My first view of Mille Lacs coming in from Crow Wing State Park showed me no matter the heat wave we were in ice was still a factor on this giant inland lake. Temps dropped 12 degrees by the time I got to this point.
This area certainly experiences a whole different level of migration as I was able to find a number of duck species hanging out that had long since left the metro area. As far as these birds knew ice was the winner any further north so they stuck to the open bay areas and adjacent waterways that were open.
I had waffled on hitting this 4th park on the day, but ultimately decided I would take it easy while still getting some time in at the park to check it off the list. I expected dense wooded areas as my research had basically indicated limited water access save for Ogechie Lake and perhaps the Rum River. The actual lake of Mille Lacs was not really in the picture for this park, which is sort of a bummer with highway 169 running along the lake as well as county 35. Though many access points and viewing areas dot the border of the lake, Mille Lacs Kathio is not really one of those so picking up big water sea ducks and the like is not going to happen from the State Park itself.
My selfie pics were a bit rough, but mostly they didn't do this massive cool sign any justice. The large arrowhead with Osprey were unique and a very cool way to embrace the history of the park and area. Probably one of my favorite signs so far this year.
I was happy though to see Common Raven on my hike along the Landmark Trail and then was able to pick out a nice selection of birds on Ogechie Lake including Caspian Tern, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, and Bufflehead. Warblers again seemed a challenge as I scratched out just 4 species on the 2 mile effort. I started to get the feeling that parks over in the central part of the state just weren't getting solid migratory movement yet and that I may be in front of their bulk numbers at this point. Though I reminded myself that the next day I was heading up the east side of the state to scour the north shore for several days and I would have many chances to prove out what was happening in the migratory cycle.
I did enjoy my time at Mille Lacs Kathio and realize I had only scratched the surface of hiking in this 10,000 acre park made up of a lot of mature hardwood forest mixed with evergreens. Though I don't imagine this is the greatest breeding diversity park available I have to imagine it has many secrets for an avid hiker to explore and areas that can put you well outside of range of the average human visitor. I'm looking forward to a future trip dedicated to hiking this park. I also believe I'll need to tag on several key lake stops on Mille Lacs itself as that size of a lake has to hold some great migrant birds at the right times of the year.
At worst I was given a crash course in massive inland lakes and how they change the local temperature all around them. I was scorching hot just a couple hours prior and now I was seeing an ice covered lake on fishing opener weekend and wearing a jacket. With additional historic locations and plenty of Native American heritage I feel like this park has a few trips in it for me in the future. I really think it is the type of space that deserves attention and deep hikes even if they are to prove out how large of a population the area can hold of regular nesters like Ovenbird and Red-eyed Vireo. This might be the kind of place you hike for 6 or 8 hours and set the state record on species like those simply because you can cover 1,000s of acres in one day.
Near the end of my hike I was running seriously low on calories as I hadn't found a place to eat between Crow Wing and Mille Lacs Kathio. Not even a gas station presented itself and I'm not much for stopping at random bars to snag food so I just drove to the park and hiked, but I was low on everything at this point. This had me decide that even with light available I was not going to drop into Father Hennepin State Park on the way home to tag on yet another park for the day. Had I known though that just 1 mile from the entrance in the other direction was a gas station and Subway I might have done things a bit different. I pounded a sub and liquids, but by this point I knew I needed to head home and try for some sleep because I was about to do 11 more parks in the next 5 days and was planning some next levels hikes in places like Tettegouche State Park.
This of course leaves Father Hennepin for another future effort and I'll perhaps have to use it for fall migration and see if I can do it and another effort at Mille Lacs Kathio sometime around September or October depending on bird needs and potential.
The Great: This park is massive and even on hot days might benefit from the big climate changing lake it is adjacent to. If you like nice wooded parks and long hikes this is probably the kind of place to visit. I also noted some nice historic locations and signage to describe the area so this is the type of place you can scratch more than one itch. Having it so close to the big lake also adds value for day trippers looking to extend their birding value, even though the park trails don't lend views to the lake itself.
The Meh: From what I saw the habitat is primarily forest so that had best be your interest as you aren't going to get a mix that includes prairie for sure. I did see on the mapping that wetlands are noted as part of the space so given other trail features the park might offer some great diversity I wasn't able to experience in my very short trip.
The Verdict: This is an easy return recommendation space. Nothing this large can possibly be properly explored in a short outing and I love hiking so this is my kind of park. I will be back and I hope I can shoe horn in another effort this year yet when I have to return for Father Hennepin park which is just miles away to the east. The two parks together form a nice combo also as the small Father Hennepin park appears to offer a good amount of trail space that edges Mille Lacs giving a chance to pull in some deep water ducks and terns.
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