Beautiful trails that take you through prairie or down to the river. You can take a short 15ish…read moreminute walk or challenge yourself for hours. The traverse was pretty easy, nothing too stressful. Walking down to the river gave some nice views and some moments to just sit and enjoy the surroundings. It also didn't seem to have an admission charge, so you could park and walk right in.

Beautiful trails! Animals galore! Fun in every season. Woods, ponds, and even a prairie-- choose…read moreyour own adventure. An important educational asset to area schools, Faribault kids grow up snow-shoeing and exploring the trails and learning about wildlife. DON'T MISS THE TURTLE POND!

I'm a very new diver and I've been working on my dives so I can compete. This place is great for…read morethat! They have 3 diving boards, two one-meter and one three-meter. I had practice when it was 50ish degrees out and the pool was almost warm! They have a little small slide for children. It's a very affordable place and has good deals if you were to go more often. Another bonus is they have a set time for people who want to do laps without children in the way. The facility is kept clean and is an overall enjoyable place to swim. Although I prefer indoor pools, this one is a great alternative when the option is not available! I would recommend this place to anyone of all ages!

Mineral Springs is the most natural setting of all the multi-purpose parks in Owatonna. It's an old…read morepark, and its geography is probably what's prevented the addition of facilities for field sport's like baseball and soccer. It does however offer volleyball, disc golf, and very nice horseshoe courts. Maple Creek twists and turns through the park, and bridges span it in several places. The area around the pavilion is wooded, but groomed and not cluttered. There is a parking lot next to the pavilion and there is another to the north, across a bridge. There are picnic tables and trails that lead uphill to the woods. There is a statue of Princess Owatonna, with a sign describing the story that ties her with this area. This park may not have all the features that some of the others do, but to just get away to a peaceful natural setting, it is my favorite.

Visited today with my daughter. Beautiful. Well kept. Perfect place for pictures, playing, bbq,…read morehorseshoes, disc golf, walking paths. Love visiting this park!

Wow! What is this place and how did I never know about it?!?!? Every city should have something…read morelike this. The park is very clean and maintained with tons of climbing objects for the little ones to be entertained. Also the best part is that there is a petting area where you can just get the food from coin operated machines to feed the animals. I highly recommend coming here

Wow! I am a park reviewer of over 100-parks and Sibley Park is a treasure of fun for kids of all…read moreages. Has to be one of the best parks in the region. All ages will appreciate its beautiful gardens, plants and flowers throughout the entire park. Everything is well groomed and maintained. My favorite is the barnyard fun without the piles of manure. The playground equipment is mostly barn themed and has creative climbing structures. The playground theming is manufactured by Landscape Structures, one of the highest quality playgrounds in the USA. The smaller playground is Game Time- low quality but it fits into the theming. They have a section of the park with workout machines that are available to use, instructions by each piece, which I think is a nice touch. There are plenty of farm yard animals to visit and feed. I observed adults and children enjoying this feature. Mankato should be very proud of this unique park. It's worth more than a few hours drive to play, enjoy and take leisure seriously. Play and smell the flowers.

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.

This park is best seen in the spring if spotting wildflowers is on your bucket list. It's heavily…read moreforested park, about 45 minutes from the Twin Cities, just north of Fairbault. The Hidden Falls waterfall is a short, easy 1/2 mile hike. The park is also home to the endangered Dwarf Trout Lily. It's a memorable day trip, and worth seeking out.

This is a cute hidden spot in Mankato. I'm sure it's breathtaking when the water levels are high…read more Unfortunately, we visited during a drought so it was basically a trickle. There is a small parking lot, a walking path, and the bridge overlooks the falls.

On our way to Minneopa state park we did a quick search for other waterfalls in the area and…read moreMinnemishinona popped up. We took the quick detour to check it out. The park was much smaller than we expected and it may be easy to miss if you do t know it's there. There is a small dirt/gravel parking with a seating pavilion. On the other side of the path, there is a large field area with picnic tables scattered around and lots of shade. There is a very short trail to a bridge overlooking the falls. The falls were smaller than expected but still a nice view. It was hard to tell if there were paths and trails where you could make your way down to the creek but access directly to the falls was not an option. Lots of signs and fences marking it off because the drop is significant. If your exploring and driving past, it makes a nice roadside stop but not one I would say is worth a special trip.

It's a large park area with lots to do. From easy fishing spots, to walking and bike trails, and…read moreeven the clam shell for performances there is a lot to do at Casperson. The park is clean and feels safe, I often see lots of kids and families. And there is some lake life happening as well with boaters and kayakers. Plan for an hour or plan for the day.

Very beautiful community park. Family fun for every one. Heart fishing dock and boat landing.read more

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

There a light show was fantastic. The service was amazing. You can donated food or money to this…read moreevent . You also can buy thing for souvenirs. The food and drinks variety prices. There is a drive-through or a walk for you. You can do both it's up to you. There are restrooms for on the site. Many cool pics you can take for social media.

When to the Kiwanas drive through light show. My first time there, really cool and is family…read moreapproved. Seemed a bit smaller than bentlyville but it's still fun. Go during the weekday if you are planning to do drive they instead of walking. Over the weekend, it took me about an hour from the exit of bentlyville to the start of the light show. No restrooms along the way, so be cautious about that. Overall a great experience, must for one time. But you can always make it a family tradition.

We went to this park after my daughter's daycare had a field trip here. What a little pearl. It's…read moresuch a fun park. I wanted to tell all my friends...but at the same.time want to keep it secret. It has some fun items that you dont see at other parks. One in particular is the circular monkey bars...so fun! My kids really enjoyed their time here There is also a spacious parking lot. Easy to find. And both a play structure for littles as well as a bigger one that goes up to 12 years old.