Sica Hollow State Park - Sisseton, South Dakota

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Sica Hollow State Park - Sisseton, South Dakota -this woodland on the prairie shades a spectrum of colorful wildflowers. Whether exploring sunlit bogs and gurgling springs or meandering along darkened woodland trails and a waving sea of prairie.

Hiking, horseback riding and picnicing are the favorite pastimes of this park which remains a near-wilderness area. The park is well known for its "Trail of Spirits," which has been designated as a National Recreation Trail.

The Hollow’s first Indian visitors named it "Sica," (pronounced she-cha) meaning evil or bad. Eerie Sioux legends recall mysterious happenings here. Along the Trail of the Spirits, a Registered National Recreation Trail, you’ll see gurgling reddish bogs, which Indians saw as the blood and flesh of their ancestors. Swamp gas and stumps glow in the dark, and small waterfalls are heard echoing as trapped air escapes. Indian lore also gives new meaning to Sica’s streams, rustic bridges, waterfalls, and wildflowers. An interpretive guide is available to bring these legends to life.

Fifteen miles of marked trail guides horseback riders through 900 acres of woodland, which remains much as it did when the first settlers arrived in the 1840s.
A group base camp features water, vault toilets, fire grates, tie rails and table shelters.

There are nearly ten miles of multiple-use trails that climb through the ravines and meander along the edges of the bluffs. The mostly dirt and grassy single-track trails are shared with horseback riders, hikers, and cross-country skiers in the snowy months. There is one trail generally following the creek down the center of the park, and two trails following the bluffs on either side of the valley, there are several possible loop rides that are moderate to moderately difficult. Suitable for nearly every taste of challenge.

Available by reservation only, please call the park office at (605) 448-5701.

Location: about 16 miles northwest of Sisseton on the border of Marshall and Roberts Counties (2 miles west of Sisseton on SD Hwy. 10; 8 miles north on County Road 6; 6 miles west on County Road 12.)