Trailing Practice: Sun, Mar 14

Please note the updated date for March.

Trailing practice returns Ft. Snelling this month. We are getting into shoulder season for trailing. The matted leaf litter of early spring can offer some of the best substrate for finding and following fresh trails. Old snow or hard frozen ground, on the other hand, can make identifying fresh trails extremely difficult. But no matter what the substrate, we usually catch sight of some deer at Ft. Snelling and have a chance to watch their behavior. Or, as the case may be, have some deer watch our behavior.

Please wear a mask and plan to maintain spatial distancing of a bit over one deer's length. We are often able to get quite close to the deer at Ft. Snelling, so we may be able to check this first hand.

Sunday, March 14

9:00 am - 12:00 pm

We will gather in the parking lot south of the Thomas C. Savage Visitor Center:

Thomas C. Savage Visitor Center

Fort Snelling State Trail

St Paul, MN 55111

This is an all-weather event and we spend time off trail. With COVID, the Visitor Center is not open and there are limited amenities: Outdoor biffy, no drinking fountains. Please bring appropriate gear and dress for several hours outdoors in whatever weather we may have that day. Please also take precautions for ticks, as we expect to follow deer trails through prime tick habitat. Ticks are active all year and we have friends who have contracted Lyme disease in Minnesota in January.

We will meet at 9:00 in the parking lot. We will head out on the trail shortly after 9:00 and return to the parking lot by 12:00 pm. If you need to reach us the day of the outing, please call Kirsten's cell phone at 651-785-4650. Please note that once we are trailing, our phones will be on vibrate and we could easily miss an incoming call.

Important Notes

You need a State Park pass to drive to the Visitor Center. The parking lot at the Historic Fort Snelling visitor center is currently closed for construction.

RSVPs are encouraged, but not required.

• E-mail Kirsten <kirsten.welge@gmail.com>

• Use our online Contact Form

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