Minnesota Public Lands
6.8% of Minnesota is federal land: 3,506,284 of its 51,205,760 acres (2024 data). The largest federal land manager in Minnesota is the U.S. Forest Service, with 2,832,995 acres, 5.5% of the state. This guide covers 78 state parks, 5 National Park Service units, 2 national forests, 3 wilderness areas, and 11 national wildlife refuges.
Explore Minnesota public lands by type
- Minnesota state parks 78 parks, 78 with camping, 41 with swimming
- Minnesota national parks 5 National Park Service units
- Minnesota national forests Chippewa National Forest, Superior National Forest: free dispersed camping allowed
- Minnesota wilderness areas 3 areas
- Minnesota national wildlife refuges 11 national wildlife refuges
Minnesota public land map
- National forests
- National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS)
- National wildlife refuges (FWS)
- State parks
- Wilderness areas (dashed)
Land managed by (switch layers on or off)
Land ownership: USGS PAD-US 4.1, dissolved by manager and simplified (parcels under about 2 square km not shown). Unit boundaries simplified. Not for navigation or legal boundaries.
List of all 99 places on this map
State parks (78)
- Afton State Park
- Banning State Park
- Bear Head Lake State Park
- Beaver Creek Valley State Park
- Big Bog State Recreation Area
- Big Stone Lake State Park
- Blue Mounds State Park
- Buffalo River State Park (Minnesota)
- Camden State Park
- Camp Release State Monument
- Carley State Park
- Cascade River State Park
- Charles A. Lindbergh State Park
- Crow Wing State Park
- Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area
- Father Hennepin State Park
- Flandrau State Park
- Forestville Mystery Cave State Park
- Fort Ridgely State Park
- Fort Snelling State Park
- Franz Jevne State Park
- Frontenac State Park
- Garden Island State Recreation Area
- George H. Crosby Manitou State Park
- Glacial Lakes State Park
- Glendalough State Park
- Gooseberry Falls State Park
- Grand Portage State Park
- Great River Bluffs State Park
- Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area
- Hayes Lake State Park
- Hill-Annex Mine State Park
- Interstate State Park
- Iron Range Off-Highway Vehicle State Recreation Area
- Itasca State Park
- Jay Cooke State Park
- John A. Latsch State Park
- Judge C. R. Magney State Park
- Kilen Woods State Park
- La Salle Lake State Recreation Area
- Lac qui Parle State Park
- Lake Bemidji State Park
- Lake Bronson State Park
- Lake Carlos State Park
- Lake Louise State Park
- Lake Maria State Park
- Lake Shetek State Park
- Lake Vermilion Soudan Underground Mine State Park
- Lake Vermilion State Park
- Maplewood State Park
- McCarthy Beach State Park
- Mille Lacs Kathio State Park
- Mini-Wakan State Park
- Minneopa State Park
- Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area
- Monson Lake State Park
- Moose Lake State Park
- Myre-Big Island State Park
- Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park
- Old Mill State Park
- Red River State Recreation Area
- Rice Lake State Park
- Saint Croix State Park
- Sakatah Lake State Park
- Savanna Portage State Park
- Scenic State Park
- Schoolcraft State Park
- Sibley State Park
- Soudan Underground Mine State Park
- Split Rock Creek State Park
- Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
- Temperance River State Park
- Tettegouche State Park
- Upper Sioux Agency State Park
- Whitewater State Park
- Wild River State Park
- William O'Brien State Park
- Zippel Bay State Park
National parks, recreation areas and monuments (NPS) (5)
National forests (2)
Wilderness areas (3)
National wildlife refuges (FWS) (11)
- Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge
- Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge
- Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
- Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
- Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge
- Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge
- Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge
- Rydell National Wildlife Refuge
- Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
- Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge
Who manages Minnesota's land
| Agency | Acres | Share of Minnesota |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Land Management | 1,296 | 0% |
| U.S. Forest Service | 2,832,995 | 5.5% |
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 529,986 | 1% |
| National Park Service | 139,900 | 0.3% |
| Department of Defense | 2,107 | 0% |
| All federal land | 3,506,284 | 6.8% |
Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), 2024 data, checked 2026-09-30.
Camping on Minnesota public land
Free dispersed camping is also allowed on Chippewa National Forest , Superior National Forest .
78 of Minnesota's state parks have developed campgrounds on record; compare them in the Minnesota state parks table.
Common questions
- 6.8% of Minnesota is federal land: 3,506,284 of its 51,205,760 acres (2024 data).
- 1,296 acres, less than 0.1% of the state (2024 data).
- The largest federal land manager in Minnesota is the U.S. Forest Service, with 2,832,995 acres, 5.5% of the state.
- This guide lists 78 Minnesota state parks and recreation areas, 78 of them with camping on record.
- congress.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
- blm.gov (accessed 2026-09-30)
The sentences on this page are generated by software from the sourced records above, not written by hand. How this content is made.