Lake Maria State Park

About this park

Lake Maria State Park, re-authorized under a 1963 state law that established fourteen Minnesota state parks at once, protects 1,475 acres of the "Big Woods," the historic maple-basswood hardwood forest that once blanketed a large swath of central Minnesota before agricultural settlement cleared nearly all of it. The park expanded north and west in 1980 to take in the entire shoreline of what was then called Maria Lake, though in a genuinely confusing twist, the DNR subsequently renamed that original lake Bjorklund Lake, and the name "Maria Lake" now instead refers to an arm of neighboring Silver Lake, most of which actually lies outside the park's western boundary. Lake Maria is one of the few Minnesota state parks without a traditional drive-in campground; instead, backpack campsites scattered through the rolling, wooded terrain give visitors a genuinely more remote camping experience than the typical car-camping state park, just 45 minutes north of the Twin Cities. A fishing pier on Maria Lake near the picnic area and a public boat ramp with rental canoes give less adventurous visitors water access without requiring the backcountry hike. Visitors consistently describe the park as noticeably quieter than other state parks this close to the metro area, with hiking trails winding past small lakes and wetlands, an animal-viewing overlook where swans nest at the lake's far end, and a dense population of mosquitoes in summer that comes with so much standing water across the property. Winter transforms the same trail network into a well-regarded cross-country skiing destination, rounding out a four-season identity built around solitude rather than high-amenity convenience.