Itasca State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans 32,690 acres (132.3 km2) of northern Minnesota, and is located about 21 miles (34 km) north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and 25 miles (40 km) from Bagley, Minnesota. The park is part of Minnesota's Pine Moraines and Outwash Plains Ecological Subsection and is contained within Clearwater, Hubbard, and Becker counties.
Bear Head Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, providing ready access to outdoor recreation in the Boundary Waters region. It boasts scenery similar to the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, with the added conveniences of road access, modern facilities, and motorboating. The most popular visitor activities are boating, fishing, swimming, and hiking. The park entirely surrounds 670-acre (270 ha) Bear Head Lake and three other fishing lakes. It was established in 1961 in Saint Louis County near Ely, Minnesota. The park also contains the woodlands surrounding the lakes, which gives an entire total of about 5,540 acres. The park also shares a large border with Bear Island State Forest.
St. Croix State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, USA. The park follows the shore of the St. Croix River for 21 miles (34 km) and contains the last 7 miles (11 km) of the Kettle River. At 33,895 acres (13,717 ha) it is the largest Minnesota state park. It was developed as a Recreational Demonstration Area in the 1930s, and is one of the finest surviving properties of this type in the nation. 164 structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration survive, the largest collection of New Deal projects in Minnesota. As a historic district they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places and proclaimed a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The Chengwatana State Forest is a state forest located in Pine and Chisago counties in Minnesota. Its name is derived from the Ojibwe: Zhingwaadena, meaning white-pine town, after the nearby ghost town and township. Eastern White Pine was historically the dominant tree species in the surrounding forest prior to intensive logging at the end of the nineteenth century.
The Crow Wing State Forest is a state forest located near Fairfield Township in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. It is about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the tourism-based town of Brainerd. Approximately 14,072 acres (5,695 ha) (44%) of the forest of 31,307 acres (12,669 ha) is actively managed. The managed acres are split nearly equally between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Crow Wing County, and the privately owned Potlatch Corp.
The Bear Island State Forest is a state forest in Minnesota bordered by the towns of Ely, Babbitt, and Tower in Lake and Saint Louis counties. It is adjacent to the Burntside State Forest and the federally managed Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It is managed primarily by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the counties.
The Beltrami Island State Forest is a state forest located in Lake of the Woods, Roseau, and Beltrami counties, Minnesota. Named after Italian explorer Giacomo Beltrami, it is the second-largest state forest in the Minnesota system after Pine Island State Forest. The largest wildlife management area in the state at 321,149 acres (129,964 ha), the Red Lake Wildlife Management Area, is located within the forest. The majority of the forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, although a significant portion are tribal lands belonging to the neighboring Red Lake Band of Ojibwe.
The Foot Hills State Forest is a state forest located in Cass, and Hubbard counties, Minnesota. The forest is a popular recreation spot due to its proximity to the greater Minneapolis – Saint Paul metropolitan area.
The General C. C. Andrew State Forest is a state forest located in Pine County, Minnesota. The forest is named in honor of major general Christopher Columbus Andrews, a Civil War veteran, and an early Minnesota state Forestry Commissioner and proponent for scientific forestry and forest management. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources manages the majority of the forest.
The George Washington State Forest is a state forest located in Itasca, Koochiching, and Saint Louis counties, Minnesota. The forest was established and named after George Washington in 1931, the first President of the United States, to commemorate the bicentennial of his birth. The forest borders the Chippewa National Forest and completely environs the Scenic State Park to the west, and borders the Sturgeon River State Forest and McCarthy Beach State Park to the east. The Taconite State Trail passes through the forest.
The Grand Portage State Forest is a state forest located near the community of Hovland in Cook County, in extreme northeastern Minnesota. The forest encloses Judge C. R. Magney State Park, Swamp River Wildlife Management Area, Hovland Woods Scientific and Natural Area, and Spring Beauty Hardwoods Scientific and Natural Area. It borders the Grand Portage Indian Reservation to the east, the Superior National Forest to the west, and Ontario to the north. The forest is named after the Grand Portage, a historic trade route between the Great Lakes and the Northwest.
The Koochiching State Forest is a state forest located near International Falls in Itasca, Koochiching, and Saint Louis counties, Minnesota. The forest borders the Pine Island State Forest to the west, the Big Fork State Forest and George Washington State Forest to the south, the Nett Lake Indian Reservation and the Kabetogama State Forest to the east. A leg of the forest touches Rainy Lake to the north, which forms part of the international border with Ontario. Of the 565,500 acres (2,288 km2), 344,300 acres (1,393 km2) are managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, making it one of the largest forests in the Minnesota state system.
The Land o' Lakes State Forest is a state forest located primarily in Cass, Minnesota, with portions extending into adjacent Aitkin and Crow Wing counties. The forest has small shared borders with the Chippewa National Forest to the north, and the Hill River State Forest to east. Over half of the forest's land is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; the remaining land is managed by Cass County or is privately held.
The Lyons State Forest is a state forest located near the city of Staples in Wadena County, Minnesota. The forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The Nemadji State Forest is a state forest located primarily in Pine County, Minnesota. A small portion of the forest extends into neighboring Carlton County. The eastern perimeter of the forest borders the state of Wisconsin. It is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Gray wolves, white-tailed deer, and eagles are present in the forest.
The Paul Bunyan State Forest is a state forest located in Hubbard and Cass counties in Minnesota. The forest borders the Chippewa National Forest and the Welsh Lake State Forest to the east, and the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest to the northwest. The forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the land department for Hubbard County.
The Pine Island State Forest is a Minnesota state forest located primarily in Koochiching County, although there are portions that extend into Beltrami, Lake of the Woods, and Itasca counties. The forest borders the Koochiching State Forest to the east, the Red Lake State Forest to the west, and Big Fork State Forest and Chippewa National Forest to the south. At an area of 878,040 acres (355,330 ha), it is the largest state forest in Minnesota.
The Red Lake State Forest is a Minnesota state forest located primarily in Beltrami County, although portions extend into Koochiching County. The forest borders the Pine Island State Forest to the east and Upper Red Lake to the west. Minnesota State Highway 72 runs through the forest.
Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, currently in development. It includes undeveloped shoreline on both Greenleaf and Sioux Lakes, halfway between the cities of Hutchinson and Litchfield in Meeker County. Portions of the state recreation area (SRA) are open to the public for day-use recreation, but there are no facilities yet on site. The park boundaries were set by the Minnesota Legislature and the state is still acquiring land from willing sellers; two-thirds of the property remain privately owned.
The Rum River State Forest is a state forest located in Kanabec, Mille Lacs and Morrison counties in central Minnesota. The forest is nearby the city of Onamia and is along the Rum River, just downstream (south) of Mille Lacs Lake. The forest is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The forest is home to many Northern hardwoods such as maple, oak, ash, elm and basswood that occupy most of the upland areas while tamarack and black spruce are found in lowland and marshy areas.
