State park with the best beach in the Midwest! Sand and pines, family and pet friendly!read more

Best state Park in Minnesota, with best swimming beach anywhere. The sand soft and u can walk out…read morelike 2 and a half blocks. The water is like bath water on a warm day. They have new shower building and new beach dressing house.

This is a water-based national park, so to fully experience this you need to be out on the water. I…read moretook two boat tours through the NPS, but many people fish or rent houseboats to experience the park. There are camp sites, but the vast majority are on islands which require watercraft to access. Kettle Falls Cruise - This takes you from Ash River Visitor Center to Kettle Falls and back. You can bring your own food for lunch on the boat (no eating or drinking other than water on the boat though) or order at the Visitor Center so you get a lunch box waiting for you at the Lodge. I opted to get a lunch box, which consisted of a dill pickle spear, a bag of potato chips, and a simple lunch meat sandwich. I normally don't like lunch meat sandwiches (especially since this was was reminiscent of primary school lunches), but eating at the historic lodge and the beautiful surroundings made this the best, most delicious sandwich in its class! If you have mobility issues, they have a golf cart you can ride to the hotel, otherwise it's a maybe 10 minute walk from the dock to hotel. Check out the dam and walk around, and then you're back on the boat for the cruise to the visitor center. Grand Tour Cruise - This departs from the Rainy Lake Visitor Center and does not have any stops. It's more for general enjoyment and wildlife viewing. I saw a lot of beautiful scenery, but not a lot of animals. It was still good though, as Joe, one the the NPS rangers, was absolutely hilarious! Both tours provided binoculars free to borrow for your enjoyment. Be sure to apply a lot of mosquito spray, as the mosquitos here are ferocious. Also consider some rain gear as it can get rainy.

Voyageurs is an under visited park with lots to offer. It excels at paddle packing. You must have a…read moreboat to really explore the park because no camping is available except on islands in the park's lakes. The park doesn't rent boats so plan to bring your own or rent from a local outfitter. If you do need somewhere cheap or free to sleep nearby, check the overnight parking area at Wooden Frog which also comes with water and vault toilet facilities. There are three different visitors centers each offering something different.

If you're up in this area, just go! For under $20, you get to go half a mile underground on an…read moreelevator and then take a train through a mine before learning some super interesting information about miners and their lives. It was such a cool and unique tour and I highly recommend it! What a fun experience.

During the Minnesota and Canada fires, we wanted to get out of the smoke. It was also a heatwave at…read morethat time. The air down in the mines is filtered through all that stone and is about fifty degrees year round!!!! We breathed clean air and we were able to get out of the heat for awhile. Nice! We booked online to make sure we got the time slot we wanted. Apple Maps got us there correctly. There is ample parking and a side lot for overflow as needed. There were quite a few people already there! The park itself is free. You can walk around and learn on your own. They have a small shop selling gorgeous mineral stones and cookbooks and t shirts etc. There's a public restroom inside that is clean, separate men and women with multiple stalls. We perused the whole building and then sat in the meeting room, waiting for the video presentation. Then as a group we donned construction style hats and headed for the mine elevator. They have some cubbies for your belongings- hats and sunglasses etc which you won't need down there. The staff were super nice. Apparently one woman did not bring a jacket so the staff member lent her their jacket! It is quite chilly underground. The staff were also willing to take pictures of us and other families when asked. Only one person had a hard time with the elevator. It is noisy and a tight squeeze for 10-11 people and there are times when it is completely dark inside. At the bottom, we waited for everyone to get off the elevator and we boarded a little train. That train took us to the mine shaft where we followed our guide up some stairs. There is an elevator for accessibility needs. We spent time looking and learning and then took the train back to the elevator. They have quite the safety protocol to ensure no one gets hurt and that the elevator up and down is coordinated with people above and below ground. I really enjoyed walking the grounds outside and seeing the machine shop and the drill bits etc. There are some signs where you can read about the different carts and what not. The mountain views were limited by the smoke but I imagine it's nice on a clear day. Tickets are reasonable. I would recommend this tour if you're in the area and looking to get away from the heat or cold and breathe some fresh air! It's a great way to learn about history and iron mining. If you don't care about a specific tour time and don't mind a little risk, you can save a dollar by going there and getting tickets at the box office on the day of. Also- There are no longer any bats or energy beam? research going on here. Just microbial research. That's some old stuff that used to be there.

This was a great short hike! We did see a lot of people straying from the path...lots of trash and…read moreclothing items forgotten behind! There are a few spots where boards could be replaced along the trail - thinking about littles or those with poor balance - but all in all - great place to stop if you have time. We didn't need bug spray until we finished the hike and were back in the parking lot! (Early in July) But would suggest spraying yourself before entering. Great trail, great views, and amazing photo spots.

Very easy trail with a huge reward. This trail is a combo loop/out and back. There are some planks…read morebuilt to help with some of the wetter parts of the trail The falls are beautiful. We saw people swimming in the water in mid-July. There were some interesting trees with exposed roots along the way. Interesting how a tree will go through anything to find ground to put its root. This was recommended to us from a ranger in the Soudan Mine park. So glad he told us about it.

Outstanding Ice fishing trip. Snow machine ride to Hyppa's hot fishing hole. Warming tent set up…read moreand warm upon arrival, then we just got to it. Hyppa's also set up 3 tip up rigs outside our tents. Caught a 23" Walleye, many perch, etc. was a fun and active fishing day even thought about -15 outside. Tents were warm & relaxing. I'd recommend this service to anyone! "Jake can Rake in the fish".

Jake was the only guide in the Cook area of Lake Vermilion that was willing to take me out on a…read moreguided ice fishing trip. He told me he does enjoy ice fishing himself and had all the gear, but had never had anyone ask for a guided ice fishing trip before. Jake told me where to park and met me at the appointed time for a snowmobile ride out to his ice house which was heated and ready to start fishing when we got there. Sonar flashers enabled us to watch as fish swam up to meet our jigs. I had a great time! Jake turned out to be an exceptionally pleasant and very knowledgeable guide. We caught two nice northern pike, a pair of walleyes and had non-stop action with perch. The experience was everything I had imagined and more than I'd hoped for! Jake guides exclusively on Lake Vermilion and specializes in walleyes. He also enjoys fishing other species such as smallmouth bass, crappie, and northern pike.

What an absolutely beautiful Minnesota state park. The dense woods and lakes are really amazing to…read morebe a part of. We did the norberg lake trail and I've done the blueberry lakes trail in the past as well. Definitely bring good shoes or boots for these trails. There is a fair amount of up and down throughout and lots of rocks and roots. I am excited to come back here in the future.

In our quest to visit all MN state parks, Bear Head Lake was next on our list. We stuck with the…read moreHiking Club trail or Norberg Trail. It was a three mile loop that took you past a couple of lakes. It involved walking on some uneven ground (roots and stones) but it was relatively flat and very woodsy. We visited in mid July and it was quite buggy so make sure you are covered or sprayed to minimize the bites. Minnesota parks are so beautiful. I get so worries about where I'm stepping, I sometimes forget to look up and all around to enjoy the beauty.

Great trip. Captain Tim very knowledgeable on history and nature of area and a lot of fun…read more The area is beautiful

We had an amazing trip today with Captain Tim of Voyageurs Outfitters. We went to Kettle Falls…read morefrom Thunderbird Lodge. It was a perfect day full of fun memories and lots of laughs. Thunderbird Lodge is also amazing. We had an absolute blast. Thank you SO much!! Jenn Ryan

One of the smaller state parks we've visited. A short 1-2 mile hike is mostly flat with some lovely…read morelake and river views. Lots of white pines, which apparently are tasty to deer, hence the restoration area. It was fun to see the not-so-mighty Mississippi. Very different looking from where I grew up in southern MN.

This 224 acre park east of Grand Rapids is one of the smaller in the state system. There is easy…read morehiking in a circle of the park with many tall pines. The park borders the shore of the Mississippi River with many picnic spots. Camping seems to be the bigger attraction with ample camping spots including a large group camp site. The camp sites are rustic so don't expect a hot shower room or flushing toilet. For more adventure you could also canoe-in to a site. A dock and boat launch round out the activities. There is no trail office only a self-service kiosk.

This is a super pretty waterfall which also happens to be a short walk away! Highly worth stopping…read moreby if you're traveling on the road and want to stretch out your legs, or to visit as an attraction in of itself. It's great since you don't need to purchase a permit to park in the wayside/visitor center lot. There's a pretty large visitor center with washrooms, a nature store, and exhibits. The exhibits were informative, ranging from the rocks of Lake Superior, to the animals of the forest park. I spent about 15 minutes here reading all the signs. The park store has ice cream, clothing, cards, and other sundries. It was pretty busy with people purchasing Gooseberry Falls State Park swag. I guess this park is pretty beloved! Finally, the walk to the falls was beautiful. It's paved all the way and very clearly laid out so there's no chance of getting lost. Some people were wading in the river and taking some amazing photos of this beautiful place.

This place is always on our stopping list when we're up north…read more The falls being easily accessible are also a great place to put your feet in the water and throw rocks. The visitor center is also very nice and well equipped with the extra bonus of ice cream treats!