Lake Carlos State Park

Lake Carlos State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
The Lake Carlos State Park bath house.
Show map of Minnesota Show map of the United States
Location	Douglas County, Minnesota, Off MN 29 at NW end of Lake Carlos
Nearest city	Carlos, Minnesota
Coordinates	45°59′43″N95°20′41″W / 45.99528°N 95.34472°W / 45.99528; -95.34472
MPS	Minnesota State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style MPS
NRHP reference No.	89001654 [1]
Added to NRHP	July 2, 1992

Lake Carlos State Park WPA/Rustic Style Group Camp
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Off MN 29 on NE shore of Lake Carlos, Carlos Township
Nearest city	Carlos, Minnesota
Coordinates	45°59′31″N95°20′50″W / 45.99194°N 95.34722°W / 45.99194; -95.34722
MPS	Minnesota State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style MPS
NRHP reference No.	92000776 [1]
Added to NRHP	July 2, 1992

Lake Carlos State Park is a state park about 10 miles north of Alexandria, Minnesota, USA. The park was established in 1937 to provide a public recreational facility in one of Minnesota's summer resort centers, ^[2] and attracts tourists from Minnesota and bordering states.

Visitors often view fauna such as beaver, deer, loons, grebes, various ducks and herons. ^[3]

Lake Carlos itself covers an area of 2,605.12 acres including 12.83 miles of shoreline. The lake has a maximum depth of 163 feet with an average depth of 50 feet. Fish in Lake Carlos include black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin (dogfish),brown bullhead, common carp, greater redhorse, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, rock bass, shorthead redhorse, smallmouth bass, sunfish, tullibee (cisco), walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch. ^[4]

Five buildings in the park, constructed by the Works Progress Administration in the Rustic Style, are included within the National Register of Historic Places. These include the Mess Hall and Crafts Building within the group camp area, as well as the water tower, sanitation building, and bath house within the public use area.

The namesake lake, Lake Carlos, was named for the friend of an early settler. ^[5]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. Benson, David R. (2002). Stories in Log and Stone: The Legacy of the New Deal in Minnesota State Parks. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. ISBN   0-9657127-1-0.
3. "Park Information". Lake Carlos State Park. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
4. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. LakeFinder: Lake ID 21005700. www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/lake.html?id=21005700. Accessed 27 Nov. 2025.
5. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p.  176.

• Rustic Style Resources in Minnesota State Parks: Lake Carlos State Park

External links

Media related to Lake Carlos State Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Lake Carlos State Park