Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs National Park is a national park of the United States in northern Minnesota established in 1975. It is located near the city of International Falls. T…
National Park System · Minnesota
National parks in Minnesota
78 destinations across the National Park System call Minnesota home — from headline parks to lesser-known historic sites worth a detour.
The parks listed below cover everything the National Park Service maintains within Minnesota. They include flagship parks (the names most travelers come for), plus the smaller monuments, historic sites, battlefields, and recreation areas that round out a serious itinerary. If you're putting together a state-focused trip, working from this list — rather than a generic top-five — will surface places you'd otherwise miss.
Each link below opens a full visitor guide: hikes, camping, nearby attractions, and visitor tips for that specific destination. Read them in any order — they're written to be standalone.
Grand Portage National Monument
Grand Portage National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota that preserves a vita…
Pipestone National Monument
Pipestone National Monument is a national monument located in southwestern Minnesota, just north of the city of Pipestone. Lying along U.S. Route 75, Minnesota…
Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a 72-mile (116 km) and 54,000-acre (22,000 ha) protected corridor along the Mississippi River through Minn…
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway
The Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway is a federally protected system of riverways located in eastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin. It protects 252 …
List of Minnesota state parks
There are 64 state parks, nine state recreation areas, nine state waysides, and 23 state trails in the Minnesota state park system, totaling approximately 267,0…
Afton State Park
Afton State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, on the St. Croix River in Washington County. Its hiking trails offer views of the river, rolling glacial mor…
Banning State Park
Banning State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, stretched along 10 miles (16 km) of the Kettle River near the town of Sandstone. T…
Bear Head Lake State Park
Bear Head Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, providing ready access to outdoor recreation in the Boundary Waters region. It boasts sc…
Father Hennepin State Park
Father Hennepin State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, located on the southeast corner of Mille Lacs Lake. The park is named after Father Louis Hennepin…
Carley State Park
Carley State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Rochester and about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Plainview in Wa…
Cascade River State Park
Cascade River State Park is a state park near the northeastern tip of Minnesota, US. The park is in a rocky and rugged location where the Cascade River descends…
Crow Wing State Park
Crow Wing State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers. The park interprets the site of Ol…
Buffalo River State Park (Minnesota)
Buffalo River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, conserving a prairie bisected by the wooded banks of the Buffalo River. Together with the…
Charles A. Lindbergh State Park
Charles A. Lindbergh State Park is a 569-acre (2.3 km2) Minnesota state park on the outskirts of Little Falls. The park was once the farm of Congressman Charles…
Blue Mounds State Park
Blue Mounds State Park is a state park in Rock County, Minnesota, United States, near the town of Luverne. It protects an American bison herd which grazes on on…
Camden State Park
Camden State Park is a state park on the Redwood River in southwestern Minnesota near Marshall. It is used for picnics, camping, hiking, and other outdoor recre…
Big Stone Lake State Park
Big Stone Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the shore of Big Stone Lake, the headwaters of the Minnesota River. It is home to wil…
Beaver Creek Valley State Park
Beaver Creek Valley State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, featuring a steep, narrow valley carved by East Beaver Creek. This spring-fed strea…
Big Bog State Recreation Area
Big Bog State Recreation Area, a recent addition to the Minnesota state park system, is located on Minnesota State Highway 72, north of Waskish, Minnesota. It …
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area (CCSRA) is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, being developed to rehabilitate a portion of the Cuyuna Range where mining …
Forestville Mystery Cave State Park
Forestville Mystery Cave State Park is a state park in Minnesota. It contains the village of Forestville, which has been restored to a 19th-century appearance. …
Gooseberry Falls State Park
Gooseberry Falls State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The park is located in Silver Creek Township, abou…
Grand Portage State Park
Grand Portage State Park is a state park at the northeastern tip of the U.S. state of Minnesota, on the Canada–United States border. It contains a 120-foot (37 …
Fort Snelling State Park
Fort Snelling State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. For many centuries, the area…
Frontenac State Park
Frontenac State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the Mississippi River 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Red Wing. The park is notable both for…
George H. Crosby Manitou State Park
George H. Crosby Manitou State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, located between Tettegouche State Park and Temperance River State Park on the North Shore …
Glacial Lakes State Park
Glacial Lakes State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Starbuck. It was founded in 1963 to preserve some of the rem…
Flandrau State Park
Flandrau State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the Cottonwood River adjacent to the city of New Ulm. Initially called Cottonwood River St…
Fort Ridgely State Park
Fort Ridgely State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, on the Minnesota River south of Fairfax. It preserves Fort Ridgely, site of the Battle of Fort Ridge…
Franz Jevne State Park
Franz Jevne State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA. It is located on the Rainy River (which demarks the Canada–United States border) between International…
Glendalough State Park
Glendalough State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, in Otter Tail County near Battle Lake close to Minnesota State Highway 78. It is named after Glendalo…
Garden Island State Recreation Area
Garden Island State Recreation Area is a 734-acre (297 ha) unit of the Minnesota state park system in the Lake of the Woods, 19 nautical miles (35 km) from Zipp…
Itasca State Park
Itasca State Park () is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans 32,690 acres (132.3 km2) …
Great River Bluffs State Park
Great River Bluffs State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the Mississippi River southeast of Winona. Originally known as O. L. Kipp State Pa…
Interstate Park
Interstate Park comprises two adjacent state parks on the Minnesota–Wisconsin border, both named Interstate State Park. They straddle the Dalles of the St. Croi…
John A. Latsch State Park
John A. Latsch State Park is a 1,654-acre (7 km2) state park of Minnesota, USA, on the Mississippi River, 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Winona. The park contai…
Kilen Woods State Park
Kilen Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, on the Des Moines River south of Windom.
Hayes Lake State Park
Hayes Lake State Park is a state park in northwestern Minnesota, United States, near the city of Roseau. The state park was established in 1967 and dedicated in…
Jay Cooke State Park
Jay Cooke State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, protecting the lower reaches of the Saint Louis River. The park is located about 10 miles (16…
Judge C. R. Magney State Park
Judge C. R. Magney State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Minnesota, on Lake Superior's North Shore. It was named for Clarence R. Magney, a former mayo…
Lac qui Parle State Park
Lac qui Parle State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, near Watson. Lac qui Parle is a French translation of the native Dakota name, "Mde Iyedan…
Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area
Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, currently in development. It includes undeveloped shoreline on both Greenleaf and …
Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area
Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area is a Minnesota state park located east of Lake Ore-be-gone in Gilbert, Minnesota. The recreation area consi…
La Salle Lake State Recreation Area
La Salle State Recreation Area is a state recreational area in Hubbard County, MN. The State Recreation Area is owned and managed by the Minnesota Department of…
Lake Louise State Park
Lake Louise State Park is a Minnesota state park just north of the Iowa border near the small town of Le Roy in Mower County, Minnesota, directly south of Roche…
Minneopa State Park
Minneopa State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was established in 1905 to preserve Minneopa Falls, a large waterfall for southern Minnes…
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, also known as Kathio Site, is a Minnesota state park on Mille Lacs Lake. The park preserves habitation sites and mound groups, be…
McCarthy Beach State Park
McCarthy Beach State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, on the Sturgeon Lake chain near Hibbing. It is located in French Township, Saint Louis County.
Lake Bronson State Park
Lake Bronson State Park is a state park off of Kittson County Highway 28 East near Lake Bronson in the northwestern corner of Minnesota.
Lake Shetek State Park
Lake Shetek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on Lake Shetek, which is the largest lake in southwestern Minnesota and the headwaters of th…
Maplewood State Park
Maplewood State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, near Pelican Rapids. The park preserves a pre-contact habitation site that was occupied in two…
Lake Carlos State Park
Lake Carlos State Park is a state park about 10 miles north of Alexandria, Minnesota, USA. The park was established in 1937 to provide a public recreational fac…
Lake Bemidji State Park
Lake Bemidji State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the north shore of 6,765-acre (27.38 km2) Lake Bemidji. The northern half of the park p…
Lake Maria State Park
Lake Maria State Park ( mə-RY-ə) is a state park of Minnesota, United States, created to provide a wilderness area within an easy drive of Minneapolis–Saint Pau…
Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park
The Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a Minnesota state park at the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the south shore of Lake Vermilion…
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area
Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area is a 5,490-acre (2,222 ha) unit of the Minnesota state park system in Scott County, Minnesota, the United States. The pa…
Savanna Portage State Park
Savanna Portage State Park is a state park in the U.S. State of Minnesota established in 1961 to preserve the historic Savanna Portage, a difficult 6-mile (9.7 …
Myre-Big Island State Park
Myre-Big Island State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, just outside the city of Albert Lea. It has an area of 1,578 acres (6.39 km2). The park protects …
Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park
Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, northeast of Faribault just outside the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name fro…
Rice Lake State Park
Rice Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, just east of Owatonna. Park lands entirely surround Rice Lake, an important stopping point fo…
Old Mill State Park
Old Mill State Park is a small Minnesota state park on the Middle River between Argyle and Newfolden on an ancient beach of glacial Lake Agassiz in Marshall Co…
Saint Croix State Park
St. Croix State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, USA. The park follows the shore of the St. Croix River for 21 miles (34 km) and contains the la…
Sakatah Lake State Park
Sakatah Lake State Park is an 842-acre (341 ha) state park of Minnesota, USA, on a natural widening of the Cannon River near the town of Waterville. The Dakota …
Moose Lake State Park
Moose Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, near the city of Moose Lake, MN in Carlton County. The park is located one-half mile east of Interstate…
Monson Lake State Park
Monson Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, originally established as a memorial to 13 Swedish American pioneers who were killed there …
Scenic State Park
Scenic State Park is a Minnesota state park near Bigfork in Itasca County. It encompasses 3,936 acres (1,593 ha) of virgin pine forests that surround Sandwick L…
Schoolcraft State Park
Schoolcraft State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, on the banks of the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids and Deer River. It was named for the explorer …
Red River State Recreation Area
Red River State Recreation Area is part of the Greater Grand Forks Greenway and is located in the city of East Grand Forks, Minnesota on the banks of the Red Ri…
Whitewater State Park
Whitewater State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, preserving a stretch of the Whitewater River surrounded by rocky bluffs. It is located in Wi…
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is a state park of Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is best known for the picturesque Split Rock Lighthouse, o…
Tettegouche State Park
Tettegouche State Park ( TET-ə-gooch) is a Minnesota state park on the north shore of Lake Superior 58 miles (93 km) northeast of Duluth in Lake County on sceni…
Wild River State Park
Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along 18 miles (29 km) of the St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped some…
William O'Brien State Park
William O'Brien State Park is a 1,520-acre (6.2 km2) state park of Minnesota, USA, along the St. Croix River. Its hiking trails traverse rolling glacial moraine…
Zippel Bay State Park
Zippel Bay State Park is a state park in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota in the United States. It is on the white sand beach shoreline of the Lake of the Wo…
Temperance River State Park
Temperance River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, located between the communities of Schroeder and Tofte on Highway 61 on the North Shore of Lake S…
Split Rock Creek State Park
Split Rock Creek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, located in Ihlen, or just south of Pipestone. The Works Progress Administration built a…
Sibley State Park
Sibley State Park is a Minnesota state park near New London, on the shores of Andrew Lake. It is named for Henry Hastings Sibley, the first governor of the stat…