Six new or improved features across Minnesota's state parks this year

Several Minnesota state parks will unveil big improvements this season, including a first-of-its-kind campground devoted to all-terrain-vehicle riders.

Also in store: better accessibility at a metro-area park, a new bridge on a popular Tettegouche path and more free park passes available for checkout at local libraries.

Some of the upgrades resulted from 2023 legislation that allotted nearly $150 million to modernize outdoor recreation, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Top improvements include:

A campground for ATV riders

A campground designed for ATV riders is scheduled to open this fall near Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park. The Pyrite Campground is in a newly designated, 400-acre site across Hwy. 169 from the park.

The campground will feature 24 pull-through sites that are 90 feet by 15 feet, showers and an ATV wash station to help prevent the spread of invasive species.

Special legislation in 2020 allowed the state to remove 400 acres from the state park and designate it as a recreation area, said Jim DeVries, the project leader and assistant manager at the park. ATV use is illegal in state parks.

The campground will connect to the popular Prospectors Trail ATV network, which links Ely, Babbitt, Embarrass, Tower and Soudan.

DeVries said a soft opening of the campground is possible in September.

"We are hearing a lot of positive remarks from people in the community and in general," he said. "I think [the campground] will be a big hit. I think they will wish it was twice the size."

Overhaul at O'Brien

William O'Brien, a heavily used state park in Marine on St. Croix, will feature upgrades for visitors with disabilities including:

⋅ A larger swimming beach on Lake Alice, with a special mat that helps people get out to the water.

⋅ More accessible campsites at the Riverway Campground, which reopens May 2. Erik Wrede, a DNR parks and trails development consultant, said the campsites were redesigned to, for example, be more accessible to a restroom or widen parking areas to accommodate wheelchair lifts. One of the sites now has an elevated tent pad with a ramp. A new shower building opens June 1.

⋅ Two new restroom facilities and a new picnic shelter in the day-use area.

⋅ A rerouted riverside trail taking people closer to Lake Alice. "We moved the trail and greenspace next to the lake. Just in general it is a better layout," Wrede said.

⋅ A new canoe and kayak launch to the lake using a floating dock and roller bar ramps. That will make it easier and safer to enter and exit, Wrede added. "It's really for people of all abilities who are kind of new to paddling."

New High Falls bridge at Tettegouche

Crews this summer will build a new pedestrian bridge over the Baptism River in Tettegouche State Park near Finland.

Battered over the years by weather and flooding, the previous bridge was destroyed by raging water in June 2024. The new bridge will be made with weather-resistant fiberglass. Construction could finish by fall, according to the DNR.

The work will affect the High Falls trailhead and group camping at the park. The trailhead parking lot, nature play area and group campsites will be closed. Also, some hiking trails on the west side of the park will close. Users of the overlapping Superior Hiking Trail will have a 3-mile detour.

Sibley campground redesigned

Sibley State Park in New London has redesigned its Lakeview Campground on Lake Andrew, making larger campsites and improving how they drain storm water.

"In the old campground, people were right on top of each other," Wrede said.

Campsites were reduced from 71 to 41; 40 sites will have electricity. The campground is expected to reopen in mid-May.

The DNR also has renovated two shower buildings and an enclosed picnic building built in the 1930s.

"This is really an investment in these legacy campgrounds to get it ready for the next couple generations of campers," Wrede said. "Lakeview Campground has a long history of same people, same weekend. This is pushing the restart button."

Improving the trail at Glendalough

Glendalough State Park has opened a new 2-mile stretch of its trail from Sunset Lake to the park's entrance. The extension also completes a 12-mile loop around the park that connects to the city of Battle Lake. The new stretch of paved trail allows pedestrians and cyclists to get off park roadway. A new trail center is expected to open in mid-June and will rent bikes.

More free passes for library cardholders

Beginning this summer, there will be more free ways to get into parks and recreation areas.

Since 2021, public libraries across Minnesota have checked out seven-day vehicle permits to card-holders, mostly first-come, first-served. The DNR is adding more libraries and more passes.

Currently there are 175 passes distributed among about 100 libraries. The DNR will expand to 500 passes, program coordinator Arielle Courtney said, with one to five passes per library depending on the population size it serves. Libraries can apply to participate.

"The goal is to have more passes and locations available in June or July so people can enjoy it during the busy summer months," she said.

The benefit has seen increased use each year. More than 3,800 permits were checked out statewide last fiscal year, Courtney said.

Go to bit.ly/mnparkslist to view the parks' web pages for information and updates.