Welcome back, friends! I want to share another stop my first camping trip of the season with you! Monson Lake State Park. The weather wasn’t ideal, but my hiking buddy and I made the best of it. Remember the parka from last week? Yeah, still grateful she let me borrow it.
Park Information
Monson Lake State Park is located in Sunberg, MN and consists of 346 acres on both Monson and Sunberg Lakes. The landscape is made of upland lowland hardwoods (whatever that means), remnants of prairie, and the native flora and fauna along the lakeshores. Fun fact: the park is in an area called Alexandria Glacial Moraine Complex, which was made by glaciers over 30,000 years ago and ultimately formed the landscapes and lakes.
If you’re looking to hike, there is a 1.2 mile trail along both lakes. The trail runs through the woodland filled with oak, ash, and basswood trees. It’s also a great place to birdwatch and check off white pelicans, herons, western gerbes, shorebirds, and waterfowl. You can fish those lakes too, so bring your tackle for walleye, northern, bass, and sunfish.
Want to camp here? Well, you’re in luck. The quiet campground offers drive-in sites– six electric and 14 non-electric. There is also showers, flush toilets, and vault toilets.
Monson Lake State Park also offers a picnic area and shelter; horseshoes; fishing pier, historic site, and firewood on a limited basis.
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 Monson Lake State Park
Parking
The gravel lot is right off the picnic area.
Bathrooms
There is a vault toilet off the parking lot, right at the trailhead.
Getting to the trail
The trailhead is right off the parking lot. It is marked and the only trail.
Trail Information
The Monson Lake Hiking Club Trail is a 1.1mile loop that has 26 feet of elevation. My hiking buddy and I did it in a little under an hour. The trail was an all dirt trail through a heavily wooded area. The trees honestly blew my mind a little bit. They were so tall. The trail was relatively flat and didn’t have much to navigate around rocks and roots wise.
The weather was cold and windy, hence the parka in the photo. Since we were along the lake, it was a little more so. Overall, it was a good hike though. We were definitely glad to get back to the cabin to warm up and eat lunch.
My rating
This trail would fall into the easy category of my rating scale. It’s shot and sweet, relatively flat, and blocked from most of the wind because of the trees. My hiking buddy felt the same way.
Have you been to Monson Lake State Park? Want to go? Comment below. I’d love to hear from you.
Be safe out there! REMEMBER YOUR MAPS AND PASSPORT STAMPS!! Seeyalaterbye <3
Also, if you feel called to help a sista out with her travels, check this out!
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