DeSoto Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Fall Colors · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Itasca State Park has both summer and winter maps. The description here only applies to trails shown on the summer map. Several trails are not open to hikers in the winter. Expect a lot of mosquitos and deer flies during the early and mid summer months and numerous ticks in late Spring and early summer.

From a trailhead on Wilderness Drive (1.7 mi west of Douglas Lodge), this trail goes south, past a junction with the McKay Lake Crossover Trail to end at a junction with the NCT: MN Segment 2 - North Central Minnesota. It doesn't pass close to any lakes and, in the summer, it is mostly a green tunnel, which gives you a real feel for how lush the north woods are in the warmer months. It can be used to form good loops with either the Deer Lake Trail or the Nicollet Trail, using Wilderness Drive as a connector.