Camden State Park

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Camden State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style Historic District

| nrhp_type = hd

| nocat = yes

| image = Redwood River Camden.jpg

| caption = The Redwood River as viewed downstream from a road bridge in the park

| location = Lyon County, Minnesota, Off MN 23 SW of Lynd

| nearest_city = Lynd, Minnesota

| coordinates = {{coord|44|22|4|N|95|55|29|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Minnesota#USA

| built = 1934

| architect = Multiple

| architecture = NPS rustic architecture

| added = April 19, 1991

| area = {{convert|2247|acre}}

| mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500285|title=Minnesota State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style MPS}}

| refnum = 89001669{{NRISref|2009a}}

}}

Camden State Park is a state park on the Redwood River in southwestern Minnesota near Marshall. It is used for picnics, camping, hiking, and other outdoor recreation.

The park, originally known as Camden Woods, was acquired in 1934, and development started in 1935 with workers from the Veterans Conservation Corps, an offshoot of the Civilian Conservation Corps.{{Cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren |title=Minnesota place names: a geographical encyclopedia|date=2001|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press|isbn=0-87351-396-7|edition=3rd, rev. and enl|location=St. Paul, Minn.|pages=335|oclc=45137506}}{{cite news |last1=Remington |first1=Harry |title=CCC Program Spurs Work in State Forest Parks |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67248522/ccc-program-spurs-work-in-state-forest/ |access-date=January 9, 2021 |work=Star Tribune |date=March 10, 1935 |pages=28}} The landscape design in the park was planned by the National Park Service, and the master-planned development allowed the Redwood River to determine the placement of various functional areas in the park. After the VCC finished their development in 1936, the Works Progress Administration dismantled the VCC camp buildings and built the Swimming Instructor's Cabin and the Ice and Wood House. Thirteen buildings and structures, built by the VCC and the WPA, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{cite web |title=Rustic Style Resources in Minnesota State Parks |url=https://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/stateparks/Camden.html |website=www.mnhs.org |access-date=January 9, 2021}}

A 1971 study by the Minnesota Academy of Science and The Nature Conservancy found that Camden State Park contained one of the westernmost natural occurrences of the sugar maple in North America.{{cite book |last1=Meyer |first1=Roy Willard |title=Everyone's country estate : a history of Minnesota's state parks |date=1991 |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press |location=St. Paul |isbn=9780873512664 |pages=105–110}}

In the 1980s, the park began a prairie restoration project. The original sites were two acres or less in size, and contained about 35 grasses and wildflowers.{{cite news |last1=Muchlinski |first1=Jim |title=Preserving prairies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67253050/preserving-prairies/ |access-date=January 9, 2021 |work=Star Tribune |date=August 28, 1994 |pages=49}} The prairie plants have been maintained and expanded, in part through the use of controlled burns.{{cite news |last1=Woster |first1=Kevin |title=Fire helps park go native |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67253163/fire-helps-park-go-native/ |access-date=January 9, 2021 |work=Argus-Leader |date=May 9, 2000 |pages=23–24}} Continued on the [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67253256/fire-helps-park-go-native-2nd-page/ second page]