Join us for an easy level (flat) hike around the island. Pike Island has long been considered a sacred place. The hiking trail is a 3.7-mile natural surface loop that follows the exterior of the island to the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers at the halfway mark. Expect a 90-minute hike followed by social time for those interested.

We meet at the parking lot adjacent to the Thomas Savage Visitor Center. Please be responsible with your RSVP. We don't wait unless we know for sure that someone is just a couple minutes behind. If you arrive late, you can go to the right after crossing the footbridge onto the island. We will have chosen left so we should meet you.

After entering Ft. Snelling State Park (park entrance sticker required, $36 annual or $7 daily fee), follow the main road all the way to the end and park adjacent to the visitor center. Be sure to follow directions for Ft. Snelling State Park off of Post Road.

All are welcome. Hikes are dog friendly.

By signing up for this event, you release the organizer and the other attendees from any liability resulting from your participation.

**For those who enjoy hearing the rest of the story, I copied this from Wiki:** The six-week [Dakota War of 1862](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_War_of_1862) resulted in the deaths of hundreds of settlers and Native Americans. After the conflict, more than 400 Dakotas were tried, and 302 men condemned to be executed at [Mankato, Minnesota](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mankato,_Minnesota). [President Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln) eventually commuted the sentences of all but 38 Dakota, who were [hanged](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging) in a mass execution on December 26, 1862. **During this time more than 1600 Dakota women, children, and old men were held in an internment camp on Pike Island under the cannons of Fort Snelling.** Winter living conditions were harsh, with little food and no shelter, and [cholera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholera) struck the camp, killing more than three hundred.[\[11\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_Island#cite_note-11) In May 1863, the survivors were forced aboard [steamboats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamboat) and relocated to [Crow Creek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_Creek_Reservation) in the southeastern [Dakota Territory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Territory), a place stricken by drought at the time. The survivors of Crow Creek were moved three years later to the [Santee Sioux Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santee_Sioux_Reservation) in Nebraska.

Let's Play Outside (easy level) Age 55+

Social Activities

Fun Times

Dog Walks

Nature Walks

Hiking

Outdoors

Outdoor Fitness

Outdoor Adventures

Wilderness Hiking

New In Town

Social

Camping

Dining Out

Looping Pike Island

This content is available only to members

Share this event

Looping Pike Island

Details