Lake Itasca State Park is located about 35 miles south of Bemidji, 20 miles north of Park Rapids and just 6 miles from Lake George. A spectacular area in Minnesota to visit.

One of the biggest and best Minnesota State Parks, Lake Itasca is truly spectacular! It is so far, my personal favorite!
Featuring a nice gift shop, Restaurant on grounds, boat rentals,  bike rentals, and more, they have it all at this quality state park.

The camping sites are shaded, the restrooms and showers are very well kept and modern.

Lake Itasca has a ton of things to do and alot of history behind the park.

They have a day recreation area for swimmers and picnicers. A day rate pass is only $4.00 where as a season State Parks sticker is only $20.00. Check out the humming birds! I think I caught about 10 in 1 shot! It was a humming bird feeding frenzie! Wow!

Shown above are the many bikes available to rent. They have some gorgeous trails to bike on. I saw many bikers bringing their bikes up on racks and cruising the park. It seemed to be a real hot spot for biking. Also above is a plaque that talks about a Time Capsule that will be opened up in the year 2091 which would be the parks bicentennial. I would like to be around to see whats in there.....but maybe my Grandkids will have to check it out for me. LOL!

Itasca State Park is mostly known for being the "Head Waters to the Mississippi River". Here at Lake Itasca State Park, you can actually walk across the head waters! It is the main attraction.
The sign above says, "Here 1475 ft. above the ocean The Mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico."

Watch out the rocks are slippery! Also on site at the head waters area, is a museum with a ton of information about the State Park. This place really has it all and would be a great educational family vacation spot. You can camp, rent a cabin and check out the sites the whole weekend, I would have loved to stay a month!


Above are some nice shots of the museum area. While you are there, I would recommend a couple of things. Take the wilderness trail on a car ride or a bike ride. While on that trail there are some real nice things to see and do, like seeing the states largest red pine and the parks large white pine trees. I thought I was in the Redwood National Forest! Also there is a fire watch tower which you can go up, if your afraid of heights don't even think about it! The view is spectacular, I didnt take pictures of those areas because I didn't want to ruin it for you but all I can say is WOW, UNBELIEVABLE! HAVE FUN!