•W • • • •I •F • • • VISITOR FAVORITES: m •3 •5 • 6 mikes of paved bike trail m •8 • • •Pi • • •1 • • • FEATURES: F PARK STATE L Department of Natural Resources © 7/2008 by State of Minnesota, ACILITIES AND hiking trails deck and spotting scope Eastlick Marsh observation Shetek Monument Store Nature Loon Island Koch Cabin Swimming beach r Rowboat,canoe and kayak Boat and canoe launch (1 winter warming shelter) Camper Cabin capacity Center; 80-person Zuya Group camp) (Wilderness Campground) campsites (Prairie 20 rustic cart-in sites 10 rustic Campground) Point 67 electrical (Wolf 77 semi-modern campsites; AKE S nterpretive center nterpretive ental miles of snowmobile trails camp primitive group ishing ponds oodland, marsh, and prairie cnic area with 2 shelters cnic area iles of ski trails iles of hiking trails HETEK LAKE SHETEK STATE PARK PRAIRIE CAMPGROUND PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10 Lake Shetek PO11 Underlined site numbers PO12 are RESERVABLE PO13 Tr nd ail Isla PO20 PO19 PO18 PO17 PO16 PO15 PO14 n o o L Loon Island Webster Marsh L il ake ra Sid T e Tra il g il ra in ic T d Park Lake icn n P a PL1 t L a (Cart-in) il o B ra Fish T Rearing WILD1 (Group Camp) Pond Fish Pond W d Keeley Zuya Trail ebs No.1 Trail ter Islan Island Prairie Trail ark Lake Koch P Cabin Eastlick Fish Rearing Marsh Wolf Point Trail Pond No.2 Park Lake Trail Wolfpoint Monument T rail 37 Bluebird Trail Smith Lake Trail North Shetek Monument Forman Acres Boy Scout Lake Shetek–Currie Camp Bicycle Trail S m Smith Lake W ith 37 e st T L to CURRIE, 2 miles a ra ke il SUMMER TRAILS Hiking Cart-in Sites Biking (paved) Zuya Group Lake Shetek rail Center Hudson Acres ast T E ke FACILITIES La ith Primitive Group Sm Parking Camp Information/Park Amphitheater Office Observation Deck & Spotting Scope L Picnic Area a k e B S ic Visitor Center h y e Beach c te le k T – ra C Dam il u rrie Boat Ramp Monument Trailer Dump Station Des Moines River Because lands exist within the boundaries of this park Campground Private Property Public Use Prohibited that are not under the jurisdiction of the D.N.R., check (except on designated with the park manager if you plan to use facilities such Camper Cabin trails) as trails and roads other than those shown. LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION ? Wildlife Management Area Currie Dam The DNR has mapped the state showing federal, state and county lands with their recreational NORTH facilities. Public Recreation Information Maps (PRIM) are 0.1.2.3.4.5 available for purchase from the DNR gift shop, DNR Miles regional offices, Minnesota state parks and major sporting and map stores. 0.1.2.3.4.5 to CURRIE, Kilometers Check it out - you'll be glad you did. 1 mile Visitors enjoy fishing for walleye, northern, perch, Small landslides dammed nearby meltwater channels bullhead, crappie, channel catfish and other species. and depressions, which backed up water and eventually Underlined site numbers Koch Restrooms created Lake Shetek. Cabin TRAILS The 1,109-acre park consists of numerous old fields are RESERVABLE /Showers which are remnants of pioneer farms and woodlots, of HISTORY: The natural beauties of the Lake Shetek area Hiking Parking oak, hackberry, basswood, elm, and ash. These woodlots which attract present day visitors are not confined only became buffers against the winds of the great plains. to the 20th century. Long before white settlement ap- FA CILITIES Interpretive peared in the area, American Indians were settled in the Center WILDLIFE: Before modern agriculture was introduced, Telephone Duluth Lake Shetek area. Undoubtedly the first visitors were Fish Cleaning • most of the Lake Shetek area was a treeless prairie that wandering hunters in pursuit of bison. Because of its contained hundreds of species of wildflowers and Park Office supply of water, bison and those who preyed upon them 74e Camper Cabin grasses. The prairie was habitat for such animals as were attracted to the Shetek area. bison, elk, antelope, wolves, and prairie chickens. Over 76e 73e Cart-in Sites 75e 64e Group Camp the past century, 99 percent of Minnesota’s native prairie Strictly speaking, the first to settle the area were the 65e Minneapolis/ has been removed and transformed into cropland. peoples of the Great Oasis culture on the northeastern 77e Amphitheater 67e 63e Group Center St. Paul • slope of the Coteau. In the mid 1840s, European and 53e The habitats now in the park still support many wildlife 78e 69e 66e Boat Ramp American explorers such as Catlin, Nicollet, Prescot 55e Monument LAKE SHETEK species. A quiet hike on one of the park trails can yield and Freemont explored the area associated with Lake 70e 54e Picnic Area STATE PARK a glimpse of a doe and her fawn, the bubbly sounds Shetek and what would later be called Murray County. 68e e Electrical Sites of bobolinks in the prairie, or the graceful flight of a 71e 59e 56e 42e Beach white pelican overhead. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels The first settlement by whites occurred in 1856. From 72e 61e 57e 45e Water and raccoon have adapted all too well to the park’s the period 1856-1862 a settlement was established. 58e 47e Dump Station recreational areas, and are frequent visitors of campers Although its population varied, it probably numbered 60e 43e 48e 31e Toilets LAKE SHETEK and picnickers. no more than 40 persons at any given time. This settle- 62e 44e 51e ment was established from Lake Fremont to Beauty 46e 33e The wooded shorelines of Lake Shetek provide cover STATE PARK Lake along the eastern belt of land adjacent to Lake 49e 35e 32e for a variety of woodland species. Notable animals Shetek. The availability of large trees and wood made 50e 18e include white-tail deer, fox, mink, beaver, fox squirrels, it attractive for settlers and pioneers. The western 37e 34e FOR MORE INFORMATION muskrat, woodchuck, and coyote. The woods also 52e 38e 20e shores of Shetek were largely prairie and thus offered 40e 19e 01e Lake Shetek State Park provide cover for many birds including cuckoos, 36e no appeal to the first settlers. 02 bunting, warblers, and hawks. 39e 21e 163 State Park Road 24e 04e Most of those who came in the 1856-62 period were 41e Several wetland areas in the park offer visitors an 25e 22e Currie, MN 56123-1018 taking advantage of then Governor Ramsey’s lenient 27e 03 opportunity to view waterfowl, reptiles and amphibi- 29e land regulations which permitted them to claim land 06e C01 (507) 763-3256 ans. At Eastlick Marsh, interpretive signs and an ob- 23e W02 after seven years’ occupation if they cleared sufficient 26e 07e ♦ servation deck with a spotting scope allow for close- 05 16 land area for a farm. 28e 09e W04 up viewing and easy identification of coot, grebes, 30e W06 Department of Natural Resources 11e 15 W01 W08 ducks, herons, and pelicans. Many species of waterfowl The promise of the first white settlement of Shetek 08 14 W09 Information Center can be seen nesting in and around the park in spring came to an end during the Dakota Conflict of 1862. On W05 10 13 W07 500 Lafayette Road and early summer. August 20, 1862 three war bands of Dakota braves NORTH descended on the Shetek settlement. Fifteen settlers 12 St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 A large portion of the park consists of abandoned farm were killed in the attack and the rest scattered. After Lake W10 fields. In an effort to restore the natural prairie com- (651) 296-6157 (Metro Area) the conclusion of the Dakota Conflict on September 26, Shetek munity, carefully managed prescribed burns, weed 1862, Shetek lay abandoned for all practical purposes. 1-888-646-6367 (MN Toll Free) control, and other techniques are used in these areas. It was not until the 1900s that further settlements were Although it will take decades to even partially restore envisioned for the area. Families from Ireland were LAKE SHETEK STATE PARK TDD (Telecommunications the prairie, many species of prairie grasses and wild- tempted to settle at Avoca and nearby towns through WOLF POINT CAMPGROUND Device for Deaf) flowers can now be found in the park, Blazing star, generous grants and loans: however, the difficulty of black-eyed susans, coneflowers, vervain, sunflowers, farming soon doomed many of these efforts at further (651) 296-5484 (Metro Area) and bottle gentian are a few of the showy wildflowers settlement. Added to these distresses were severe Min- SO EVERYONE CAN ENJOY THE PARK . ♦ 1-800-657-3929 (MN Toll Free) again growing in the park. nesota winters, blackbird and locust infestations. • Park permits are required on every motorized vehicle GEOLOGY: Lake Shetek lies in the Coteau des Prairie Shetek never had any chance of developing a subsis- entering the park. This information is available in DNR Web Site: www.dnr.state.mn.us “highlands of the prairie” region of Minnesota, a State Parks Page: www.mnstateparks.info tence farming economy and thus, with the lack of • Pet waste deposited in mowed or maintained areas alternative format upon request. geological area which separates the Minnesota River economic integrity, it never became a community as from the Missouri River watershed. This Coteau region must be immediately cleaned up by the owner and thriving as Sioux Falls or Sioux City. However, the deposited in an appropriate waste container. LAKE SHETEK STATE PARK is located 14 miles north- was often inundated by glaciers that moved across beauty of Lake Shetek still remains.