jay cooke state park

Fall colors just starting. Bridge across the river was really neat. Within a half hour drive of Duluth

Whats Open: The swing bridge, both the park headquarters building and the river inn interpretive center (with picnic tables and a fireplace), all campsites and camper cabins, most trails and access to the park from Carlton (West) on hwy 210.Whats Closed: Hwy 210 from the east and portions of some trails along the river.According to a park ranger I talked to, the state was not sure if they wanted to repair 210 east but decided to do so and it should reopen sometime in 2016. Overall the park is in good shape considering what it went thru during the flood and will provide a great camping, hiking and biking experience.

Always a favorite park to visit when I was a kid back in the 50s. I'd heard the famous Swinging Bridge had been wiped out in the 2012 St. Louis River flood and has now been re-opened. I visited for the first time in decades at the height of beautiful fall color in the river valley. They've done a tremendous job on the rebuilt bridge! It's not as swing-y as it was in the 1950s but I watched kids have a ball jumping on the bridge high above the river and scaring themselves as it swayed and bounced. The road through the park is still under construction from the washout but you can get to the campground, picnic areas, and hiking trails. Beautiful landscape.

We hit this park on our way out of town after visiting our daughter at UMD. The views are spectacular and the weather was perfect. Lots of trails and photo opportunities. Bring water and make sure you go to the bathroom before you start hiking. We brought a stroller for our three year old and it wasn't very easy to navigate most of the trails, but we made it work. It was very pretty. You do have to pay to park, the cost is $5.00, which is for a day pass, very affordable and worth it.

I absolutely love this place! The new suspension bridge is up and the hikes on the other side are amazing as ever. Every trail you take is beautiful with the fall colors and there's hikes for every type of hiker from beginner to expert. We stayed at one of the walk insights at the campground because all the backpack insights were closed due to flooding from last year. :(. But we will definitely be going back again next summer and fall. :)

I have always enjoyed this park. glad to see they are recovering from the flood. hadn't been up there in a few years. there is plenty of spectacular scenery and lots of good hiking and biking trails. especially when you link up to the Munger trail. the campgrounds are nice and usually busy. the staff is very helpful. there is still a section of the park that is not accessible due to the damage, but the main area that most people visit is open.

Have been here 1x each year for the last 4 years and will keep coming back. The shower areas are a bit old, but nice to have flush toliets and a shower. The swinging bridge was repaired again, so fun to hike over the river in the forest. Will be back again.

Really enjoyed this park! It was my first time visiting and absolutely enjoyed it! The (smaller) falls are really neat to see and we enjoyed hiking around the area as well. We found a quiet area and went ankle deep in the water and found agates. It was a blast!

Myself (and mainly the kids) were very disappointed to find out that the "star attraction" of this bug infested park is the SWINGING bridge, not SWIMMING bridge. We showed up with our flip flops and sun tan lotion only to be humiliated by the janitor when we asked him "where's the beach?" My kids started crying. A swinging bridge is actually quite dangerous and the water had rapids in it and very dangerous as well. We almost lost one of our swimming noodles.At the very least they could have offered us cookies BUT NO, it is the Jay COOKE state park, NOT cookie.....false advertising if you ask me. Not going back there, especially if we're hungry.Just kidding, this place was AWESOME and worth the visit! You'll love it, a true Gem!

Minnesota has many great parks, but this is a good one for hiking. The trails are very well maintained and take you to interesting places. The trails along the St. Louis River are spectacular with many viewing sites.

We live near here and always enjoy hiking at Jay Cooke. Sometimes we just take a short hike at the suspension bridge or sometimes we will go off trial and just hike around on our own. The carved out river thru the rocky terrain is fun to hike and gives a great view. We really like just walking around on the rocks and explore.Winter here is also fun. We will dress up warm and hike the trails and find areas to jump off and slide off into snow drifts and then work to climb back up and repeat. Gives a nice winter escape for us up in the snow and cold!

We stayed at the campground for 2 nights and had a great time. The park is absolutely fabulous and the new swinging bridge is gorgeous! There are great trails around there and a couple extra lookouts to the river you can find from trails. Love it! Absolutely stunning

Hiked here after stopping in Carlton for lunch. It was just after a rain and the trails were a bit muddy but the hiking is wonderful with views of the St Louis River which had a large volume of water in it. The rovers from the 2012 floods are noticeable but don't interfere with the hiking. wear GOOD. Shoes as some of the rocks and trails are slick even when dry! Bring camera for the postcard views!

This was the final stop on the way back home for our North Shore vacation. This campsite is about 20-25 minutes south on the interstate from Duluth. Though recently ravaged by floods in 2012, it's a beautiful area. The iconic swinging bridge over the St. Louis River is now repaired, so the trails on the opposite side of the river are now back in play. The geology here is really something else... lots of rock formations you won't see at other sites.Another neat spot is the Thomson Pioneer Cemetery. If you don't want to hike all the way there you can park just off the highway at it's base and walk up the staircase. There are a decent amount of gravesites, and a lot of the headstones have decayed, broken down or been destroyed. There are a few still standing, and the dates of death range from the 1850's to late 1800's. The ground is also sunken in many spots, which we assumed to be the actual burial sites. An interesting trip through history here. The campsites were great. Each one was nestled in a bank of trees, and ours was located right near a large rock formation. Really cool to be nestled next to natural earth crust formations. The restrooms and showers (4 in both the men's and women's) are modern and well kept. Would definitely visit again. Would have loved to have done more hiking but after doing so much in the first days of our trip at other state parks, we were a little worn down. Overall, another great Minnesota state park.

Snow melt and spring rains turn the St. Louis River into an impressive torrent that's well worth the price of the daily five dollar park admission fee per car, for those who don't already have a Minnesota State Park permit. Visitors will want to spend some time seeing the small but informative interpretive center in the picnic shelter building, and allow a little time for hiking.