blue mounds state park

Blue Mounds was great, we reserved online and stayed one night at one of the cart-in campsites, which was nice and secluded. The prairie views mixed with the river and rock formations were awesome.

My wife and I have visited approximately 30 of MN's state parks. Blue Mounds State Park is certainly one of our favorites. We took a 4 or 5 mile hike out the Mounds Trail which cuts straight across the prairie. We did see two herds of buffalo, but at a great distance. The buffalo are fenced off from the public portion of the park so unless they wander near a fence, you'll need fairly powerful binoculars to see them. The Mounds trail is essentially a cut grass path through the prairie and a very easy hike. At the end of the Mounds Trail we cut over to the interpretive center (which is closed for the season) as we had heard there was a huge grouping of monarch butterflies. We saw a number of them, but not the horde we were looking for. After a couple of side hikes, we followed the Upper Cliffline trail back, passing an old historic quarry and the famous Rock Alignment.There is a bike trail but we didn't try it. The dam is closed due to damage from the summer rains. Well worth a visit to this park. Several other state parks close by - Split Rock Creek and Camden but neiither is as large or as nice as Blue Mounds.

We came to see the buffalo herd and were not disappointed. In fact, we were lucky to have seen the herd since you can never know exactly where they may be. The trails are easy to follow, and the staff is very helpful. The wildflowers were stunning; it is a beautiful place that is very calming.

This place is epic and Amazing. Everywhere you look there is something great. One of the best parts is the possibly ancient rock alignment located out at the park. No one is sure exactly who built it just that humans built in alignment with the stars and the sun. Don't miss out come experience this park for yourself. Also the campground here is one of the best in any state park.

Several walking paths, spotted some deer and bison. Inexpensive to enter. Great site to visit and hike around. Staff at entrance very helpful.

We were camping with another couple and found this park to be a great place to spend a few days. Mount Horeb is very close and a great little town to visit and check out the trolls. It is very close to The Cave of the Mounds which is a must see if you are a amateur "caver". The drive to the Dells is about 1 hour through scenic countryside. The campsites are very private, the washrooms were very clean and the pool was a nice size. There are some small hikes to do in the area and the towers are a must see - even at night!

Proceeding the road trip with my girlfriend, I have not traveled to western Minnesota much before. I would have to say Blue Mounds State Park turned out to be a great surprise for us! We chose to stay in the Tipi, for a new experience. The Tipi is worth it! It is like a tent already set up, so fun! We enjoyed the very nice restrooms at the park. We made use of all the park trails also, very different from our regular "wilderness" hikes. We enjoyed the scenery surrounding the park, and I highly recommend the state park. We saw bison from a distance. I would check out each hiking trail, because they all have their own appeal. Don't forget to watch the beautiful sunsets here also!

We hadn't planned to be in Minnesota on our trip west, but saw that Blue Mound State Park was only 30 miles east of Sioux Falls and it sounded quite interesting as a stopover while traveling. We were quite pleased to find the area in general to be rural and lovely, with many rolling hills and historic grasslands. The campground is heavily treed and there's plenty of privacy among the sites. Our site #37 was close to newer and very clean bathrooms and showers. We rode our bikes to the Mound Trailhead, where you can walk or ride further along 3 very scenic trails. We saw bison along the Mound Trail and also enjoyed a walk along the upper cliffs trail--both offering very different and very beautiful views. If we had time in our travels, we would probably have spent another day in order to see more of the park, the trails and the wildlife.

This place was a great place to go woth my two small kids and family. The pool was great as it is zero depth for the kids and another was up to 11' deep with a diving board. So we all had a good time. The hike to the top of the hill was .5 miles all up-hill, but easy enough my 2.5 year old boy did it without help.The modern showers and restrooms were great as well. The top of the hill has a huge open field for flying kites, plenty of bike paths and awesome views. A great place to visit! (Also close to Mt. Horeb which is awesome in it's own right).

Okay, based on the what the DNR provided on the website and their description of this park it lead us to believe there were more areas for beach access and the so called lakes were large. We also were lead to believe the trail system was much more elaborate. Sorry, "Lower Mound Lake" was a pond at best, granted Aug 30 and Aug 31 was in the 80-90's degrees but we took a look at the beach area and the water was stagnant and certainly a great area for producing swimmers itch. The trail systems is limited to driving to the interpretive center and then hiking approximately 3 miles, we took the hike along the Sioux quartzite rock outcrops and then headed to the former quarry dig site. Granted you can bike to the interpretive center but one we didn't have our bikes and too if we did, on Aug 31 at 8am it was like 80 already and quite humid. As a trained Geologist I enjoyed viewing the outcrops and walking along the glaciated remnants of the Wisconsin glaciation 85,000 to 11,000 years ago. The outcrops had great examples of striations and the pink to purplish color in the quartzite was very beautiful to view. We then took the trail back to the interpretive center through the Bison Trail and was able to see the Bison up close which my son and wife thoroughly enjoyed. As for the camping spaces, the access roads and campsites and very close together verses other MN State Parks. We initial were going to stay in 30, very bad and was able to stay at 49. 49 had better shade and seemed less crowed.However, the 90% of the campers this Labor weekend were RV's, not that I hate these types of campers but it's a different feel and the park is setup for RV's. Service at the Rangers station was good however "Ranger Rick" certainly enjoyed driving through the campsites road 10+ mph making sure everybody had their stickers in place. Restrooms and showers were very clean and well kept. Note there are new ones as you first come into the campsite locations, handicap access. Further into the 30- 50 campsites is restrooms/showers that are yellow colored building that are older but still great compared to other parks systems.Bottom line, if you going to park you RV and site and chill this is the park for you. If you're a tenting, have kids and want more than just a handful of trails this in my opinion is not the park for you.

We had a blast at this park! In our quest to visit all of MN's state parks, this was our 20th state park.All the We were most excited to check out the buffalo herd but it turns out the rock formations are really worth the trip. After entering the park we took the grassy trail along side the buffalo range, but they grazing pretty far out they were tough to see. It was still fun.Then we took our bikes down the nicely paved blue mounds trail along the lower cliff. Simply amazing! All the rock formations jutting out of the prairie are so much fun to peddle by on bike. We parked our bikes at the parking lot (Note: if you just want to take a look at the rocks or take a short walk park here instead of entering at the main park entrance). And then we hiked along the old quarry. We loved being able to climb the rocks and explore. It was great for our 1 and 3 year olds as well. We didn't get to the aligned rocks on this trip as the temps were nearing 100 but we can't wait to return to see them! All in all we racked up 8 miles at the park and had so much fun and saw so much beauty.

Had a great time camping with my family at Blue Mounds State Park over the 4th of July weekend! This was my sixth time back at the park. Very nice campsites with views of the MN prairie. Lots of nice hiking paths through the windy prairie with wild flowers blooming, including neat yellow prickly pear cactus, and near the Sioux quartzite cliffs and old quarry. Also enjoyed morning runs and biking on the paved path through the park. The city of Luverne has a nice liquor store with craft beers, a nice grocery store for food for camping, and some nice attractions like the wayside chapel, courthouse, war memorial, old jail, and Jim Brandenburg art gallery. The drive-in theatre is also a very popular attraction!Lots of fireflies and stars out at night. A quiet campground with nice bathroom and shower facilities, as well. Definitely will be back!

Drove here from Sioux Falls and it was well worth it. There were a lo lots of babies and the views of the Prairie wer There were lots of birds and the views of the prairie were amazing. We also really enjoyed all the wildflowers. The quarry was absolutely awesome. You could see it from the bottom or the top and there were plenty of rock formations for pictures and climbing . Really a neat ecosystem, we wish we had planned to camp here.

Viewing the buffalo was why we went to the park. We hiked along the cliffs which gave us a prarie experience. There is a small fee for a day pass.

It is only $5.00 for a day pass of hiking. They do have a herd of buffalo but they hard to see at times.