Monson Lake State Park - Wait...is that the end?

This park is 346 acres in size and that is noticed pretty quickly while using the 1 mile trail that is available. While viewing the map you can see much of the land mass is broken up by the large bodies of water in Monson Lake and West Sunburg Lake.

Entrance sign selfies were not something I planned at the start of this effort, but it feels like therapy for being proud of who I am. When I see my own smile I'm reminded of how happy these adventures make me. I'm a big (6'7") hiking/birding geek and I love being able to share this adventure with others and explore the depths of my own needs of fullfillment.

As I was nearing the edge of park land I did see my first Red Fox of the year scamper across the road and disappear into a den hidden somewhere in the tall grasses. I pulled down the relatively narrow entrance road to a parking lot with some limited signage on the history of the park and a couple of out buildings for bathrooms and picnic shelters. The single trail was easy enough to pick up and after putting on my Yak Trax and larger winter boots I quickly headed out on the trail.

This signage was my first indication of the historical significance of this park and I plan to do some additional reading on the location and it's preservation.

The trail quickly loops back over the dirt road that brought me into the property and edges along West Sunburg Lake with some nice view of the water. A short time later it jumps back across the road to edge along Monson Lake as well. Several ice shacks were present in the lake and I noted a good amount of native vegetation on the edges of the lake. This means it should be good for dabblers as well as divers, and that coupled with the location means potential nesting Grebe (Western & Red-necked) making this limited space park essential during open water months.

That won't be hard to pull off as I could imagine stopping at this park as an in-between location and only needing an hour or so to fully scan the prime lake locations. Given the time a canoe rental and double lake effort could be a really fun and unique way to experience the park in the spring and summer. The woods I hiked in were limited in that they seemed to be heavy in deadfall and gnarled under brush. Elevation was not really present and you wouldn't likely hike the woods with much fulfillment, but I can see taking the trail with scope in hand in order to check both lakes properly for migrant and resident waterfowl.

Reserved Judgement: I will wait to say much more on my thoughts of this park. It is hardly fair to go to a park in the winter that is dominated 80% by 2 frozen lakes. This very well could end up being a place I visit for years to come for Grebe or some other resident waterfowl. That being said it isn't much for hiking for sure and I found just 2 species of birds active on this day so it is also not a spot to go birding in the cold months as no open spring fed water was available and the woods just aren't that large to sustain much of any overwintering birds.