Walkable breakwater heads into Lake Pepin

Breakwater on Lake City Concourse

Day hikers can walk a historic overlook and breakwater into Lake Pepin on the Lake City Concourse.

The hike atop a breakwater for the Lake City, Minn., marina runs about 700 feet one way. The walls on the shoreline are an example of National Park Service Rustic Style, popular for public amenities during their construction.

To reach the concourse, in downtown Lake City park in the turnout off of U.S. Hwy. 61 near Elm Street.

Stone side walls and the concourse – a large, curving wall around a viewing bay – were constructed in 1938-40 as a rest area for weary Hwy. 61 travelers. The National Youth Administration erected the walls.

The side walls, built of tan and rubble limestone, were completed by October 1938. Rising 2-feet-6-inches high – perfect for sitting on – they are 18 inches thick.

Lake City Concourse map

The curving lookout bays were made from coursed ashlar, masonry made of large cut stones. The lookout bays extend 16 feet to the northeast and southeast.

Stone for the walls was quarried locally in Lake City and nearby Frontenac. Exactly where the limestone came from has been lost to time, but the same kind of Shakopee and St. Lawrence dolomite caps the local bluffs.

Originally flagstone was set in the concourse walkway. Some of it is still exposed, but most of it has been covered with asphalt or replaced by concrete. When constructed, the parking lot was gravel with limestone curbing.

Little else has changed during the past eight or so decades. A flagpole and potted plants have been added. During the 1960s, for a years a standard wooden hanging-arm sign stood announcing the roadside parking area. A stone marker was added in 1971 and a metal marker in 1988.

Openings in the stone wall allow visitors to head to the breakwater. The path first passes a small sand beach on the wall’s southeast side.

As heading onto the breakwater, the tall masts of sailboats in the Lake City Marina rise to the north. Blue Lake Pepin spreads out in front of you, with the high bluffs of the Wisconsin shoreline on the lake’s opposite side.

In the days before plastics, the lake was a busy spot. Clams from the Upper Mississippi River supplied shells that made almost half of the world’s buttons. Lake City was among those production centers; workers here sawed button “blanks” that then were shipped to La Crosse, Wis., and Muscatine, Iowa, for finishing.

And in the days before the overlook was constructed, you might have spotted someone waterskiing on the lake. Ralph Samuelson in 1922 invented waterskiing in Lake City when he stuck boards to his feet, used clothesline for tow rope, and had his brother Ben drive the boat.

To extend the walk, head up the city’s River Walk, which the concourse joins.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Lake Pepin hikes abound in Lake City, Minn.

Lake Pepin from Frontenac State Park.

Several great beachfronts and other trails await day hikers in Lake City, Minn.

The city of a little more than 5000 sits on Lake Pepin, the widest portion of the Mississippi River. It’s known as “The birthplace of waterskiing,” so appropriately many of its hiking trails are close to the lake. Located a little more than an hour’s drive from Minneapolis-St. Paul, the quickest way to reach it is via U.S. Hwy 61.

Among the great trails in or near Lake City are:
• Bluff Side Loop Trail – Hikers can traverse the top and the base of a bluff looming 430 feet above Lake Pepin at Frontenac State Park northwest of town. The 2.6-mile loop offers impressive views as it heads up and down the steep bluff with a series of wooden stairs and switchbacks. Fall is a particularly good time to visit with the bird migration through the area at its peak and the leaves resplendent in an array of harvest colors.
• Hok-Si-La beach walk – Birdwatching is a popular activity on the half-mile of beachfront at the Hok-Si-La Municipal Park and Campground at the city’s north end on Hwy. 61. The campground sits on a peninsula jutting into Lake Pepin at its midpoint.
• Lake City Concourse – A walk atop a breakwater for the marina runs about 700 feet one way. The masts tall of sailboats rise to one side of the walk while the lake and Wisconsin bluffs beyond stretch across the other. Park in the turnout off of Hwy. 61 near Elm Street.
• Lake City River Walk – This paved route runs 2.5 miles between Roschen Park and Central Point Road. As much of it runs alongside busy Hwy. 61, opt to instead parallel it by walking along the beach. Eagle viewing is excellent here from late February through March.
• Sand Point Trail – Day hikers at Frontenac State Park can take in a great view of Lake Pepin – and maybe glimpse a sea monster while doing so. Reports of Pepie – as the monster locally has come to be known – date to before pioneer times and have occurred as recently as a couple of years ago. The 1.4-mile round trip trail runs to the lake’s shore while heading through a swampy area perfect for creatures of the deep to hide.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.