Sakatah Lake State Park is a hidden gem I’d never heard of, so close to the cities. When our initial reservations at Banning State Park were cancelled due to flooding we stumbled upon this as an alternative. Only an hour and a half south of the cities, Sakatah Lake State Park offers the beautiful scenery of Minnesota’s hardwood forests and access to the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail. The paved trail stretches 39 miles from Mankato to Faribault and the lake is a great place to paddle or fish.
My husband says his cross country team used to come and camp here in the summer to run the trails and path. We didn’t log that many miles on our most recent trip, but enjoyed the private camping spots, the s’mores and some of the friendliest Rangers we’ve ever met.