Minnesota state parks include:
- 66 state parks
- 9 recreation areas
- 9 waysides
- 4,382 campsites
- 227 horse camp sites
- 103 group camps
- 97 water access sites
- 950 archaeological and historic cemetery sites
- 600 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places
Number of visitors:
- There are an average of 9,700,000 visitors to Minnesota State Parks each year
- Day use accounts for most of these visits
Nearly 19 percent of park visitors come from other states and countries
Number of campers:
There are an average of 1,100,000 campers each year.
Most visited parks:
The most visited state parks in 2019 included:
- Gooseberry Falls – 756,704 visitors
- Fort Snelling – 558,926 visitors
- Itasca – 478,146 visitors
- Tettegouche- 478,146 visitors
- Split Rock Lighthouse – 394,972 visitors
Oldest state parks:
- Minnesota became the second oldest state park system in the country with the establishment of Itasca State Park on April 20, 1891.
- The next state park added to the system was Interstate State Park on April 25, 1895.
- The most significant growth years occurred in 1937, 1957, and 1963. In 1937, ten new parks were added across the state. In 1957, five parks were added including four along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The largest number of parks added at one time (11) occurred in 1963.
State parks | Year established |
Itasca | 1891 |
Interstate | 1895 |
Minneopa | 1905 |
Fort Ridgely | 1911 |
Jay Cooke | 1915 |
Sibley | 1919 |
Whitewater | 1919 |
Scenic | 1921 |
Lake Bemidji | 1923 |
John Latsch | 1925 |
Charles Lindbergh | 1931 |
Camden | 1935 |
Beaver Creek Valley | 1937 |
Blue Mounds | 1937 |
Buffalo River | 1937 |
Flandrau | 1937 |
Gooseberry Falls | 1937 |
Lake Bronson | 1937 |
Lake Shetek | 1937 |
Lake Carlos | 1937 |
Monson Lake | 1937 |
Split Rock Creek | 1937 |
Father Hennepin | 1941 |
St. Croix | 1943 |
Kilen Woods | 1945 |
McCarthy Beach | 1945 |
Nerstrand Big Woods | 1945 |
Split Rock Lighthouse | 1945 |
Myre-Big Island | 1947 |
William O’Brien | 1947 |
Carley | 1949 |
Old Mill | 1951 |
George Crosby Manitou | 1955 |
Cascade River | 1957 |
Frontenac | 1957 |
Judge Magney | 1957 |
Mille Lacs Kathio | 1957 |
Temperance River | 1957 |
Crow Wing | 1959 |
Lac qui Parle | 1959 |
Schoolcraft | 1959 |
Zippel Bay | 1959 |
Bear Head Lake | 1961 |
Big Stone Lake | 1961 |
Fort Snelling | 1961 |
Savanna Portage | 1961 |
Banning | 1963 |
Forestville/Mystery Cave | 1963 |
Glacial Lakes | 1963 |
Great River Bluffs (formerly O.L. Kipp) | 1963 |
Lake Louise | 1963 |
Lake Maria | 1963 |
Maplewood | 1963 |
Rice Lake | 1963 |
Sakatah Lake | 1963 |
Soudan Underground Mine | 1963 |
Upper Sioux Agency | 1963 |
Franz Jevne | 1967 |
Hayes Lake | 1967 |
Afton | 1969 |
MN Valley State Recreation Area | 1969 |
Moose Lake | 1971 |
Wild River | 1973 |
Tettegouche | 1979 |
Hill Annex Mine | 1988 |
Grand Portage | 1989 |
Glendalough | 1991 |
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area | 1993 |
Garden Island State Recreation Area | 1998 |
Big Bog State Recreation Area | 2000 |
Red River Valley State Recreation Area | 2000 |
Lake Vermillion | 2010 |
LaSalle Lake State Recreation Area | 2011 |
Waysides | Year established |
Sam Brown Monument | 1929 |
Inspiration Peak | 1931 |
Joseph R. Brown | 1937 |
St. Croix Islands | 1943 |
Caribou Falls | 1947 |
Kodonce River | 1947 |
Ray Berglund | 1951 |
Cross River | 1961 |
Devils Track Falls | 1961 |
Flood Bay | 1963 |
(Updated August 2019)