Day trail explores exotic Minnesota bog

Tamaracks line the shores of Big Bog Lake in autumn.

Bog Walk map. Click for larger version.

Day hikers can explore the unique fall colors of a bog at Minnesota's Lake Bemidji State Park.

The Bog Walk runs miles 2.4 miles round-trip. A boardwalk takes you through wetlands – with leaves of various shrubs turning yellow while others remain green – to a beautiful lake ringed by trees with orange needles.

To reach the trailhead, from Bemidji, take County Road 19/Lake Avenue NE north. Pretty Lake Bemidji sits to the left/west, and along the way you’ll cross the Mississippi River, which this close to its headwaters is just a small, shallow river. At Bass Lake Road NE, turn right/east; this eventually becomes New Bass Road North. At County Road 20/Birchmont Beach Road NE, go left/west. Next, turn left/south onto County Road 414/State Park Road NE and enter the park. At the next junction, go right/south and then take the next left/southeast into the parking area.

From the parking lot walk alongside the road you just came in on, heading west. Where the road forks to the ranger station, instead right/north. You'll cross County Road 414 and pass the campground's western side. Once you pass the second road to the camper cabins, at 0.3 miles, the trail technically begins. Fortunately, the whole route is shaded.

When the trail crosses County Road 20, you’ve entered wilderness. A couple of trails branch off to the left/northwest, but you'll want to stay on the main trail, which veers right/east.

Most of the trail to this point has been pines with a few hardwoods. The region is a transition zone between the deciduous forests of maple, basswood and oak to the south and the great boreal forest of spruce, fir, paper birch, aspen, and jack pine to the north.

At 0.7 miles, the trail junctions a path going left/north. Continue right-straight/east. Once you pass the bike parking area, you'll come to the quarter-mile boardwalk over a bog.

Big Bog
The bog sits in a tamarack spruce lowland forest. At your feet are a number of fascinating plants you won't anywhere but a swamp – sheets of sphagnum moss that look solid but actually sit on oversaturated soil and would sway if stepped on...round-leaved sundew and pitcher plants that dine on insects...and if in late spring or early summer the showy blooms of lady's-slipper and Dragon’s-mouth orchid that look like they belong in an elegant home's expensive vase rather than a mysterious swamp.

On the slightly higher ground around and in the bog, several shrubs and trees grow. The needles of the black spruce provides year-round greenery.

Leaves on the alders growing in the bog also stubbornly remain green through autumn. The multi-stemmed shrub grows 10-25 feet high and often forms thickets that are impossible to walk through. To identify an alder, look for warty bark, which are signs of a mature shrub.

Or during autumn just look for the green leaves, both on the shrub and the ground. Bacteria on the alder's roots help convert nitrogen to energy, so when there’s less sunlight, the plant has no need to abandon its leaves to stay alive as deciduous trees do.

Bog birch
Another common shrub along the boardwalk is the bog birch, known by various other names including dwarf birch, low birch, and swamp birch. Its leaves do change color in autumn, turning yellow.

Growing about 5-8 feet high, bog birch is a clump-forming shrub that colonizes bogs and lake borders. It requires wet areas and the full sun to thrive.

In 1.2 miles, the trail reaches Big Bog Lake. Tamaracks, a deciduous conifer tree, line the lakeside. Each autumn, its needles turn orange and fall off, as if they were leaves on maple tree. They rise between 40-70 feet tall and about 14-20 inches wide. Tamaracks also are known as American larch.

After taking in the sites, retrace your steps back to the parking lot.

Minnesota state flower thrives along trail

The showy lady's slipper is Minnesota's state flower.

Dr. Roberts Nature Trail topo map.
Click map for larger version.

Day hikers can see Minnesota’s state flower – the showy lady’s slipper – on a short trail at Itasca State Park.

A 2.3-mile loop, the Dr. Roberts Nature Trail includes a number of interpretive signs. A guide to flora along the trail also is available at the trailhead or for purchase at the visitor center gift shop.

To reach the trail, from Bemidji take U.S. Hwy 71 south. Turn tight/northwest onto Minn. Hwy. 200 then left/west onto County Road 48. Next, go right/north onto County Road 1/Park Drive. Take the next left/south onto Park Road then right/west onto Douglas Lodge Drive. Park at the Douglas Lodge/Forest Inn lot.

Head along the sidewalk past the lodge. Veer left/west at the next two road junctions. After crossing a bridge, take a connector trail heading west.

At about 0.3 miles, go right/northwest. You’re now on the Dr. Roberts Nature Trail proper.

Lakes and cabin
The trail arrives at the shores of Lyendecker Lake at about 0.8 mile. Formed by melting glaciers during the last ice age, the lake is home to common loons.

A couple of benches can be found along the trail, which heads up the lake’s eastern shore. At the second bench is a short spur trail on the left/west leading to an overlook of the lake.

At 1 mile, the trail veer east away from the lake and in short order reaches Lake Itasca. The headwaters of the Mississippi River are north of here on the lake. As the trail parallels the lake’s southwestern shoreline, watch for terns dive bombing into the water and for trumpeter swans. Along the way is a boardwalk that traverses a marsh.

The boardwalk ends at about 1.7 miles, as the trail comes to Old Timer’s Cabin. The Civilian Conservation Crops constructed the cabin out of four huge downed white pine trees during the winter of 1933-34. The massive logs give a good idea of why loggers swept through northern Minnesota during the late 1800s to early 1900s; indeed, the logs are so large that only four are needed per side to build a single story. Some fun trivia: the CCC nicknamed its creation the “Honeymooners Cabin.”

South of the cabin, the trail becomes a boardwalk again, this time heading through a conifer bog. A lot of tamarack trees, whose needles turn orange in autumn, line this wetlands. The northern parula warbler also can be found here, as the bog is a breeding ground for the migratory bird.

Show lady's slipper
Among the most impressive sights in the conifer bog is the showy lady’s slipper, Minnesota’s state flower. Also known as the pink and white lady’s slipper or queen’s lady slipper, the orchid thrives in open fens, bogs and wet woods where it can receive plenty of light.

The showy lady’s slipper grows slowly. Up to 16 years can pass before its first flowers bloom.

At 2-3 inches tall, the flower consists of a trio of white, pointed sepals above a large, pink and white streaked petal that forms a pouch looking vaguely like a slipper. As the plants can grow up to four feet tall, the beautiful flower often stands above the others in the bog.

Minnesota adopted the showy lady’s slipper as the state flower in 1902. At that time, the flower was a favorite adornment on rural church altars.

Since 1925, however, state law has protected the wildflower. Picking the flowers as well as uprooting the plants is illegal. Regardless of the law, you can get a rash if you touch its stem.

The protection status is merited, as the flower actually is uncommon in Minnesota, though its range is the entire state except for the western and southern prairie regions.

Mary Creek
At 2 miles, trail veers east and runs along lake’s south shore. Watch for the Chester Charles II tour boat in the lake.

Next the trail crosses Mary Creek, which feeds Lake Itasca. The trail leaves the lake behind at 2.2 miles and passes two trail junctions; the first one is the Brower Trail with the second going to a campground. Veer right/south at each junction then climb 51 stone steps to where Douglas Lodge sits.

Take the sidewalk east and at roughly 2.3 miles, you’ll arrive back at the parking lot.

Insect repellent is highly recommended in summer. Parts of the trail also can be muddy at spots after a rainfall. Given this, it makes a great snowshoe trail in winter, though there will be no flowers to see, of course.