Hayes Lake State Park

About this park

Hayes Lake State Park, designated in 1967 and formally dedicated in 1973, protects nearly 3,000 acres of remote northwestern Minnesota forest in Roseau County, named for A.H. Hayes, a local advocate who championed the park's creation. The park sits within terrain once submerged beneath massive glacial Lake Agassiz, whose retreat helped shape the flat, lake-dotted landscape that still characterizes this corner of the state near the Canadian border. The park's namesake lake was itself created in 1971 when a dam was built, and it remains a draw for migrating waterfowl today, with the surrounding mix of forest and wetland supporting some of Minnesota's less commonly seen wildlife, including occasional black bear sightings in the northern forest that borders the park. Hayes Lake shares its horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobile trails directly with the adjacent Beltrami Island State Forest, giving visitors access to a far larger network of backcountry trails than the park's own boundaries would suggest. Remote even by northern Minnesota standards, roughly nine miles from the small town of Wannaska and well off the state's main travel corridors, Hayes Lake draws a quieter crowd of anglers, paddlers, and campers seeking genuine solitude. The park's campground and walking and biking trails offer a low-key, unhurried alternative to the busier state parks further south, with the bog boardwalk and interpretive signage giving visitors a close look at the wetland ecology that defines this part of the state.