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Wakonda State Park

We visited Wakonda State Park on November 26, 2021, from a long road trip to Minneapolis. It was great to get out of the car and walk and to see a State Park we had never seen before. We do not get to the northeast corner of Missouri very often and have not visited above Hannibal much before this date. It is a longer trip for us than to other river areas of our State, so we tend to be pulled to the rivers we love than the lake locations. This however is a really nice park and the camping and hiking and exploring opportunities are many. I can surely see me coming back to visit again.

When entering the park if you turn to the left you will come to this camping area. It was a beautiful sight with no one else around and I wonder what it looks like with all the campsites full. I wondered if the campsites filled up during the camping season. If it stays quiet and not cluttered, I could so see me camping here or at any of the camping areas in the park.

There are six lakes at the park and this is the dock near the beginning of several of the trails at Wakonda Lake. You can rent kayaks here and that seems fun to me. I think I would like to come back to do that. We walked one trail and enjoyed it (as you can see better in the video). There are eight trails to explore in this State Park.

The Sand Prairie Trail is actually two 1 mile walks or if you return to the split to do the other side, a little over 1 mile. We just did the 1 mile of one side of the trail. The trail is wide and flat and easy to walk. I can see us riding our bikes on this trail too.

Along the trail you can spy in the distance the Wakonda Lake and some water fowl on the water.

We walked down the Sand Prairie Trail and when we got to the split, we turned left. We could come back and do the trail again and make a whole new hike of it by turning right at the split.

The trail turns and you get a straight shot to the end where their appears to be a lake on either side of the road, but it is really the same lake wrapping around the road. I can imagine how beautiful this area when there are wildflowers in bloom. I rather enjoyed the bi-color of tans and blues however.

There is a platform at the end of the trail that overlooks a 360 view of the area. To the left beyond the park bench is an island in the middle of the lake perfect for bird watchers. I did not bring my big camera as I had not anticipated stopping along our trip.

I found a large leaf and played with it for a while. There is joy in the simple things.

Out on the island were a lot of geese or other waterfowl all lined up. This is a photo taken zoomed in with my cell phone, but I can imagine what fun it would be with binoculars or my distance lens on my camera.

 

 

 

 

Copyright Cheryl Rutledge-Brennecke
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