Minnesota's Best State Parks from About.com

About.com has Itasca, Blue Mounds, and Forestville as the top three state parks in Minnesota. I give them credit for their choices of Itasca, which was Minnesota's first park and Blue Mounds, which I found to be very unexpected. I however was surprised to see Forestville in that mix. Forestville (which I have previously written about) is not a bad park, but there are some others even in that region that got overlooked.

Itasca was Minnesota's first park as mentioned above and within the park is the headwaters of the Mississippi River (Lake Itasca). Ironically the park is NOT in Itasca County. The park in near Bemidji and is one of the largest parks in Minnesota. I have been to the park, but that was many years ago. I do plan on spending a weekend there this summer. I will write in depth on it after I visit that park.

Blue Mounds is also a great park. I would describe it as very unexpected. The park is in the middle of the prairie of Southwestern Minnesota near Luverne. Among other things the park has rock climbing on a Quartzite quarry wall, a herd of buffalo, and some great trails. Also because it is prairie, it is also a park that is best seen in the late summer, which is rather unique.

Where I think the article comes short is in its pick of Forestville. Just in that part of the state, I prefer Whitewater, Beaver Creek Valley, and Great River Bluffs. In addition the article ignores the great North Shore parks such as Tettegouche, Judge Magney, Gooseberry, and George Crosby Manitou. Other parks that I rate highly include Glendalough, St. Croix, and Myre Big Island. Obviously there are many great parks and this is very subjective.

About.com

What makes a park great to me?

Obviously this has different answers for different people. It is entirely my intend to have an opinionated blog, so I should explain what it is that I base my options on. To me the scenic beauty, available camping and hiking, as well as the general upkeep of the park are important. I do little fishing or bird watching, but I understand that might be the most important variable for other people. Over crowding is generally a big negative for me.

When I rate parks I will try to give an explanation of why I rate them in a particular way. I will also try to provide an overview of aspects to parks that may interest other people, but not me. One observation that should hold true, is that if a park does not offer great hiking, I probably won't rate it too highly.

It is also my intent to have conversations with volunteers and employees at different parks and discuss those conservations here. I believe that currently there are 72 or 73 state parks and I have been to about 60. I will be visiting the rest, and revisiting many more.