Today Noelle and I headed about an hour west of Duluth to the beautiful Savanna Portage State Park. having never been there before we weren't sure what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised to find a quiet little park with plenty of solitude.
We parked the car at the Lake Shumway trail-head/boat launch. Our first stop was the short bog walk. I wasn't sure what we would see in the bog this time of year. Spring is slow in coming to northern Minnesota. We did, however, spy some really cool carnivorous pitcher plants. upon close inspection I even discovered that the water that collects inside the "pitchers" freezes in the winter. Besides the pitcher plants we saw plenty of moss and black spruces.
From the bog walk we started hiking a triangular loop made up of the Continental Divide, Old Schoolhouse, and Savanna Portage Trails. The loop started by traversing past an old homestead with some rusting farm machinery relics.
Our loop then headed uphill to a view of Wolf Lake and the surrounding grasslands and forests. Finally we made our way to the historic Savanna Portage, a portage connecting the Mississippi River and Lake Superior watersheds and an important shipping route for native Americans and voyageurs.
Eric, Noelle,
ReplyDeleteSavanna is a beautiful spot. About 80 years ago my family owned land that is now SPSP. The piece of farm machinery is a potato digger that was owned by Henning Larson. The Larson family homesteaded the property after the land was cut over. Savanna Portage SP was then a potato and cabbage farm. The Larson's sold produce to the logging camps and logged a little themselves.
Cheers,
Scott