Crow Wing State Park

Jackie

Our prison system has better facilities than this state park. Such a disappointment. Certainly the dirtiest state park I've been to in our state. Hiking is low to moderate trails, scenery is pretty great. Historical aspect and opportunity of historical lessons are also pretty great. Place to visit for a day, not a place to stay overnight.

James Bender

It’s a nice park. Not the most scenic, or expansive. But it is very rich in history. If you, like me, appreciate history of the land and people who lived here prior to settlement, you will enjoy it. This was the most important trading post on the confluence of the two major rivers in the area; Crow Wing and Mississippi. The Meadow where the former townsite was is BEAUTIFUL. You can envision this being a bustling frontier town. Native Americans (Ojibwe, Dakota) had camps here prior to settlement. With a very important battle taking place on a ridge line here. The Ojibwe defeated the Dakota and pushed them out of the area. There are historical markers that give you details at the site. HEADS UP; There is an active military base just across the River from the park. Camp Ripley. It is an important LIVE FIRE range for our military. BUT, they do artillery fire and all sorts of Extremely Loud ordinances. Maybe do some research and see if they are training when you plan to stay. It WILL be hard to sleep with 155mm artillery rounds shaking the ground. I don’t know if it is mentioned on the park website or anything. But definitely should be, as it could have an impact on your stay.

Marcus Corbin (CorbCreations)

Our campsite (#30) was really big and nice. Perfect for a weekend tent camp! However, with Fort Ripley nearby, it nearly sounded like a warzone. All day we kept hearing boom boom boom and gunshots instead of peaceful nature. I do support our troops, but constantly hearing those sounds made the weekend not as enjoyable. Otherwise, hiking club trail was very short and fun. Lots of mosquitoes though, but we wore a lot of bug spray. I recommend doing the same! Great view of the Mississippi River as well.

Scott Snell

Nice campground, well maintained facilities and campsites. Lots of trails for hiking and biking. Beautiful views of the Mississippi and Crow Wing rivers, as well as historical markers and a boardwalk at the old Crow Wing town site. The electrical sites are pretty open, not very level, and not much privacy. This is pretty much the only drawback for me. We saw Black bears whitetail deer lots of chipmunks and squirrels..... And plenty of ticks. Our visit was during a heatwave in June, but there is plenty of shade and enough things to do to keep it interesting. Don't forget to lock your bike up at night!!! Apparently last night old bear # 4 decided to take my e-bike for a little spin, and after spending the morning filing reports with the sheriff and the staff at the park... We waited.... The staff at the park went out of their way to track the bike down about 5.4 miles from camp, dumped on a trail in the middle of nowhere!!! Those folks are awesome!!!! And for me... Well I won't be enabling more juvenile delinquency in the bears in state parks... Lesson learned!! Thank you to the awesome folks that recovered my bike!!! You are amazing!