Use Caution on the Trails

It’s warming up! Fantastic! Along with the warm-up, are trails are getting a bit wet and a bit mushy. Hiking in many areas this weekend will feel a lot like walking on a sandy beach. You’ll burn some calories for sure!

With that in mind, you’ll also come across some scary staircases, especially those facing the north. At Devil’s Lake State Park this means stairs on the north shore of the lake leading up to the East and West Bluffs are slick. Ice cleats can make all the difference on these scary stairs.

Saving Your Shoes Hurts The Park

Of course, as the ice melts away in the coming days, big sections of the trails are going to turn muddy, which is going to tempt you to walk outside the trails on the “drier” looking grass. When you do this, the grassy area will quickly turn to mud as well which means the death of the plants and spring flowers that would have come up had the ground not been destroyed by boots. When the plants don’t grow, then the ground continues to get muddier and erode all summer long. Spring is probably when more damage is done to park and natural area trails than any other time of year. THIS is the point of saying, “Stay on the Trails”.

We recommend wearing a good pair of boots, staying on the trails, and stomping in the puddles instead.

Derrick Mayoleth

For nearly 2 decades the Skillet Creek blog has focused on 3 main goals; To inspire you to visit and explore the Devil’s Lake region, to help you get the most your visit by sharing tips, events, and other helpful information. Lastly to advocate for our environment & wildlife and talk about how we can keep our natural areas amazing now and into the future! That last goal can sometimes cause controversy, but it’s the only way we can accomplish the first two. – Derrick Mayoleth, Owner.