Savage Boiling Springs

When I first heard that we had boiling springs in Minnesota, I immediately had to go check them out. While not exactly “boiling,” there is a bubbly spring in Savage, Minnesota.

Just below the multiple feet of sand is water pushing itself up to the surface. Because of the sand, the water comes up in large amounts at once, making the pond look like a boiling spring. Although not as hot as other boiling springs, this spring never freezes, even with the harsh Minnesota winters.

One interesting thing about this spring is that it is on the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP). A TCP is a historical site that is natural, with no evidence of human creation. The first of its kind in Minnesota, a sacred place with significant meaning to this location, the Dakota Sioux were able to get this on the registry on January 16, 2003.

Named Maka Yusota by the tribe, the spring is where they would come together to perform ceremonies. Maka means earth, ground, or soil, and Yusota means to use up, which means Maka Yusota can roughly translate to Using up the earth, which looks like the spring does.

The hike to the spring is very reasonable at less than a half-mile. Maka Yusota used to be a very popular picnic or first-date location, but now it is mostly forgotten.

Check out the video below!