Sakatah Trail Tour

This description of the trail is to help someone who has never been to the Sakatah Trail to get a picture of what it is like, and what to expect along the way. I will be describing the trail from my normal perspective, which is from Mankato to Fairbault. Obviously, you could start from Fairbault and work the other way to Mankato, or even start in a town in-between. The choice is yours, I will describe the trail as I see it, with some pictures thrown in between my verbage. With that said, let's begin our journey!

Lime Valley Entrance trail sign

Getting on the trail - Mankato trailheads

There are several choices for getting onto the Sakatah Trail at Mankato. From the downtown area of Mankato, you can park your car near the access to the "Scenic River Trail" which has an official entrance by the Mankato Chamber Office (The old railroad station across the street from the library). From this trail, you can follow it north to eventually connect up with the Sakatah, it is a pretty route, but expect to add another 2+ miles to your trip. You will ride along highway 14 for a while, but you will turn into one of the "official" trailheads at Lime Valley road.

Two "official" DNR (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) trailheads exist in the Mankato area, one located just north of Mankato, is the "Lime Valley Road" entrance, and the other is on North Highway 22 entrance. There is adequate parking, safe parking at both facilities.

Author's bike at mile zero - Lime Valley Entrance

Mile 0 - Lime Valley Entrance

The Lime Valley entrance gives you about 3 more miles of trail before you get to the Highway 22 entrance down the road. This little section is well worth it, there are some nice rock outcroppings and neat vegetation to be seen.

Wooden bridge just east of the Lime Valley entrance

Mile .2 - Wooden bridge

You will cross a wooden bridge with a fairly deep ravine and stream below, if you look carefully to the side on the left, you'll see the limestone remains of the old railroad system, a little beyond that are a stack of old railroad ties, all that remains of the railroads that used to pass through here.

Rest area 1 - Typical of the DNR placed restarea for pedestrians

Mile .56 - Rest area 1

Early on, we come to the first rest area, these rest areas are built and maintained by the DNR. There are many on the trail. This picture is typical of them, so when I mention them in this narrative from time to time, you can think of this picture. This particular one is close to the beginning of the trailhead to accomodate older walkers that need a rest. They are usually located in very scenic spots along the way.

Dog's Tooth Violet

A little farther ahead, in the springtime, look for Dogstooth Violets to the right, along the side of the pavement, look carefully, they are small!

Fall scene taken somewhat east of the Lime Valley entrance, in the fall
Fall scene taken somewhat east of the Lime Valley entrance.

North Riverfront Drive Bridge

Mile .62 - North Riverfront Drive Bridge

If you got to the Lime Valley entrance from highway-22 you crossed over the trail on this bridge as you came in.

Highway-22 Bridge

Mile 1.56 - Highway-22 Bridge

You pass under the Highway-22 bridge and you are on your way out. Be careful in this area of people entering from the Highway-22 trailhead on your lefthand side. There will also be walkers, rollerbladers and people with pets. Slow down and be courteous to them.

County 12 Bridge

Mile 1.81 - County 12 Bridge

Up to this point, the trail is somewhat submerged and your view was limited to just the immediate features trailside. As you pass the Highway 22 entrance, you will pass under a bridge supporting a the highway. You'll notice the bridge itself proudly proclaims "Sakatah". Crossing under the bridge will bring you through a short tunnel and you will emerge on level with the surrounding fields. Along this part of the trail, you will see the Mankato development which is rapidly grabbing at the trail, already a housing development has sprung up near the trail on the right. It will be interesting to see what this section of trail will look like in 10 years. The treeline is very thin, still, you can observe many small things like berries in the fall, wild hops and grapes sporadically.

As a bicylist, you'll observe that most of the public "hugs" the first couple of miles of trail. Once you travel about a mile out, seeing people walking or running becomes very scarce. Along this part of the trail, you'll notice many people enjoying a briskk walk with their dog, or rollerblading, running and all sorts of activities. There is a road entrance as you approach the railroad tracks that has people parked so that they can walk their dogs. I must say that every dog I have encountered on the trail has been well trained and behaved. So, if you are worried about such a thing, you needn't be concerned, based on my experience.

Railroad crossing at Lime siding

Mile 2.99 - Railroad crossing at Lime siding

As you travel farther east, you'll meet the railroad tracks, there is a jog where the trail crosses the tracks and then resumes on the other side. caution be very careful crossing the tracks. Always make sure that you make your crossing on them so that you wheel makes a 90 degree angle with the track. Failure to cross the track properly can cause the wheel to slip into the track rut and cause a nasty fall (sound like I have done this?). Also, remember that tracks are steel, in the morning they will be made slippery in rain or early morning the dew.

Crossing the tracks, we skirt some fields, riding along side the track we just crossed. This area of the rail was named "Lime Siding" and is still in use today, although I have seen a just a handful of trains. Usually, the area is a temporary place for railcars. In the late summer, early fall, the field edge to the left will be covered with Woodland Sunflowers.