I’m ecstatic to announce that I have made it to my 25th Minnesota State Park: Father Hennepin State Park!
It feels especially significant, as it is the 25th park on my 25 Things list. I like the synergy there.
I was pretty set on going to Father Hennepin State Park for my 25th park, and couldn’t figure out why, until I realized that I’d been staring at the words “Father Hennepin State Park” every single day, multiple times a day, for almost a year.
Father Hennepin was the State Park featured on the 2017 sticker for the State Park’s pass, and I’ve seen it on my windshield every time I’ve gotten into my car in the last year. It’s no wonder it was stuck in my head!
For hitting this milestone and stamping in at one-third of Minnesota’s State Parks, I got my first Passport Club Pin.
I’m unreasonably excited.
Father Hennepin felt smaller than some of the other parks I’ve visited, and like it was mostly geared toward lake life – but it was beautiful nonetheless. Check out my top three suggestions for visiting Father Hennepin State Park below!
1. Dive in and cool off!
Father Hennepin State Park has a mile-long beach, which claims to be the best on Mille Lacs Lake. When I visited the park, the beach was bustling with activity, with lots of swimmers and sun-tanners alike! I’ve visited a few parks with small swimming beaches before, but I’ve never seen a park with as large and popular a beach as Father Hennepin. I visited on a weekend, but while there were a lot of people there, it wasn’t too crowded. If I lived in the area and was looking for a place to swim, I’d probably return to Father Hennepin.
The lake also seemed like a popular place for boaters, kayakers, canoers, and fishers. As I was there over the weekend, there were lots of boats streaming along the water, and lots of fishers paused in spots on the lake or posted at the fishing docks. Father Hennepin State Park seemed like a great place to get out on the water or lay out on the beach.
2. Bring the kids.
The park was pretty busy, and much of the group was composed of families. In addition to the beach and swimming opportunities, Father Hennepin has a small playground just off the beach for younger visitors. This was also a popular place at the park, as kids could run back and forth between the beach and the swingset, and parents could easily keep an eye on their kids in either location.
To the left of the playground, and just before you got to the beach, there was a large grassy space that people had set out their camping chairs and coolers, and were having little group picnics, or tossing frisbees around. Some people were even playing with a drone over the water. The park seemed like a nice place to take the fam on an outing.
3. Take a stroll.
Father Hennepin felt like it was more geared toward aquatic activities and family camping trips than it was toward hiking trails. It has several trails, but the focus seems to be on the swimming and boating opportunities.
The trails are definitely beautiful, but minimal compared to other parks.
I hiked the trail to Pope’s Point Lookout, which was pretty, and surprisingly quiet for the busy park. Most of the trails were pretty quiet, as well, which I initially found surprising, given the activity at the beach, but then realized that the busy beach was exactly why the trails were so quiet.
The trail began paved, and transitioned to a dirt path after some time. Along the way, there is a cute little pond, with a nice bench for watching wildlife, taking in the views, or just enjoying a peaceful moment in the park.
It was a cute little spot.
Further down the line, the pond feeds into a small stream, which in turn returns to Mille Lacs Lake.
The park also had an interesting section of what appeared to be just straight up ferns.
Just a random field of ferns.
The only other thing in this field of ferns was an unidentifiable small creature that rustled around and ran away as I stood to take pictures of the greenery.
I didn’t see any wildlife other than a few birds and some spiders (which I would have rather not seen), but apparently Father Hennepin State Park is home to several albino deer, so keep your eye out for them as you hike any of the trails.
Once at Pope’s Point, you can take a seat at another bench to enjoy a view of the lake framed by trees.
You can also walk down to the small beach there for a better view of the water and all of its activity.
I thought that the lookout would be a bit more populated, at least, even though the trails were quiet, but I was the only one there. It was a nice spot for a picnic lunch, as it was a bit further away from the activity, and had a really nice view of the water.
Other amenities at Father Hennepin State Park:
- Boat Access
- Fishing Pier
- Gift Shop
- Geocaching
- Horseshoes
- Interpretive Exhibit
- Picnic shelter
- Volleyball
Want to read more about my 25 Things list? Click here for more adventures.
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