Hey friends! Thanks for stopping by. Today, I want to share my trip to Zippel Bay State Park. This one is a bit of a jaunt, as its at the top of the state, but the drive was worth it.
Zippel Bay State Park Information
Zippel Bay State Park is located on Lake of the Woods in Williams, MN. It’s 3,000 acres of jackpine, aspen, and birch trees, as well as a two mile stretch of beach. My hiking buddy and I spent our time at the beach. It was a little chilly, but a beautiful place to explore.
Activities
Zippel Bay offers activities for both summer and winter. If you’re looking to hike, there are nine miles of hiking trails and two miles of horse trails. Want to swim? There is a beautiful white sand beach to enjoy. Want to fish? The park has an accessible fishing pier and fish cleaning house. Speaking of being on the water, there is both drive-in and carry-in boat access.
In the summer months, you’ll find four different species of lady slippers and other types of orchids. I didn’t go in the summer, so I missed out. I’ll have to go back…we know how much I love hunting for lady slippers…If you’re feeling snack-ish while out on the trail, there are a variety of options to forage, including blueberries, juneberries, pin cherries, cranberries, wild strawberries, and edible mushrooms.
During the winter months, you can snowmobile on the three miles of groomed trails inside the park. Just 10 miles from the park, you can access 300+ miles of trails. Snowshoeing is available throughout the park, aside from the groomed snowmobile trails. The park also offers 7 miles of ungroomed cross-country skiing trails.
If you’re doing any of these activities, you will have the chance to see several different wildlife species. Because of the park’s location, there is an interesting mix of wildlife that isn’t really seen in other parts of the state. Coyotes, black bear, mink, fisher, otter, pine martens, timber wolves, deer, and moose all live in this area. Looking to birdwatch? Well, you’re in luck. There are pelicans; double crested cormorants; four different species of terns and herring; ring-billed, Franklin’s, and Bonaparte’s gulls; bald eagles; osprey; sandhill cranes; and piping plover (these little guys are endangered), so get ready to check them off your list!
Camping
There are 57 drive-in sites, but none of them are electric. If you’re bringing an RV/5th wheel, know that they aren’t advised past Ridge Campground as the sites are small. A rustic group camp is available. It can accommodate 45 people and is open for tents, small trailers, and campers.
Other offerings at Zippel Bay State Park
Zippel Bay State Park also has both an accessible picnic area and shelter, ranger station with nature store, interpretive exhibit, historic site–the original Zippel homestead, canoe rentals, and firewood. This park has the All-Terrain Track Chairs we’ve talked about in the past. I saw one here and the ranger was super informative when I asked questions. I want to try one out one of these days. It would’ve been helpful for me on the trail I did, but more on that later…
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 Zippel Bay State Park
Parking
There is a large gravel lot near the beach, you can park here. There’s plenty of room.
Bathrooms
Vault toilets are available here. There were two by the beach where the trail we did is.
Getting to the trail
The trail my hiking buddy and I did is located right off of the parking lot at the beach. There is a sign marking the trailhead.
Trail Information
The Zippel Bay Costal Path is an out and back trail that is 1.4 miles in length and has 9 feet of elevation. It starts right off the parking lot at the picnic area. My tracker messed up, so I don’t have accurate information about my hike, but it took under 30 minutes.
The trail is relatively flat, as there is only 9 feet of elevation, however, it starts off on the beach. A decent chunk of it is on the sandy beach and the rest is a groomed nature trail. The nature trail portion is uneven and has rocks and roots to navigate, but it’s nothing too obstructive.
If you struggle on softer surfaces, like sand, this one might not be for you. For me, sand is hard as it’s unstable. It causes me some pain, as well as shortness of breath as I have to work harder to move around. Not going to lie, I wished I used the track chair. It would’ve been both helpful and fun.
We were the only ones on the trail, so it was a nice jaunt in nature. The trail is wide enough for two people to walk comfortably and is shaded once you get off the beach.
My rating
This trail would fall into the easy to moderate category of my rating scale. Like I said, it’s a short trail with little change in elevation, but the sand ups the intensity a bit. My shortness of breath kicked in on the nature trail portion on the way back. Full transparency, I was already a little tired and probably needed to slow down a bit.
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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