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I have ridden around both West Lake Okoboji, Big Spirit,East Lake many times. Some of the trail is on the road which is county black tops and local streets, it would be impossible to go around 5 lakes and be only bike/walk trail. Go to dickinsoncountytrails.com map on top tool bar. It's prox 24 miles around West Okoboji and 46 miles around outside of all 5 lakes. Great adventure and gets better every year,
To look at the trail map (which we did) you would think that there is a trail around both Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji. Nothing could be further from the truth. Much of the trails consist of residental roads, highways, with a few dedicated trails mixed in, which simply stop, with no instructions. Whats even worse is the fact that there are ZERO signs anywhere to tell you where the "trail" is. Maybe I'm spoiled living in central Iowa. If you're a boater, head to the Iowa great lakes. If you're a biker, go elsewhere!!
Our group totaled 4 when we biked this trail. We didn't think it was so windy the morning we started out from Pipestone on the trail, but we found out quickly how a little wind could affect your ride! There is nothing to block the wind on this trail, but it's very beautiful none the less, & very well maintained too. We stopped when it became the "natural" trail & headed back to Pipestone. There is a slight grade going both ways, so even though we only did the 10 mile round trip, we were exhausted at the end! We had a really great time exploring the historical buildings of downtown Pipestone, eating at the famous Lange's Cafe, & walking around the beautiful trails of the Pipestone National Monument, which is definitely worth a visit!
We camped at Split Rock Creek State Park, about a 9 mile drive south of Pipestone. This is a very beautiful & well maintained park, & the staff was very friendly too! I would recommend reserving a spot before hand though as we showed up at 3 o'clock in the afternoon & took the one lone remaining spot! They have nice nature trails, a beach, & you can rent canoes & kayaks as well. My husband is into Geocaching, & this summer, the State Parks of Minnesota are promoting it. The one here was a continuous cache, where we had to find the clue to bring us to the next one, which eventually ended at the cache. At each one in the state, you can collect a little memento from this particular program. A very fun & recommended activity!
Not a very well marked at all. Missed a turn and ended up running against traffic over a bridge with a tiny shoulder. It's every kind of surface and most are not that well maintained. A few small patches of new concert or asphalt but just a mishmash of all manner of walkway. Not a trail destination.
The 5 mile asphalt section was decent. A little boring scenery but I expected that. After that it claims to be a "natural surface", which I expected to be a dirt path, but the path was virtually non existent. Basically like riding thru a grass field. Needless to say, I didn't try this portion.
The first 5 miles was paved and very smooth. If it wasn't just recently paved then it is holding up very well. Mostly farm land along this stretch, with very little shade. Would be quite hot on a 90 degree day.
The unpaved portion, we didn't attempt. The beginning was not crushed rock, but looked more like a well used field road. Bumpy and uneven. I do not know if it had crushed rock anywhere along the remainder of the trail, but we were not about to attempt it on a 90 degree day. Looks like it too is open farm land without much shade. We may have tried it had it appeared to be a smoother surface.
The Pipestone National Monument is just 1.5 miles from the trail head, well worth the visit.
Split Rock Creek State Park, is 8.5 miles south of the trail head. Well worth the visit!! It's a small park, but oh what a GEM!! A little peace of heaven on earth!!
Lot's of eating establishments just blocks from the trail head. Subway and Lange's Cafe & Bakery in Pipestone were the only 2 that we visited, but we highly recommend! The Glass House in Ihlen, MN is another highly recommended restaurant that is 7.6 miles south from the trail head, and only 3/4 mile from Split Rock Creek State Park.
Biked on this trail on a rainy Sunday in May. No water or restrooms at the Trail Head, just a small gravel parking lot. The signage was very poor; never sure you're even on the trail which was all patched up & bumpy and switched between asphalt, concrete sidewalks & parking lots (weird they'd even call this a trail).
In Spirit Lake it seems to run mostly on narrow sidewalks. Riding the roads would have been better except some had lots of traffic & very narrow shoulders. The high point of the trail was a very nice Kiwanis park on the southern edge of Spirit Lake. Dickinson County: this "trail" needs major rehabilitation; the area is interesting but this isn't a destination trail.
Easy access from Lake Shetek State Park. Many portions of the trail are tree lined. Beautiful views of the lake and river. Landscape is varied. The small town of Currie and the Rail Road Museum are worth the ride around town. Currie seems to be struggling though. So sad. Very nice people in a small southwestern Minnesota town.
Went to Okoboji this past weekend just to ride the trail. First day went around Spirit Lake. Did take the county highway, which is the Iowa/Minnesota State line, to make the entire loop. The scenery was decent. The trail isn't in the best of shape A LOT of patches. The worst thing is the lack of signage. You are constantly being sent on city streets or sidewalks and not sure if you are still on the trail or if you missed a turn. After a while we figured out to look for spray painted arrows on the street or sidewalks to point the direction. The second day we tried to do the loop around Okoboji lake but had to give up because after passing Arnolds Park Amusement Park we couldn't locate where the trail continued on. Disappointing. Signage could have made it a great weekend. As is I won't be back.
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