Lake Shetek State Park Hiking Club Path on the Island.

The Drive: If you think that after driving hundreds of miles through almost identical corn and soybean fields, the drive would start to become dull, you've underestimated my ability to romanticize my experiences. I just can't gaze out at the rolling hills of gold and emerald and not feel like I'm in the middle of some cheesy and endearing patriotic medley. Every red silo and every ramshackle farmhouse evokes some idealized version of the American heartland - the breadbasket of the world - bulwark of quiet civilization guarding us against the uncertainty and wilderness of the outside a world - a proverbial beacon on the hill. Even though I know most of these farms are controlled by massive agricultural conglomerates with patented GMO seeds producing an economically unsustainable product, kept alive by immense, politically driven government subsidies, and operating on land illegally seized from oppressed indigenous people, when I'm actually on the road, it is easy to ignore all that and just appreciate the many hues soybeans go through on their way to drought induced death.

Lake Shetek is actually a pretty big lake, something I wasn't expecting to encounter in this part of the state.

The Park: Lake Shetek (Shetek means Pelican, but I never saw any there) is another park that I don't really feel the need to explore more than I did. Although there is about seven lakes within the boundaries of this small park, the main attraction is Lake Shetek itself, a large lake popular with fisherman and boaters. I am not a fisherman and it was not a friendly day for boating or swimming, nor was the one mile hiking club trail adequate for me to get an idea of the kind of hiking they have, so I guess I can't truly attest to the virtues of this park. They do have an old pioneer cabin (history!) which is worth exploring and a really unusual monument right outside the park. I'm still not quite sure what it was commemorating. The beginning of the Casey Jones bike trail is near the park as well.

The Hike: Beginning at the boat landing, this one mile jaunt takes you across the Lake Shetek causeway to a self-interpretive island loop. While walking through the tangle of second growth oak and ash, you learn from signs how beautiful the island was before it's virgin forest was ravaged by disease, leaving it as barren as the stripped farmland on the lake's shores. Using my impressive imaginative skills I was able to reconstruct the island as it was and consequently enjoyed my hike much more. I enjoyed it less, however, the second time I did the loop since I somehow missed the password sign the first time around (one of the contributing factors to the park's 3/5 arbitrary rating). The path is easy, quick, and relatively uninteresting. Check it out if your in the area, but don't go out of your way.

The path to the island. It gets pretty windy out in the middle of the lake so be prepared.

Cumulative Miles Driven: 1190

Cumulative Miles Hiked: 38

Arbitrary Rating: 3/5

Kilen Woods State Park Hiking Club Trail runs through both prairie and oak forests. You see a lot of diversity in the two short miles.

The Drive: The drive from Blue Mounds State Park to Kilen Woods is almost entirely on I-90. If you've ever driven on the big interstates (and of course you have) you know, with some exceptions, they are pretty mundane. However, I did take a detour on my way in Worthington, MN to experience some of the Turkey Day festivities with my cousins. Worthington is a fairly large town, but they still do crazy small town stuff like racing turkeys through the street and running 10k's. But I couldn't stay long if I wanted to get all my hikes in, so I missed the actual turkey races. There is always next year.

Can't escape corn fields even in Kilen Woods.

The Park: Kilen Woods is in the Des Moines river valley and is known for its spring wildflowers (I was there in the fall). The valley, where the river cuts though a giant glacial drift, it covered in a dense oak forest, while the heights are prairie/farmland like everything else around it. The website lists "peaceful/quiet park" as a highlight and indeed, the park was deserted when I got there. Despite apparently being a popular camping park, I didn't see another person the entire time I was there - which isn't that unusual for remote parks.

A storm rolling in over Kilen Woods State Park

The Hike: The 2-mile hike starts near the bottom of the valley, passing through huge canopies of oak, the ground strewn with acorns (remind me to tell you sometime how to whistle with an acorn cap). It winds through the forest until you hit its lowest point where there is a sign pointing toward "Dinosaur Ridge." Now I don't know why its called Dinosaur Ridge, but if I had to guess, it would be because it is a long, dreary, prehistoric climb to the top. The hike to the top of the ridge felt like two miles in and off itself. I thought the view would be worth it. It wasn't. At the top of the ridge, the trail breaks from the woods and enters the prairie. It wraps around the back of the park, following corn fields for much of the time, before reentering the woods and mazing its way back to the parking lot. Despite Dinosaur Ridge, I would rank this park third of the six parks on this leg of the trip - mostly because it really was peaceful.

Cumulative Miles Hikes: 37

Cumulative Miles Driven: 1003

Arbitrary Rating: 4/5