We take too much of our heritage for granted. Harriman State Park is not Mt. Vernon. Nor is it Yosemite. But heritage cannot be measured on a scale.

~ Mary E. Reed

Our Story In Pictures:

Glacier Lake MN State Park, 2016 🚣‍♀️ 🏄‍♀️ 🐟

Glacial Lakes State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Starbuck. It was founded in 1963 to preserve some of the remaining rolling prairie which previously covered much of the state. Located in the Leaf Mountains, the park and the area around it contains many glacial landforms created by the Wisconsonian glaciation.

Fort Snelling State Park, circa 2016-17 🌳🦅🪖

Fort Snelling State Park is a state park of the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers. For many centuries, the area of the modern park has been of importance to the Mdewakanton Dakota people who consider it the center of the earth. The state park, which opened in 1962, is named for the historic Fort Snelling, which dates from 1820. The fort structure is maintained and operated by the Minnesota Historical Society. The bulk of the state park preserves the bottomland forest, rivers, and backwater lakes below the river bluffs. Both the state and historic fort structure are part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a National Park Service site.

Wita Tanka ( Pike Island) MN State Park, October 2020 🦅🌲🦌

Pike Island, Dakota name Wita Tanka, is an island at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers in the southwestern part of Saint Paul in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minnesota, U.S.. The island is now part of Fort Snelling State Park. It is a portion of the 100,000 acres (400 km 2) of land purchased from the Mdewakanton Sioux Indians by Zebulon Pike in September 1805.

Nerstrand Big Woods MN State Park, September 2020 🌎 🌲☀️🦌💦

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, northeast of Faribault just outside the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name from the Big Woods, a large, contiguous forested area covering much of southeast Minnesota prior to the 1840s, when European settlers began to establish farms in the territory, and from Nedstrand in Tysvær, Norway, of which Nerstrand is a namesake. Aside from a small waterfall, the outstanding natural feature of the park is the forest itself.

Beaver Creek Valley MN State Park, 2020 🌲🌳🦌

Beaver Creek Valley State Park is a state park of Minnesota, featuring a steep, narrow valley carved by East Beaver Creek. This spring-fed stream is a fishing destination for its native brook trout, and introduced brown trout. The park rests on a heavily forested valley, up to 250 feet (76 m) deep in places, amidst the farmland of southeastern Minnesota. Located near the town of Caledonia, the park was developed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration. The parkland exhibits the highly stream-carved terrain characteristic of the Driftless Area.

Woodlake Nature Center, June 2021 ☀️🦌🦆🐠

Wood Lake Nature Center is a 150-acre (0.61 km2) nature preserve within Richfield, Minnesota. In addition to Wood Lake, the park contains mixed lowland forest, cattail marsh and restored prairie habitats. Three miles of walking trails and boardwalks surround the lake as well as observation shelters, docks, a picnic area, and an outdoor amphitheater.

Great River Bluffs State Park, 2021 🦬 🧗‍♂️🦌

Great River Bluffs State Park is a state park of Minnesota, on the Mississippi River southeast of Winona. The park preserves steep-sided bluffs rising 500 feet (150 m) above the river and the narrow valleys between them, which support rare and fragile plant communities.

Lake Louise State Park, MN 2022 🦅

Lake Louise State Park is a Minnesota state park just north of the Iowa border near the small town of Le Roy in Mower County. It has a 25 acre man-made lake and 1,168 acres (5 km) of mixed prairie and deciduous forest. It is used for picnics, swimming, camping, hiking, horseback riding, and other outdoor recreation. It is noted for butterfly watching, as some rare species have been seen.

Whitewater State Park, MN 🎶☮️🪜

Your visit to Whitewater State Park includes facilities for both small and large groups, a river landscape for fishing, swimming and other recreation. Historic structures and modern facilities, trails and scenic views offer visitors a variety of choices.

Nearly 450 million years ago, shallow seas covered most of North America, including southeastern Minnesota. On its bed, sediment accumulated that turned into rock hundreds of feet thick. When the sea withdrew, erosion carved through the bedrock, creating the original valleys and bluffs found in what is now Whitewater State Park. More recently, glacial meltwaters sculpted the cliffs and valleys.