, and a rail line was laid between Faribault and Waterville in 1882, and extended to

by 1886. 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. The site was included in a bill that passed the next year which authorized fourteen state parks. Development occurred over the next few years and Sakatah Lake State Park officially opened to the public in 1967. Although there was a rail line running through the park, it was only occasionally used, and in 1976 the owners abandoned it entirely and willingly sold it to the state, which converted it into the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail.

Recreation

*Boating: The park has a public boat ramp and four rental canoes. *Camping: **Shaded campground with 62 sites and one camper cabin. **Two primitive group camps accessible by road at the east end of the park. **Camping area for travelers on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail. *Fishing: There is a fishing pier near the picnic area. *Trails: There is a total of of trails in the park, most of them well-shaded. **

(hiking/biking/roller-blading/snowmobiling) **Oak Tree/Utahu Can Trail - Hidden Pond Trail - Sumac Trail (hiking/skiing): These three trails form a loop around the center of the park. **Big Woods/Tanka Canwitc Loop (hiking/skiing): A 1 km loop accessible from either of the trail systems listed above. **Wahpekute Trail (hiking): The least developed trail in the park runs right along the lakeshore. ** Timber Doodle Trail (hiking/skiing): A level loop through the more exposed scrub area in the eastern part of the park. *There is no designated swimming area in the park. The shore is quite muddy.

References

*Arthur, Anne. ''Minnesota's State Parks''. Adventure Publications, Inc.: Cambridge, MN, 1998. *Meyer, Roy W. ''Everyone's Country Estate: A History of Minnesota's State Parks''. Minnesota Historical Society Press: St. Paul, 1991. *Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2006. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Web Site (online).

External links

Sakatah Lake State Park
{{authority control 1963 establishments in Minnesota Protected areas established in 1963 Protected areas of Le Sueur County, Minnesota Protected areas of Rice County, Minnesota State parks of Minnesota