Minnesota Parks and Recreation Areas

On a hot sultry day in mid-July 1802, partners of the most successful fur trade company in North America, the North West Company, met in their majestic Great Hall at Grand Portage and voted to move their summer headquarters from the protected shores of Lake Superior's Grand Portage Bay 50 miles north to the mouth of the Kaministquia River. Almost from the time the vigorous Anglo-Scot NorWesters had organized at Grand Portage in the mid 1780's an emerging United States wanted them out. The July vote would mean that 18 buildings constructed from native squared spruce, pine and birch and over 2,000 cedar pickets surrounding them would be torn down, transported north in company schooners and used in constructing the new Fort William far from U.S. soil. read more...

Phone: 218-387-2788   Price Range: $3 - $6   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Grand Marais   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Backpacking, Birding, Cross Country Skiing, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Camping, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Grand Portage National Monument

Used by Native Americans for trade, food, and water long before Europeans visited the New World, the Mississippi River and its watershed is a major contributor to the ecology, culture, politics and economy of the North American continent. To acknowledge this fact, Congress established the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in 1988. The parks boundaries enclose about 54,000 acres and 72 miles of river. They describe a narrow corridor of land on either side of the Mississippi from Dayton and Ramsey, MN on the north boundary past Hastings, MN on the south border. Only 35 acres are owned by the Park Service. read more...

Phone: 651.293.0200   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: St. Paul   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: N/A   Activities: Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Cross Country Skiing, Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Snowshoeing   Details Provided By: Mississippi National River & Recreation Area

The story of this stone and the pipes made from it spans four centuries of Plains Indian life. Inseparable from the traditions that structured daily routine and honored the spirit world, pipes figured prominently in the ways of the village and in dealings between tribes. The story parallels that of a culture in transition: the evolution of the pipes influenced - and was influenced by - their makers' association with white explorers, traders, soldiers, and settlers. read more...

Phone: 507-825-5464   Price Range: $3 - $15   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Pipestone   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Nature Walks, Tours   Details Provided By: Pipestone National Monument

The Rainy Lake Visitor Center is open Wednesday - Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from now through May 2005. Kabetogama Lake and Ash River Visitor Centers are closed for the winter. read more...

Phone: 218-283-9821   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: International Falls   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Cross Country Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Camping, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing   Details Provided By: Voyageurs National Park