Fort Snelling State Park is the premier state park unit in the Twin Cities Metro, and it sits at the confluence of two of the state’s longest rivers – the Mississippi and the Minnesota. Long before this land was settled by European-Americans, the Dakota people and their predecessors referred to this spot as Bdote – the place where two waters come together. The confluence is sacred in Dakota creation history and was long a place where the people of this region would hold council and meet with other peoples. Today, visitors can walk an easy footpath around Pike Island – Wita Tanka – which lies at the very point of Bdote, in Fort Snelling State Park. This Minnesota river trail will lead visitors along the state’s two most historically significant rivers, at a historically significant place, through a landscape that, even in the heart of the Metro, typifies the natural beauty that can be found in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Given its location at this site of crucial historical significance and along the shorelines of the state’s two greatest waterways, this Minnesota river trail highlights one of the state’s most important river environments. You can read more about the trail, see pictures, and read reviews on AllTrails Plus.

Have you hiked the Pike Island Loop at Fort Snelling State Park/Bdote? Let us know in the comments.

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