Glacial Lakes State Park

Arriving

Two weeks ago we loaded up the jeep and headed to Starbuck, Minnesota. We were prepared for a camping experience a little out of our element. For the reason that Glacial Lakes State Park is a magical place where Minnesota prairie lands  (only 1/10 of 1% of the original prairie remains) and the central hardwood forest meet. Also, Glacial Lakes State Park is located in the Leaf Mountains.

Hiking In

In order to get to the hike-in sites, you will park at the horse camp. Along the edge is a large map showing all four sites, we chose Kettle. The park has 16 miles of hiking trails, it is about 2 miles to hike to Kettle Lake.  The park is very hilly and being prairie there is no shade, making it more difficult than your normal 2-mile hike. While mosquitos and biting flies were not bad, the ticks were awful, we had to stop along the way to pick some ticks off ourselves and the pupper.  Along the trail prairie dogs, ducks, geese, Great Egrets, and even a garter snake greeted us. Coyote scat was along the trail, and they are known for being in the area. However, we had no sightings of them.

Kettle Lake Campsite

Upon arriving at the campsite you will note a small, newer portapotty close by and that the campsite is pretty open to the trail. This could cause some privacy issues, but this is a quiet park and we did not experience that. In fact, we did not encounter anyone else along the trail. Further, the campsite is nestled along the bottom of hills along Kettle Lake. This creates a beautiful, serene view from your chair or tent. While enjoying the beauty of the lake, you will see many of Kettle Lake’s residents. This includes a busy muskrat who spends all day swimming back and forth, geese, ducks, pelicans, and more Great Egrets.

Enjoying Camp

Turkey Dinner Mountain House was our very filling and delicious supper. You have the choice of ordering wood delivered to your campsite, but since this is a prairie we just used our canister stove for all meal preparation. Kory got to try out his new water filtration set up, and we used Kettle Lake as our source of water instead of hiking in the extra weight. We enjoyed playing with our dog, each other’s company, and just the beauty of nature before heading off to dreamy slumberland. Mid-May is still fairly cold at night, temperatures were around 40 degrees. We woke up early with the help of our dog, Mora, made a quick breakfast and broke down camp.

Heading Home

The hike back to the jeep seemed a lot quicker than the hike in. Many waterfowl still made their appearance in the morning, and the ticks were not quite as bad. We found the temperature was great for hiking out, around 60 degrees, the sun was bright and we were gifted a few small breezes to help keep us cool. Leaving the park was as easy as coming in.  Once we were home we combed through ourselves and Mora and found quite a few more ticks.

Final Thoughts

Glacial Lakes State Park is a beautiful and unique park. Lakes fill this magical crossroads of prairie and hardwood forest. Trails in this park are moderate because of how hilly they are. You will find entertaining wildlife at camp and along the trail. We will definitely visit Glacial Lakes State Park again, truly the only downside was the plethora of ticks (so make sure you have your bug protection like permethrin.) Overall this park is a 4 out of 5 from us!