Itasca State Park
Minnesota State Park · Park Rapids, Minnesota
Minnesota's oldest state park, established in 1891, and the place where the Mississippi River begins — a shallow outflow from Lake Itasca that you cross on a line of stepping stones, ankle deep, before it runs 2,552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. The park holds 32,000 acres around it, including some of the last old-growth red and white pine left in the state, a ten-mile wilderness drive through it, and a 1905 log lodge. The headwaters is the reason almost everyone comes, and it is a two-minute walk from the car park.
36750 Main Park Drive, Park Rapids, Minnesota, 56470, United States
Open daily year round; a Minnesota state park vehicle permit is required and is sold at the gate and online. The Jacob V. Brower visitor centre and Douglas Lodge keep seasonal hours, with the lodge and dining room generally closed in winter. The headwaters is accessible year round and is crossed on ice in winter. Boat hire and the swimming beach are summer only.
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