As you may have guessed, we really love hiking and camping 🙂
We like being able to plan out our weekend trips ahead of time – especially when it comes to weekend trips to State Parks in our great state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website provides a wealth of information regarding all 78 of the Minnesota State Parks, including information on hiking trails, camping, recreation facilities and maps.
However, we had trouble making our weekend plan decisions without all this information in one spot. So we developed this convenient table that summarizes most of this information.
| Park Name | Size of Park (acres) | Body of Water | City Near | Backpack Sites | Canoe Sites | Walk-in (Cart-in) Sites | Drive-in Sites | Total Hiking Trail Distance (mi) |
| Afton State Park | 1,600 | St. Croix River | Afton | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Banning State Park | 597 | Kettle River | Sandstone | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 17 |
| Bear Head Lake State Park | 3,013 | Bear Head Lake | Ely | 4 | 2 | 0 | 73 | 17 |
| Beaver Creek Valley State Park | 715 | East Beaver Creek | La Crosse | 0 | 0 | 6 | 42 | 8 |
| Big Bog State Recreation Area | 9,170 | Red Lake, Tamarac River | Bemidji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 4.5 |
| Big Stone Lake State Park | 980 | Big Stone Lake | Morris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| Blue Mounds State Park | 1,567 | Mound Creek | Worthington | 0 | 0 | 14 | 73 | 13 |
| Buffalo River State Park | 1,068 | Buffalo River | Fargo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 12 |
| Camden State Park | 1,855 | Redwood River | Marshall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 16 |
| Carley State Park | 209 | Whitewater River | Rochester | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 |
| Cascade River State Park | 2,867 | Lake Superior and Cascade River | Lutsen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 18 |
| Charles A. Lindbergh State Park | 417 | Mississippi River | Little Falls | 0 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 7 |
| Crow Wing State Park | 2,335 | Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers | Brainerd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 18 |
| Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area | 6,850 | Chain of small lakes and streams, filled pit mines | Brainerd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6+ (paved) |
| Father Hennepin State Park | 275 | Mille Lacs Lake | Mille Lacs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 4.5 |
| Flandrau State Park | 840 | Cottonwood River | New Ulm | 0 | 0 | 3 | 92 | 8 |
| Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park | 3,163 | South Branch Root River and tributaries | Rochester | 0 | 0 | 0 | 73 | 17 |
| Fort Ridgely State Park | 537 | Fort Ridgely Creek | Sleepy Eye | 0 | 0 | 3 | 31 | 8 |
| Fort Snelling State Park | 1,825 | Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers | St Paul | None | 18 | |||
| Franz Jevne State Park | 118 | Rainy River | International Falls | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 2.5 |
| Frontenac State Park | 2,226 | Lake Pepin on Mississippi River | Red Wing | 0 | 0 | 6 | 58 | 13 |
| Garden Island State Recreation Area | 715 | Lake of the Woods | Lake of the Woods | None | 0 | |||
| George H. Crosby Manitou State Park | 6,200 | Manitou River | Silver Bay (North Shore) | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Glacial Lakes State Park | 1,857 | Several kettle lakes | Glenwood | 4 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 16 |
| Glendalough State Park | 1,924 | Six kettle lakes | Fergus Falls | 0 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 9 |
| Gooseberry Falls State Park | 1,741 | Lake Superior, Gooseberry River | Two Harbors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 20 |
| Grand Portage State Park | 278 | Pigeon River | Grand Portage | None | 4 | |||
| Great River Bluffs State Park | 2,122 | Mississippi River | Winona | 0 | 0 | 4 (bike-in) | 31 | 9 |
| Hayes Lake State Park | 2,118 | Hayes Lake, North Fork Roseau River | Roseau | 2 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 13 |
| Hill-Annex Mine State Park | 634 | Filled pit mine | Grand Rapids | None | 0 | |||
| Interstate State Park | 288 | St. Croix River | Taylors Falls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 6 |
| Itasca State Park | 3,553 | Lake Itasca | Park Rapids | 11 | 0 | 11 | 223 | 52 |
| Jay Cooke State Park | 8,125 | Saint Louis River | Cloquet | 4 | 0 | 3 | 79 | 50 |
| John A. Latsch State Park | 409 | Mississippi River | Wabasha | None | 0.5 | |||
| Judge C. R. Magney State Park | 4,323 | Lake Superior, Brule River | Grand Marais | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 9 |
| Kilen Woods State Park | 202 | Des Moines River | Worthington | 0 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 5 |
| Lac qui Parle State Park | 897 | Lac qui Parle, Minnesota and Lac qui Parle Rivers | Benson | 0 | 0 | 3 | 67 | 7 |
| Lake Bemidji State Park | 1,653 | Lake Bemidji | Bemidji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 15 |
| Lake Bronson State Park | 2,806 | Lake Bronson, South Branch Two Rivers | Thief River Falls | 3 | 2 | 0 | 152 | 14 |
| Lake Carlos State Park | 1,175 | Lake Carlos | Alexandria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 121 | 14 |
| Lake Louise State Park | 849 | Lake Louise, Upper and Little Iowa Rivers | Austin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 12 |
| Lake Maria State Park | 1,475 | Several kettle lakes | Monticello | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Lake Shetek State Park | 1,109 | Lake Shetek | Marshall | 0 | 0 | 8 | 70 | 14 |
| Lake Vermilion State Park | 2,875 | Lake Vermilion | Viginia | None | ? | |||
| Maplewood State Park | 8,127 | Several kettle lakes | Pelican Rapids | 3 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 25 |
| McCarthy Beach State Park | 1,908 | Sturgeon and Side Lakes | Hibbing | 0 | 0 | 3 | 86 | 18 |
| Mille Lacs Kathio State Park | 9,786 | Mille Lacs Lake, Rum River | Mille Lacs | 4 | 0 | 3 | 70 | 35 |
| Minneopa State Park | 1,617 | Minnesota River, Minneopa Creek | Mankato | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 4.5 |
| Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area | 6,442 | Minnesota River | Chaska | 0 | 0 | 8 | 25 | 47 |
| Monson Lake State Park | 343 | Monson and West Sunberg Lakes | Willmar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Moose Lake State Park | 829 | Moosehead and Echo Lakes | Moose Lake | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33 | 5 |
| Myre-Big Island State Park | 1,578 | Albert Lea Lake | Albert Lea | 4 | 0 | 0 | 93 | 16 |
| Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park | 1,646 | Prairie Creek | Fairbault | 0 | 0 | 4 | 51 | 11 |
| Old Mill State Park | 287 | Middle River | Thief River Falls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 7 |
| Red River State Recreation Area | 104 | Red River of the North and Red Lake River | Grand Forks | 0 | 0 | 4 | 109 | 7 |
| Rice Lake State Park | 712 | Rice Lake | Owatonna | 0 | 5 | 9 | 42 | 5 |
| St. Croix State Park | 31,775 | St. Croix River | Hinckley | 2 | 10 | 4 | 211 | 127 |
| Sakatah Lake State Park | 810 | Sakatah Lake on the Cannon River | Fairbault | 0 | 0 | 5 (bike-in) | 62 | 5 |
| Savanna Portage State Park | 15,227 | East and West Savanna Rivers, numerous kettle lakes | McGregor | 6 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 27 |
| Scenic State Park | 2,370 | Sandwick and Coon Lakes | Grand Rapids | 2 | 5 | 0 | 93 | 14 |
| Schoolcraft State Park | 141 | Mississippi River | Grand Prapids | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 2 |
| Sibley State Park | 2,540 | Lake Andrew and other kettle lakes | New London | 0 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 18 |
| Soudan Underground Mine State Park | 974 | Lake Vermilion | Ely | None | 5 | |||
| Split Rock Creek State Park | 947 | Split Rock Lake | Luverne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 7 |
| Split Rock Lighthouse State Park | 2,112 | Lake Superior, Split Rock River | Two Harbors | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 12 |
| Temperance River State Park | 1,134 | Lake Superior, Temperance and Cross Rivers | Silver Bay (North Shore) | 0 | 0 | 6 | 52 | 22 |
| Tettegouche State Park | 8,998 | Lake Superior and Baptism River | Silver Bay (North Shore) | 5 | 0 | 19 | 28 | 23 |
| Upper Sioux Agency State Park | 1,065 | Minnesota and Yellow Medicine Rivers | Granite Falls | 0 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 18 |
| Whitewater State Park | 1,672 | Whitewater River | Winona | 0 | 0 | 6 | 104 | 10 |
| Wild River State Park | 6,574 | St. Croix River | North Branch | 7 | 4 | 0 | 96 | 35 |
| William O’Brien State Park | 1,783 | St. Croix River | Scandia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 12 |
| Zippel Bay State Park | 2,826 | Lake of the Woods | Lake of the Woods | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 6 |
Now get out and enjoy your weekend!