Minnesota State Parks Revisited: Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park

 

Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park

Date Hiked: June 1st, 2025

Trail Hiked: The Hiking Club Trail

Distance Hiked: 3.4 miles

Elevation Gain: 154 feet

Duration: 1h 5m

 

With this being one of the parks toward the end of my speedrun to which I barely paid any attention, I felt like I owed it another chance, perhaps even without an addition trek through deep and drifting snow. Some will be surprised by this, but there wasn't any snow on this June day in Minnesota, though I wouldn't rule out the possibility of its occurrence. Anywhere near the Great Lakes region knows of at least one story with a massive surprise well out of season. 

 

Though I had enough bug spray to take down an entire horror movie-level swarm of mosquitos like the time I explored the ghost town of Taconite Harbor, there was another menace that put me in sensory hell that bug spray couldn't help against: the seemingly millions of spiderweb-like strands of silk hanging off the trees. The first time around, I was mindlessly trekking through heavy melting snow, but this time I was swiping my arms nearly the entire time. You know that feeling when there's a hair on your shirt and it's tickling your arm but you can't find it? Imagine that but magnified exponentially. At least with mosquitos, occasionally there's the satisfaction of a neutralizing swat that'll take care of at least one potential itchy situation. Not so when you're a few spinny spins away from doing a glowy Frodo impression from Shelob's Lair. 

 

The history of this park cannot be glossed over, and as I stated in many travelogues, I never intend to dissuade anyone from attending any parks in the diverse and plentiful Minnesota State Park system, nor does anything I say about the hiking trails specifically apply to the park itself. But if this hike were a person in high school, it'd be the one in the group project that talked a big game and came from a locally-famous family that owned a couple car dealerships, but once it was time to produce a piece of multimedia that their second uncle twice-removed was able to do for free to help the project, they shrugged like they'd never suggested it, then skip the rest of class to go repeatedly hang out in the boys' room. 

 

With my experiences being "there's snow in my allegedly waterproof boots" and "maybe if I had a paper-thin machete-like instrument, I could at least cut a swath through this silky, sticky situation," I understand that my judgment is coming from an experiential point of view that may not apply to most of the population. However, the lack of Mille Lacs lake views is also rather surprising, given its proximity and, oh I don't know, the name itself? I'm well aware that it's eponymous of the indigenous people and not of the lake necessarily, but what can I say, I'm biased in favor of grand views of massive lakes when I go hiking. 

 

It is not a bad park, but outside of a second speedrun to beat my first for some reason, I don't anticipate a return.  

Minnesota Hiking Club #46 - Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park

 

(Picture is from Father Hennepin State Park, but I didn't want to leave it blank again)

Minnesota Hiking Club

#46 - Mille Lacs-Kathio State Park

Date Hiked: March 11th, 2025

Other Hikes That Day: Savanna Portage State Park, Father Hennepin State Park

Wanderloon Ranking System Score: 2.67

Much like Franz Jevne or Carley in previous ranking posts, the access gate to get toward this trail was closed. Unlike Father Hennepin, done a mere few minutes before this park, the actual Hiking Club trail was nowhere near the gate.

Father Hennepin’s Hiking Club trail, which since I haven’t written about it yet obviously indicates I enjoyed that one more, takes one right next to Lake Mille Lacs, whereas the one with that body of water in its name does offer more elevated views from more of a distance. Neither of those are bad, but after having to hike to get to the hike again, I admittedly was deeply enveloped in being Over It ™.

The Passport club stamp also left me slightly miffed, although truthfully that’s more for personal reasons, in the sense that using the actual stamp gives me a happiness boost for reasons I can’t explain. However, instead of getting that little serotonin boost, they left sticker strips, whereas the stamp itself was inside the office. And, in a circumstance I will share quite often on this countdown, the office was closed when I got there, so with my Ennui ironically running wild, I placed it in the appropriate spot and moved on with it.

This Hiking Club trail falls on the more difficult side comparatively, but adding considerable distance on a day with a solid seven miles banked already, it felt more arduous than it may have, had this been the first hike of the day. At least it wasn’t five hours away like the aforementioned Franz Jevne, so I could’ve come back. I just didn’t want to.

Lake Mille Lacs was a common waypoint for me during this speedrun, usually an indicator that I was getting close to home after a long day. This day in particular had me reflecting on the first time I saw it, heading north as a passenger for the trip that taught me what kayaking was, among other things. In the winter though, it’s not just the Hiking Club trails that are desolate and depressing. The whole area feels lost in time, and while I’m sure it’s not that way in the summer, it is still rather notable.

Granted, there is historical and societal context for that, upon which is not my place to elucidate. I nonetheless think of it in contrast to other places I visited along this journey, like the North Shore and the Ely area, and can’t help but remark on the notable visible contrast. For which, again, the reasons are numerous.

Mille Lacs-Kathio is a beautiful state park with a woodsy, rustic vibe despite how close it is to a major travel route. I have zero doubt that without a seasonal hiking tax of extra distance, and perhaps being at the tail end of this speedrun, this hike may have been much later in this series. This day, I just wanted to get it over with, and even that required more time and effort than I’d initially planned