Welcome back, friends! This week I want to share the final stop on this weekend’s trip, La Salle State Recreation Area. It is a cool place with an interesting background. I did no research on this place outside of trail and location, so it was all new to me. It’d be cool to visit again and explore some of the areas I missed out on this time.
La Salle State Recreation Area Information
La Salle State Park Recreation Area (SRA) is located in Solway, MN. It is Minnesota’s newest SRA and offers a quiet wilderness experience, especially in the part I was in. The part I explored is designated as a scientific and natural area, which means there is a high quality native community and rare plant and species found there. I saw so many cool things.
Activities
If you’re looking to hike, there are 11.50 miles to explore. You can get to some pristine parts on these trails, so be sure to check out the map linked on the site. Want to fish? You’re in luck! LaSalle Lake has a depth of 213 feet, making it the deepest inland lake in Minnesota. You can catch walleye, northern, large mouth bass, black crappie, and bluegill sunfish. There is a fishing pier and boat access. Just be sure that you keep to the 10 mph limit or bring your canoe/kayak. Swimming is allowed on LaSalle Lake, but there is no designated beach. So jump in off the shore and have at it.
If you’re visiting in the winter, you can snowshoe anywhere in the park and snowmobile on the Itasca-Bemidji GIA snowmobile trail, which runs through parts of the SRA. You can also cross-country ski, but there are no groomed trails, so keep that in mind if that’s on your list of things to do.
Camping
Want to camp here? There are 39 sites and all of them are electric. There is also one cabin and one guest house to rent. At the campground, there are accessible showers and flush toilets available from fishing opener to the first Sunday in October. A nice and uncommon thing….there are coin-operated laundry facilities here.
Other offerings
La Salle State Recreation Area also offers a ranger station, picnic area and shelter; playground; firewood sales; and public phones in the shower building, cabin, and guesthouse.
All of this info came from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website, so credit where credit is due. Click here to view the original source.
Accessibility of La Salle State Recreation Area
Parking
In the area I went, there is a large, gravel lot. It was pretty open, but did have those concrete markers.
Bathrooms
Outside of the campground facilities, I saw no bathrooms. Make sure you go before you leave.
Getting to the trail
The trail I did was right off the road. I could see the parking lot and signs. It is easy to miss if you are cruising, so put it in the GPS. Also cell service isn’t great, so offline maps would be a good idea.
Trail Information
The River Overlook Trail is an out and back trail that is 1.40 miles in length and has 32 feet of elevation. I did this trail in about 45 minutes. My tracker got 1.60 miles and 30 feet of elevation, but close enough. Since this trail goes through the scientific and natural area, it is all minimally groomed nature trail. It is one person wide and was overgrown in areas with plenty of roots, rocks, etc. to navigate around. The change in elevation isn’t super big, however, they were enough to get me huffing and puffing. I did take a few short breaks along the way to catch my breath. (The humidity definitely didn’t help my breathing either).
Two of the crossings have gates weighted with kettlebells (pictured above), which obviously made getting the gates open more difficult. While not super heavy, they did require a little heft. Along with the weight, the gates did not open wide. They kind of hard stopped and came back too. All of that being said, if you are unsteady or need mobility devices, this trail is not going to be for you.
Once I got to the summit, the view of the river was beautiful. It isn’t often that I get to see a river cut through the forest from a higher vantage point. (Insert I’ve got the high ground joke here…) The breeze was also welcome.
Once I was out, I needed to go back. My experience on the back was similar to the way out. I was pretty tired and could definitely be heard telling myself “You can do hard things”. I was glad to see the car and get back into the air conditioning of my car.
My rating
This trail would fall into the moderate category of my rating scale. The narrow and overgrown portions of the trail, the weighted gates, and the rocks, roots, etc. added to the difficulty levels. Along with the inclines, while not a huge change in elevation, were enough to cause shortness of breath and breaks.
While this trail had it’s challenges, I did enjoy looking at the wildflowers and undisturbed nature. I would probably go again if in the area.
Have you been to La Salle State Recreation Area? Want to go? Comment below.
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Be safe out there! REMEMBER YOUR MAPS AND PASSPORT STAMPS!! Seeyalaterbye <3
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