Project Tour

Afton State Park

Visionaries build parks from scratch – even when the odds are against them. Such is the case of Samuel H. Morgan and the battle for Afton State Park. One of seven founding members of the Minnesota Parks Foundation and longtime president of the Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota, Morgan learned in 1967 that lands with the best beaches on Lake St. Croix in the lower St. Croix River were for sale.

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  • Big Bog Boardwalk Ribbon Cutting
    Tom McGregor
    Big Bog Boardwalk Ribbon Cutting

    From left to right: DNR Resource Specialist Chris Weir-Koetter, Friends of Big Bog Chair Dave Leonhart, then DNR Commissioner Gene Merriam, DNR Naturalist Bryce Anderson and Big Bog Manager Doug Easthouse at the Big Bog State Recreation Area grand opening on June 4, 2006.

Big Bog State Recreation Area

It was indeed a big day at Big Bog State Recreation Area on June 4, 2006 as more than 400 people attended a fun-filled day celebrating the official grand opening of the state's newest state recreation area on Upper Red Lake in northwestern
Minnesota.

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Cannon Valley Trail

The Parks & Trails Council plays a vital role in saving Minnesota's most special places because it is equipped to move quickly and decisively to purchase strategic pieces of land for public parks and trails when state and local governments cannot. Such was the case in the creation of the popular 19.7-mile Cannon Valley Trail in the mid 1980s.

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  • Little Elk at Lindbergh with C Stone
    Jennifer Stockinger, Brainerd Daily Dispatch
    Little Elk at Lindbergh with C Stone

    Ron Jones, manager of Charles A. Lindbergh State Park, gives a tour of Little Elk Heritage Preserve to Paulette Pappenfus and Chuck Stone. Papenpus and Stone are members of the Friends of the Linbergh Heritage. The group joined the Parks & Trails Council in purchasing the preserve so it could be incorporated into the park.

Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

The Parks & Trails Council exists to assure that critical lands are accessible to the public to enjoy now and in the future. That is why the council had to act quickly when it learned that the organization that had worked for 16 years to develop what is now the Little Elk Heritage Preserve was having financial trouble and could no longer manage the property.

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  • Crow Wing State Park Surveying
    Parks & Trails Council
    Crow Wing State Park Surveying

    Members of the Parks & Trails Council helped survey land on historic Crow Wing Island in 1993 as they worked with local people to preserve the property. From left to right: Chuck Diestler, Bill Buell, Sam Morgan, Ron Miles and Doug Birk.

Crow Wing State Park

In 1993, Crow Wing Island and an 80-acre peninsula at the confluence of the Crow Wing and Mississippi rivers in the heart of Crow Wing State Park were being subdivided and sold for residential development by a private landowner.

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  • Gateway State Trail w/PTC sign
    Parks & Trails Council
    Gateway State Trail w/PTC sign

Gateway State Trail

On January 23, 1980 the Interstate Commerce Commission authorized the abandonment of a little-used section of the Soo Line Railway on the condition that any future use be publicly accessible.

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  • High Falls of Pigeon River
    Gary Alan Nelson
    High Falls of Pigeon River

    The 130-foot High Falls of the Pigeon River at Grand Portage State Park is the state's highest waterfall. The park was created by the Legislature in 1989. The Parks & Trails Council was instrumental both in saving the waterfalls and creating the park itself.

Grand Portage State Park

Before Grand Portage State Park was established in 1989, the then Minnesota Parks & Trails Council & Foundation had already begun efforts to protect critical land along the Pigeon River, including Pigeon Falls (also called High Falls), the highest waterfall in the state. Late in 1987, the Council & Foundation initiated a fundraising campaign, which became the "Sigurd F. Olson Fund for a Park at Pigeon Falls," to raise money for land acquisition and initial operating costs for establishing a new state park.

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Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area

The state's newest recreation area at Greenleaf Lake halfway between Litchfield and Hutchinson is one step closer to reality thanks to the nonprofit Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota, which today purchased core land for the outdoor adventure haven.

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  • Terry McGaughey PBT Lawsuit site
    Dorian Grilley
    Terry McGaughey PBT Lawsuit site

    Terry McGaughey, coordinator for the Paul Bunyan Trail Association, shows his frustration over the closing of the Paul Bunyan State Trail near Guthrie, Minnesota in the Summer of 2004. The trail was temporarily closed because of a property rights lawsuit.

Paul Bunyan State Trail/Crow Wing Expansion

When Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota Executive Director Dorian Grilley makes a New Year's resolution, he does everything in his power to keep it.

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  • Gold Rock Point
    Rudi Hargesheimer, North Shore Photo Art
    Gold Rock Point

    Gold Rock Point, now an integral part of Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, was acquired by the Parks & Trails Council in 1998 for slightly more than $1 million. The acquisition preserved a spectacular view from the lighthouse and public access to the wreck of the Madeira.

Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

Today, many people know Gold Rock Point as that rugged lichen-covered rocky bluff of sheer cliffs with a pebble beach jutting into Lake Superior on Minnesota's scenic North Shore.

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  • Voyageurs National Park
    Voyageurs National Park

    The Parks & Trails Council purchased this 3.4-acre Kabetogama Peninsula shoreline property in Voyageurs National Park from a private landowner who wanted the land to become part of the park. The parcel was No. 1 on the park’s land acquisition priority list because of its high visibility to visitors.

Voyageurs National Park

It is no secret that there is more privately owned land being put on the market within authorized park boundaries than there is available state and federal funding to purchase that land for our public park systems.

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  • Whitewater Vista
    Mark Lissick
    Whitewater Vista

    Whitewater State Park.

Whitewater State Park

Whitewater State Park has co-existed with family farms that have lined the Whitewater Valley bluff tops since it was established in 1919. However, residential development pressure is increasing in the scenic valleys of southeast Minnesota and the Whitewater Valley is no exception.

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William O'Brien State Park

In 1971, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) began an effort to expand William O'Brien State Park westward so it could take in the rolling, partly wooded area that is now home to several miles of popular cross-country ski trails.

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Afton State Park »