Anyone who’s hiked the Big Sag Trail at Chik-Wauk knows we weren’t kidding when we labeled it as “difficult” in our hiking trails. The trail loops around the Chik-Wauk bay and then takes off over the granite cliffs that burned in the Ham Lake Fire of 2007. The trail offers fantastic views of Saganaga Lake, as well as tons of blueberries, but the trial is definitely challenging. “Arduous” is a term some hikers have used to describe it after returning.

We want all our trails to be accessible to whoever wants to hike them and this week a crew from Conservation Corps of Minnesota is up helping us make the Big Sag just a littler easier. Big Sag will remaining our most challenging hiking trail, but now it will be a little more accommodating to the casual hiker.

The crew is putting in stone steps to help make the ups and downs of the trail a little less treacherous.
This crew member was making “homemade” gravel to use on the trail.
This isn’t the MCC’s first trip up to Chik-Wauk. They also helped install our boardwalk on the Amikwiish Way (our ADA accessible trail). They do good work and we’re thankful for their help in improving the nature center offerings at Chik-Wauk!