STATE PARK Miles alk-in Sites NORTH ailer Dump Public Use Prohibited Public on designated (except trails) FACILITIES AND W Group Zuya Center Group Primitive Camp Amphitheater Observation Deck & Spotting Scope Interpretive Center Dam Tr Station PropertyPrivate to CURRIE, 2 miles FEATURES: Kilometers • 78 semi-modern campsites; 3.4.5 67 electrical (Wolf Point

Campground) 3.4.5 • 10 rustic walk-in sites king r

• 20 rustic campsites (Prairie Cross-Country Skiing easy more difficult most difficult Snowmobiling Pa Information/Park Office Picnic Area Beach Boat Ramp Monument Campground

Campground) CILITIES Marsh Lake Shetek ebster Eastlick 0.1.2. WINTER TRAILS FA 0.1.2. Marsh

•2 primitive group camps W 37 (Wilderness camps) • Zuya Group Center; 80- person capacity

•Picnic area with 2 shelters 3.5 mi. 3.5 PO9 PO12 PO13 PO10

(1 a winter warming shelter) PO11 PO14 WILD1 WILD2

• Boat and canoe launch 0.4 mi. PO8 PO15 • Rowboat and canoe rental 0.4 mi. PO7 SLAYTON, 20 miles Currie Dam •8 miles of hiking trails PO16 To Park Lake umbers

• 6 mikes of paved bike trail Smith Lake PO6

•5 miles of snowmobile trails PO17 PO5 •3 miles of ski trails 37 PO18 No.1 Pond PO4

Fishing 1.7k are RESERVABLE VISITOR FAVORITES: PO19 Shetek Underlined site n PO3 Wildlife Management Area Wildlife

• Swimming beach Monument PO20 No.2 Pond Fishing

• Koch Cabin PO2

• Loon Island 0.4k PO1 •Fishing ponds PARK LAKE SHETEK STATE PRAIRIE CAMPGROUND Hudson Acres och K Cabin

•Interpretive center Prairie Acres ? Forman

• Nature Store 0.4k

• Shetek Monument 1.1k • Eastlick Marsh observation olfpoint

deck and spotting scope W

•Wooland, marsh, and prairie 1.4k Boy Scout Camp hiking trails Loon Island Check it out - you'll be glad you did. Lake Shetek OOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION OOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION L egional offices, state parks and major Minnesota state parks egional offices, The DNR has mapped the state showing federal, state and county lands with their recreational facilities. (PRIM) are Information Maps Public Recreation the DNR gift shop, DNR from available for purchase r sporting and map stores. Because lands exist within the boundaries of this park that are not under the jurisdiction of the D.N.R., check with the park manager if you plan to use facilities such as trails and roads other than those shown. eeley Island © 11/2005 by State of Minnesota, K Department of Natural Resources Visitors enjoy fishing for walleye, northern, perch, HISTORY: The natural beauties of the Lake Shetek area bullhead, crappie, and other species. which attract present day visitors are not confined only Underlined site numbers Koch Restrooms Cabin TRAILS The 1,109-acre park consists of numerous old fields to the 20th century. Long before white settlement ap- are RESERVABLE /Showers which are remnants of pioneer farms and woodlots, of peared in the area, American Indians were settled in the Hiking oak, hackberry, basswood, elm, and ash. These woodlots Lake Shetek area. Undoubtedly the first visitors were Parking became buffers against the winds of the great plains. wandering hunters in pursuit of bison. Because of its FA CILITIES supply of water, bison and those who preyed upon them Interpretive WILDLIFE: Center Before modern agriculture was introduced, were attracted to the Shetek area. Telephone Duluth most of the Lake Shetek area was a treeless prairie that Fish Cleaning • Strictly speaking, the first to settle the area were the contained hundreds of species of wildflowers and Park Office grasses. The prairie was habitat for such animals as peoples of the Great Oasis culture on the northeastern 74e Camping Cabin bison, elk, antelope, wolves, and prairie chickens. Over slope of the Coteau. In the mid 1840s, European and American explorers such as Catlin, Nicollet, Prescot 76e 73e Walk-in Sites the past century, 99 percent of Minnesota’s native prairie 75e 64e Group Camp and Freemont explored the area associated with Lake 65e has been removed and transformed into cropland. Amphitheater Minneapolis/ Shetek and what would later be called Murray County. 77e Group Center 67e 63e St. Paul • The habitats now in the park still support many wildlife 53e species. A quiet hike on one of the park trails can yield The first settlement by whites occurred in 1856. From 78e 69e 66e Boat Ramp the period 1856-1862 a settlement was established. 55e Monument LAKE SHETEK a glimpse of a doe and her fawn, the bubbly sounds 70e of bobolinks in the prairie, or the graceful flight of a Although its population varied, it probably numbered 68e 54e Picnic Area STATE PARK no more than 40 persons at any given time. This settle- e Electrical Sites white pelican overhead. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels 71e 56e ment was established from Lake Fremont to Beauty 59e 42e Beach and raccoon have adapted all too well to the park’s 72e 61e 57e 45e Water recreational areas, and are frequent visitors of campers Lake along the eastern belt of land adjacent to Lake Shetek. The availability of large trees and wood made 58e 47e Dump Station and picnickers. 60e 43e Toilets it attractive for settlers and pioneers. The western 48e 31e LAKE SHETEK 62e 44e The wooded shorelines of Lake Shetek provide cover shores of Shetek were largely prairie and thus offered 51e for a variety of woodland species. Notable animals no appeal to the first settlers. 46e 33e STATE PARK include white-tail deer, fox, mink, beaver, fox squirrels, 49e 35e 32e muskrat, woodchuck, and . The woods also Most of those who came in the 1856-62 period were 50e 18e taking advantage of then Governor Ramsey’s lenient 37e 34e provide cover for many birds including cuckoos, 52e FOR MORE INFORMATION land regulations which permitted them to claim land 38e 20e bunting, warblers, and hawks. 40e 19e 01e Lake Shetek State Park after seven years’ occupation if they cleared sufficient 36e 02 Several wetland areas in the park offer visitors an land area for a farm. 39e 21e 163 State Park Road 24e 04e opportunity to view waterfowl, reptiles and amphibi- 41e The promise of the first white settlement of Shetek 25e 22e Currie, MN 56123-1018 ans. At Eastlick Marsh, interpretive signs and an ob- 27e 03 servation deck with a spotting scope allow for close- came to an end during the Dakota Conflict of 1862. On 29e 06e (507) 763-3256 August 20, 1862 three war bands of Dakota braves 23e C01 W02 up viewing and easy identification of coot, grebes, 07e ♦ descended on the Shetek settlement. Fifteen settlers 26e 05 16 ducks, herons, and pelicans. Many species of waterfowl 28e W04 were killed in the attack and the rest scattered. After 09e can be seen nesting in and around the park in spring 30e W06 Department of Natural Resources the conclusion of the Dakota Conflict on September 26, 11e 15 W01 W08 and early summer. W03 Information Center 1862, Shetek lay abandoned for all practical purposes. 08 14 W09 It was not until the 1900s that further settlements were W05 A large portion of the park consists of abandoned farm 10 13 W07 500 Lafayette Road NORTH fields. In an effort to restore the natural prairie com- envisioned for the area. Families from Ireland were 12 St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 munity, carefully managed prescribed burns, weed tempted to settle at Avoca and nearby towns through control, and other techniques are used in these areas. generous grants and loans: however, the difficulty of Lake W10 (651) 296-6157 (Metro Area) Although it will take decades to even partially restore farming soon doomed many of these efforts at further Shetek the prairie, many species of prairie grasses and wild- settlement. Added to these distresses were severe Min- 1-888-646-6367 (MN Toll Free) flowers can now be found in the park, Blazing star, nesota winters, blackbird and locust infestations. black-eyed susans, coneflowers, vervain, sunflowers, LAKE SHETEK STATE PARK TDD (Telecommunications and bottle gentian are a few of the showy wildflowers Shetek never had any chance of developing a subsis- WOLF POINT CAMPGROUND Device for Deaf) again growing in the park. tence farming economy and thus, with the lack of economic integrity, it never became a community as (651) 296-5484 (Metro Area) GEOLOGY: Lake Shetek lies in the Coteau des Prairie thriving as Falls or Sioux City. However, the SO EVERYONE CAN ENJOY THE PARK . . . 1-800-657-3929 (MN Toll Free) “highlands of the prairie” region of Minnesota, a beauty of Lake Shetek still remains. As it was beautiful •Park permits are required on every motorized vehicle This information is available in geological area which separates the Minnesota River in the eyes of the Native American and the white settler, entering the park. alternative format upon request. DNR Web Site: www.dnr.state.mn.us from the Missouri River watershed. This Coteau region so it remains beautiful in our eyes too. • Pet waste deposited in mowed or maintained areas was often inundated by glaciers that moved across INTERPRETIVE PROGRAM: Lake Shetek’s interpretive must be immediately cleaned up by the owner and Minnesota two million to 11,000 years ago. During deposited in an appropriate waste container. the last period of glaciation (Wisconsin), the Des programs offer many activities relating to the natural “Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from Moines lobe covered this area with deep deposits of and cultural features of the area. The naturalist leads • Edible berries, fungi and legally taken wild animals programs of the Minnesota Department of Natural LAKE SHETEK STATE PARK is located 14 miles north- glacial till (rock debris). hikes to view wildlife and wildflowers, offers demon- are the only things not protected by law in state parks. Resources is available to all individuals regardless of east of Slayton, 13 miles south of Tracy, and 33 miles strations, car caravans, bike hikes, tours, slide shows, • Hunting in the park and possessing any firearm is race, color, creed or religion, national origin, sex, marital southeast of Marshall, MN in Murray County. Access and movies throughout the summer months. Weekly Each advance of the glacier moved immense amounts allowed only during the special muzzle loader season. status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual to the park is by County Road 38, north of Currie. of glacial till, which accumulated at the margins of activity schedules and notices of special events are • Loud noises and other disturbances are prohibited orientation, age or disability. Discrimination inquires Highway map index: D-19. the glacier, forming irregular hills and depressions posted in the park. after 10 P.M. called moraines. The Coteau is essentially formed by should be sent to the Minnesota Department of Natural Shetek is an Ojibwe word. The most widely accepted two moraines, the Bemis and Altemont. The park’s interpretive center, open through the sum- • It is unlawful for any person in a state park to Resources, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4031; translation is “pelican”. Lake Shetek, the largest lake in mer, has on display many photographs, artifacts, maps consume intoxicating liquors, or to display in public or the Equal Opportunity Office, Department of the southwestern Minnesota, forms the headwaters of the About 12,000 years ago the climate warmed and the and interpretive exhibits relating to the natural and any intoxicating liquor containers. Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.” Des Moines River. Minnesota glaciers receded, producing swift rivers of meltwater cultural resources in the park. A self-guided interpretive • The park is closed from 10:00 P.M. to 8:00 A.M. except which sculpted channels and formed outwash plains. trail around Loon Lake begins at the boat landing. in camping areas. For many years, the Department of Natural Resources Small landslides dammed nearby meltwater channels Visitors are welcome and a seasonal naturalist is avail- has stocked game fish in Lake Shetek. In 1975, an and depressions, which backed up water and eventually able to answer questions and share information. Schools • Minnesota State Park rules are available at park office. aeration system was installed in the 3,600-acre lake, DEPARTMENT OF created Lake Shetek. and groups can arrange special programs (June-August) NATURAL RESOURCES raising the winter oxygen level and reducing winterkill. by calling (507) 763-3256. ♦ © 11/2005 by State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources DNR Maps