There are 75 Minnesota State Parks and Recreation Areas spread all over the state of Minnesota. The parks offer camping, hiking, canoeing, cabin stays, and more. These are the six sites in Minnesota administered by the United States National Park Service (NPS.) Grand Portage National Monument, Grand Portage, Google map, National Park Service website Mississippi National… Banning State Park near Sandstone, Minnesota, makes not only a nice hike, but also a lesson in Minnesota mining history. Great trails for year-round use. The hiking path at the Minnesota Valley State Recreation area winds through woods and prairie, yielding close-up looks at birds, butterflies, dragonflies, plus an assortment of hardwood trees and healthy clumps of sumac, dogwood, and cattails. Nerstrand Big Woods, with its multiple shady paths, is the perfect day hike on a hot summer’s day. The North Shore of Lake Superior is fed by dozens of Minnesota rivers, most of which have waterfalls you can easily reach on foot. It’s the best place to start your tour of Minnesota waterfalls. The hike at Charles A. Lindbergh State Park will take you to a spot on the Lindbergh farm where Charles landed his first plane. Some of the most dramatic landscapes in Minnesota are along the St. Louis River in Jay Cooke State Park. The waterfall of the Cascade River State Park is a short hike from the North Shore’s Highway 61. A beautiful contrast to the black basalt stone of the gorge. The Grand Portage National Monument is an entertaining and informative journey back into the history of the earliest trading economy of Minnesota. Costume clad docents will lead your through the reconstructed trading outpost and enlighten you on the earliest encounters between the Ojibwe, the French Canadian Voyageurs, and the English North West Trading Company. A short walk gets you to the High Falls on the Pigeon River, at the U.S.-Canada border. It’s the highest waterfall in Minnesota.Minnesota State Parks
US National Park Sites in Minnesota
Hiking Banning State Park near Sandstone
Hiking the Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area, Jordan
Hiking Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
Waterfalls of Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior
Walking the Charles A. Lindbergh State Park
The Stunning Views at Jay Cooke State Park
Short Hike to the Falls, Cascade River State Park
The Grand Portage National Monument
The High Falls at Grand Portage State Park
