State parks

Minnesota state parks include:

• 65 state parks 
• 9 recreation areas
• 9 waysides
• 4,440 campsites
• 207 horse camp sites
• 104 group camps
• 105 water access campsites
• 644 archaeological and historic cemetery sites
• 306 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places

Number of visitors:

• There are an average of 9,857,793 visitors to Minnesota state parks each year
• Most visitors come just for the day
• An average of 1,049,382 visitors camp overnight each year
• Nearly 19 percent of park visitors come from other states and countries

Most visited parks:

The most visited state parks in 2021 included:

• Gooseberry Falls –  782,125 visitors
• Fort Snelling – 702,351 visitors
• Itasca –  569,835 visitors
• Tettegouche- 564,992 visitors
• Split Rock Lighthouse – 544,327 visitors

Oldest state parks:

• Minnesota became the second oldest state park system in the country with the establishment of Itasca State Park on April 20, 1891.
• The next state park added to the system was Interstate State Park on April 25, 1895.
• The most significant growth years occurred in 1937, 1957, and 1963. In 1937, ten new parks were added across the state. In 1957, five parks were added including four along the North Shore of Lake Superior. The largest number of parks added at one time (11) occurred in 1963.