My furry friend group chose this spot for our big annual camping trip! There were 86 of us total,…read moreand we utilized the Group Site that has several cabins available, plus a main cabin that serves as the place to gather and eat with a full kitchen and walk-in fridge. I really enjoyed the cozy feel to the cabins, which have wonderfully rustic wooden paneling and floors. Our cabin had two wings with four bunk beds each, plus a center room with a large bed (ideal, no doubt, for scouting purposes). The cabins are heated by thermostat and there are a few electrical outlets, but no other amenities that I was aware of. The main cabin had a large center fire pit that made the whole place wonderfully cozy. Also included are several long tables with benches to sit at, as well as additional chairs with backs to gather around the firepit. There are electrical outlets too. Flooring was a mix of wood and tile. There are also restrooms nearby, which include toilets, sinks, and showers. Separated by gender, male and female. The designated parking lot for the Group Site was able to accommodate around 40-45 cars, which served our purposes well. There is also a small roundabout that leads up to the main cabin for ease of unpacking/dropping off gear. All these amenities made the long-weekend very enjoyable! This isn't a huge park by any means, but even in the icy snow, I was able to enjoy a few of the trails while there. The alphabetical trail markings confused me a bit at first, but then I realized it was how the park was indicating "you are here" without customizing each sign. At the trailheads are large informational signs that give you the distance, difficulty, and features you'll see on said trail. The river that cuts through here is really gorgeous. It was partially frozen over during our visit, and we got some flurries while we were camping, which covered everything in a beautiful fresh coat of white powder. Got some great photos and great memories. I was a bit bummed that the Nature Store wasn't open (it's seasonal), because I am a sucker for souvenirs on sightseeing trips to parks and such.

Whitewater is a gorgeous park with some varied scenery. There are a lot of neat formations to check…read moreout such as the bluffs, forests, rivers, and more. There are some easy to more challenging hikes available. There are also a lot of nice amenities and a beach area.

Such a lovely beach a few minutes out of Rochester!! Visited this area before but didn't realize…read morethey had a whole beach (only saw the areas where boats would go in) The water was pretty clear considering there was plenty of people there. Also saw some small fish. The sand does have rocks in it, so just be aware. They have showers, restrooms and a place where you can rent gear. The campground seemed clean (just drove by it), and they had a playground for the kiddos. There are trails nearby too but didn't explore them. So happy to revisit this place and will definitely be visiting again!

Watercraft (canoe, paddle board, kayak) rentals are affordably priced and in good condition. The…read moreriver was beautiful to paddle on and the birdwatching is excellent. I only wish they were open later than 6 during the summer!

This has got to be one of the most fun parks I have taken my boys to in awhile!…read more There is free street parking and a small parking lot down the street. This park has all kinds of things to climb, swing and explore but it also has... TOYS!! What kind of a park has toys!? The best kind of course!! As far as what is surround the playground, it's wood chips and the vast majority of the playground it wood. The entire playground is fenced in with only one way in and out, truly a parents dream haha!! There is a big sand pit to the left and alllll kinda of trucks, push toys and things to ride! There are several benches and picnic tables as well! This was a clean and well maintained park! If you are in the area, it's definitely worth the stop!

I know this place as "Wood Park". As in "Can we go to Wood Park, please please please ...". After…read moreall, its made mostly of wood. But to the city of Rochester and the kind people that made it happen, its know as the Field of Fun. Its located just a hop and a skip from the Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial. This park is small, but is a great place to take younger children. The play area is enclosed so they cant stray to far. There is a separate area for the toddler set with toddler sized play gear. For the 4-8 crowd there are more advanced slides, poles, and other climbing do-dads (even a climbing wall). There are even some picnic tables up front. if you were 4, wood it get any better than this?

Such a pretty hidden nature spot and honestly worth wandering around. The waterfall itself is…read morereally cool, but what I loved most was exploring all the little details around it--flowers growing by the creek, dripping mossy rock walls, interesting trees, and just the peaceful feeling of being tucked away in the woods. We definitely climbed around and explored more than expected The waterfall is beautiful from different angles, and if you like taking photos, there are a lot of fun spots and textures to capture. Depending on the time of day, the sun makes the water sparkle which looked really pretty. It felt peaceful, relaxing, and like a nice little escape without needing some huge hike. Definitely bring decent shoes if you plan to explore near the water or rocks because it can get slippery. Would absolutely recommend if you enjoy nature, photography, or just finding quiet pretty places.

An effortless walk through the Big Woods! If you're looking…read morefor a nature fix without an intense workout, this is the spot. The trails are well-maintained and marked, making for an incredibly easy, seamless hike--so much so that you don't really need a map to figure out where you're going. The old-growth forest canopy is gorgeous, and keeping an eye out for all the cool wild mushrooms along the trail made the walk even more fun :)

Spent a weekend camping & hiking here and it's lovely! This state park occupies a large swath of…read morethe coastline of Lake Albert Lea, and is very convenient to the city of Albert Lea and 35-W. As such, this is a very easy park to get to. I camped in one of the two large drive-in campgrounds, both of which are very well-appointed with amenities. There are drinking water faucets distributed liberally throughout the campgrounds, and there are large restroom facilities at each, which are kept clean and have plenty of toilets, sinks, and showers. They even have little stations to plug in devices to charge them. Probably my biggest gripe with this park is that the restroom facilities are so brightly lit, right next to where the campsites are, that it strongly impacts the outdoorsy ambience. Many campers might not mind that & might even prefer it. But between that and the audible proximity to the Interstate, I prefer to feel a little more isolated. I saw lots of big trailers plugged into outlets, and there are also group camps, rentable cabins, and backpacking sites. I definitely want to return here to try one of those backpacking sites along the east side of the lake. Speaking of the lake, I did spot a number of fishing and canoeing options being taken advantage of. With all the beautiful lakefront area here, this is a really cool place for that kind of activity. I was surprised that the office wasn't staffed when i arrived mid-afternoon on a Saturday in June (2022) to check in; I wasn't able to get my hands on a physical map, and I had to put cash in an envelope to get some firewood. But other than that, it felt like a well-staffed park. All things considered, I will defintely return from the Twin Cities, and if it's more convenient to where you live, you can consider that a good thing! EDIT: I did indeed return two weeks later and try out a packpacking site. Loved it! It's way more remote over there. Really beautiful and lots of cool, well-posted trails. There was a big stash of firewood they'd prepared for free; do they do that for everyone? It's great! You can get to all the backpacking sites via canoe. Bumping my rating from 4 stars to 5!

Beautiful, large park with trails for walking and bike trails. Wetland areas, big trees, and well…read moremaintained public areas

This review is about the park area only not the Mystery Cave which is further down the road…read more Start with the unfortunate news, the walking bridge to the historic town of Forestville was closed. I did read about that in the state's info about the park ahead of time. I picked up a map at the office and was told there is a stone walking bridge at marker 8. More bad news on the trail. The field and location maps show markers on the trail but the numbers didn't correspond with the ground signs as many were missing. I just couldn't find the temporary bridge, or marker 8, but took a decent hike on the other trails. The park isn't as scenic as others but there is a variety of trails from easy to difficult, which is what I like. Some steep hills will test your true endurance. Driving out about another 1/2 mile I see more trails I missed, lo leads to marker 8.

We started on the Hiking Club Trail and took an extra loop up to the lookout trail. Well worth the…read moreextra 2m or so round trip to see a view of the valley. Trail was well marked, wide and well groomed. It took us over the creek with stepping stones to keep our feet dry. There were some bigger hills so be prepared for a climb. Much of the hiking trail is shared with horses so be prepared to watch where you step. It was also covered with soft gravel which was hard to walk in at times. This is a huge area and we saw lot of people and activity. A bridge was out so we didn't get to see the old Forestville town as we would have to detour an extra 20 minutes. Very happy we stopped here. We enjoyed the hike very much.

Although this place is amazing, very beautiful, but this place is so shady and so insecure for…read morepeople last night when we went there with the family the moment we parted, there was a huge bunch of people who came in different cars mostly African-American. People are not US based Somalians or somewhere from that side of the country Because I could not hear them talk properly. They were dealing with illegal drugs and the park was so dirty and nasty that you could see used condoms all over the place. If you're going with the family I strongly recommend you avoid this side of the park because it's not very safe. We feel really insecure and left that place although the park is very pretty we could have stayed longer, but we didn't feel safe with the amount of people coming in there with the law-enforcement can make rounds in this area. They can have a good check on what's going on in there

Here's a weird fact. When I lived in Rochester, I never dropped by Silver Lake Park. I always drove…read morearound it to get to and from my home to the downtown area and beyond. The only explanation that I can muster is that I had a park within walking distance from my home. I visited that park often that I didn't think of visiting others. After having a decent lunch on Saturday afternoon, I decided to drop by the park to finally check it out. There are a number of parking spots. I backed my car into an available spot and walked around. Rochester is unique in that it's the only city in Minnesota that has manmade lakes. I believe that the number of lakes in Rochester is in the double digits these days, but the lakes were designed for cooling. Specifically, Silver Lake cools the Rochester Public Utilities power plant. The park surrounds Silver Lake. You can get quite the workout walking around it. I walked maybe a quarter of it. I had spotted a swing that had enough space to comfortably seat two adults. There were indeed two people on it, so I decided to walk somewhere else. When I noticed that they were walking towards me, I headed over to the swing. I like a good swing. This one faces the lake and it was enjoyable taking in downtown Rochester and the view while swinging on it. There are geese in the area. They are known as Canadian honkers. They have longer necks than your traditional Canada goose, which I didn't know about until I learned that Canadian Honker, the restaurant in town, was named after it. Cool! If you do see these birds, you can feed them. There isn't a bylaw that says that you'll get fined for feeding them. During the Fourth of July, fireworks happen in this area. It's definitely a smaller version of the Victoria Day fireworks at Ashbridges Bay in the Beaches in Toronto, but it's pretty decent. I never watched it from the park, but admired the display from afar. This park has a memorial dedicated to fallen firefighters. I also like that each tree has a sign that identifies what you are looking at. It's a cool place to walk around, and learn and discover on your own. It was great getting to know this park instead of driving around its perimeter! I look forward to returning and checking out the rest of it. (140)

Totally loved this Wisconsin state park that is nestled right on the waterways of the Mississippi…read moreRiver overlooking the Minnesota bluffs and a great sunset. The town is super cute for a bite to eat but this park is just 15 minutes north of lacrosse and totally worth it. I wish we had more time to explore the trails but it is one of my favorite state parks with new paved roads and so much wildlife to see with trains passing by too. Great camping spot to go to once a year and worth the drive!

The highlight of this park is the hike up Brady's bluff. Not an easy climb but the views are worth…read moreit. We climbed from the north and descended to the south. This was a good choice on this sunny and hot day since there was shade going up the stairs from the north. We followed the river side path back to the nature center from where we started. Be warned there is a lot of poison ivy along the river path. If we had kayaks or canoes they also have a very nice route through the nearby bay. Camping is available as are some picnic areas. A solid state park experience.

As a previous campground host, this was THE # 1 place I recommended people check out while here…read more It's only a 5 minute drive up. It is SPECTACULAR. I cannot imagine why anyone would give it less than 5 stars. While there are only swings here ( marked down by a previous viewer for this reason) there is lots of grassy area for kids to run around far away from the cliffs. Be aware, there are no guardrails at the viewing point... so watch kiddos closely . Enjoy the views of the Minnesota bluffs across the water as you gaze upon the Mississippi river down below and the Alma dam to your right ! You might get lucky and see a barge coming through. There is a steep hiking trail @ the north end of 2nd St in Alma to start your way up. Otherwise, you drive up from the far South end of town. Well marked. Don't miss this "beautiful view"!

Buena vista park is nice little place with a terrific view of the Mississippi, the Alma lock and…read moredam and a lot of interesting scenery in between. There are some nice stair and benches, plus a restroom (that I did not go into, so no idea if it is a flush one or not) by the parking lot. Not any barriers between you and the bluff, but it isnt too bad as far as the fear factor. We had a nice little visit and the photo ops are GREAT!! It was an easy enough drive up to the park from Alma as well. Nice little place

When I'm in Mason City and want to get outside for a bit, my first thought is to go out to Lime…read moreCreek. They've got a nice assortment of trail loops of differing lengths that intersect so you can get whatever distance hike you want, and see the different parts of the land. There is also a nice long trail that runs along the river that has some scenic spots as well. The nature center building isn't super big, but it's nice to take a look at the fossils, taxidermy, and information about the animals. In the winter especially, the trails aren't busy and you can really just walk about and take be at peace in the environment. It would be nice if there was a bit more signage at some of the intersections of the trails, however, as there are some spots where it's not clear where you'll end up.

The visitors center is a great place to learn about the flora and fauna of Iowa. It's filled with…read moreall kinds of unique stuffed animal wildlife. Some taxidermy guy had fun. Kinda creepy, but still interesting. They also have a few aquariums with live fish. Oh..and a live turtle. Very clean and well organized. If you check out the upstairs, there's a lot of hands on exploration things to do with the kids. Remember...don't forget to go to use the restrooms before you go hiking. Yes...there are 11 hiking trails to choose from. Some are short, some are long. I chose the easy hike since it looked like a storm was coming. There are also wheel chair accessible trails. Nice place to check out if you enjoy nature.