List of Minnesota state parks#State trails

Minnesota's first attempt to create a state park came in 1885, when a {{convert|173|acre|ha|adj=on}} park was authorized to preserve Minnehaha Falls. The effort was delayed by legal appeals from the various landowners of the desired parkland, and by the time those were settled in favor of the state in 1889, Minnesota no longer had the money to purchase the land. Instead the city of Minneapolis fronted the cash. Owned and operated by Minneapolis, Minnehaha State Park was ultimately absorbed as a city park.{{rp|3}}

Minnesota tried again in 1891, authorizing a state park around Lake Itasca both for its recreational opportunities and to protect the source of the Mississippi River. Interstate Park on the St. Croix River was created in 1895. Other sites were added over the next two decades, but with an inconsistent vision. Modest tracts of scenic land were acquired in Minneopa and Jay Cooke State Parks, but much effort was also expended on creating historical monuments relating to the Dakota War of 1862 and the Great Hinckley Fire. Moreover, most of the sites were being administered by the state auditor, who had many other duties. Itasca State Park, meanwhile, was being administered as a state forest. In 1923, state auditor Ray P. Chase excoriated this situation, calling for wiser selection of park lands and a dedicated commissioner. Chase's comments had an impact, and two years later the Department of Conservation was created to manage the state's natural resources, including the state parks. Originally part of the forestry division, the state parks received their own division in 1935 to take advantage of federal programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).{{rp|82}}{{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}} In 1971, the department became the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.{{cite web | url=http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/shipwrecks/mgmtplan/plan0697.html | title=Minnesota's Submerged Cultural Resources Preservation Plan | publisher=Minnesota Historical Society | date=June 1997 | access-date=June 7, 2011}}

The state parks were closed for almost three weeks in July 2011 due to a shutdown of the state government.

The state park system includes nine waysides, most of them along Minnesota State Highway 61 on the North Shore.{{cite web | url=http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/waysides/index.html | title=State Park Waysides: Minnesota DNR | publisher=Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | access-date=June 7, 2011}} These are parcels of land too small to be full-fledged parks, but with cultural or natural resources greater than would be overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation as highway waysides. Generally development is limited to a parking area and a short trail; sometimes there are sanitation facilities and picnic tables as well.

Since Minnesota state parks and trails are authorized by the state legislature, some trails have been established in state statute, yet no usable mileage has been constructed.{{cite web | title = Statute 85.015 | url = https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=85.015&year=2015 | publisher = Minnesota Legislature | access-date = 2016-02-24}}

Several units added to the Minnesota state park system over the years have since been redesignated or transferred to other agencies, including the system's very first unit, Camp Release State Memorial Wayside, created in 1889. In most cases these decisions were due to the unit being too small for a state park with little chance of expansion, or largely local use rather than attracting visitors from all over the state and beyond. Four of these units were redesignated as state waysides and are listed above. The other former units were:

• List of hiking trails in Minnesota
• List of Minnesota state forests
• List of U.S. national parks

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• Arthur, Anne. Minnesota's State Parks. Adventure Publications, 1998. {{ISBN|1-885061-51-X}}
• Meyer, Roy Willard. Everyone's Country Estate: A History of Minnesota's State Parks. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0-87351-266-9}}

{{Commons category|State parks of Minnesota}}

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• [http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/index.html Minnesota State Parks] on the Department of Natural Resources website
• [http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/85/012.html 2006 Minnesota Statute sec. 85.012 State parks]—statutory list
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823000459/http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/PED/pedrep/0002ch1.pdf Minnesota State Park System—Legislative Auditor Report]

{{Lists of state parks by U.S. state}}

{{Protected areas of Minnesota}}

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Minnesota state parks

State parks