Trail Of Spirits Work at Sica

This time of year, many people are flocking to Sica Hollow State Park in northeast South Dakota. The brilliant fall colors bring visitors from near and far to enjoy the scenery. At present, the colorful leaves are not the only feature in the park that is changing. The well-known Trail of Spirits is undergoing some work currently thanks to several special helping hands.

Sica Hallow is an area steeped in lore and mystery. American Indians considered the area a place of spirits. Along the popular Trail of the Spirits, you can still see gurgling reddish bogs, which Indians saw as the blood and flesh of their ancestors. There are several miles of trails at the park to be explored by foot and on horseback.

Through the years, the Trail of Spirits has stood through weather and thousands of visitors. Because of that, it has been showing its age. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks District Park Supervisor Lori Skadsen, who oversees Sica, explained that the trail has not seen major improvements in decades. “The trails have needed some work for quite awhile,” said Skadsen.

She added that trail improvement has been an item they have budgeted for in the past. The problem was that finding the workers to get such a hefty project completed proved to be difficult. Skadsen had an idea for that though. “I wondered if we could get the AmeriCorps organization to help us out,” she said.

AmeriCorps is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work programs. AmeriCorps groups can help non-profit organizations complete projects, like the Sica Hollow trail work.

Skadsen explained that a couple of years ago, she completed a small mountain of paperwork to apply to get workers from the program. She likens the application to applying for a grant. “I had to express our need, the scope of the project, the qualifications that the workers needed, where they would stay and many more details,” she said.

The original application was not accepted when she first applied, but when Skadsen got a call from the AmeriCorps Regional Office in Iowa telling her to reapply, she gladly did so. She was ecstatic when she learned that the project was greenlit for an AmeriCorps team to come to Sica to help with trail work.

A team of six AmeriCorps Corpsmembers arrived a few weeks ago. They were members of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) which is a fulltime, residential team-based program for men and women ages 18–26. Gerrick Bowman from Austin, TX is one of the corpsmembers doing the volunteer service at Sica. He likens the group to a U.S.-based version of the Peace Corps.

The corpsmembers and GFP employees and volunteers are hard at work on the trail. They are rebuilding bridges to make it easier to navigate steep parts of the trail. They also hope to do some bridge work and already improved some boardwalks. The AmeriCorps group will be at the park for three weeks.

“We were all pretty wellversed in building and using tools,” explained Bowman.

“Before this assignment, we spent three months working with Habitat for Humanity building houses.” He added that they are enjoying the location as well. “It is so beautiful out here. We’re all loving the scenery and also the people we’re working with.”

Bowman is also happy for the opportunities he is gaining. He said team members accumulate service hours through the AmeriCorps program and it also provides good experience for young people, especially if they’re still exploring career options.

Skadsen has been very happy with the work done so far. “We’re excited to be able to improve the park and accommodate visitors even better,” she said. The supervisor added that she strongly encourages local groups to explore the AmeriCorps program for their own work projects.

As she looks forward, Skadsen said the GFP hopes to continue work at Sica Hollow long after the AmeriCorps team departs. “We’re planning more improvements. We’re looking at around a three year plan for the park.”

Even though work is still underway on the trail, Skadsen said it is still usable. Visitors are welcome to come see the amazing fall colors soon before they disappear. A guided hike is also planned for this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Sica. Check out Sica Hollow’s Facebook page for more information and how to sign up.

Sica Hollow State Park is located at 44950 Park Road, Sisseton, SD. You need a valid state park entrance license to enjoy the park.