lac qui parle state park

This park had some pretty neat Works Progress Administration buildings here including a picnic shelter. The hiking trails were secluded and quiet along the river. Lots and lots of birds including bald eagles. The visitor center had the best array of taxidermed animals I had ever seen anywhere.

This has been the most bug-free campground I think we've ever been to. The hiking trails would be better if they were gravel maybe. The grass is pretty hard to push a stroller on. The bathrooms are awesome! Beautiful sunset! We stayed in the upper campground. The only bad thing really is the "swimming" beach. You have to park away from it and walk on a trail through some trees and climb over a bunch of big rocks to even get to it and the sand there isn't even nice. The water was all green. We were excited for the beach until we actually went there.

My boyfriend's family and I went to camp at this state park this past weekend. We were originally slotted to stay in the group campground, but were moved because of trees that needed to come down. We were in the lower campground. Everything looked great from inside the car when we arrived but from the second we got out of the car on Thursday evening, to the second we got in to the car on Sunday morning, we were constantly SWORMED by mosquitoes. We had area foggers, a variety of bug spray, even one with 98% deet, and nothing deterred them. It was like they were more attracted to the deet. Even during the day when it was sunny, they were still bugging us non-stop. At one point, most of the family went on a hike. Another person and I had to turn back almost immediately because she had more than twenty mosquito bites on her arms. One guy came back and there were so many mosquitoes swarming him that he looked like he was on fire! The rangers were nice about it, it obviously isn't the park's fault, and they offered to move us up to the upper campground. Upon venturing to check out the upper campground, we decided that the mosquitoes were worth it. The upper campground was just flat prairie with spots mowed in to the tall grass. Pretty view, but no privacy and it did not look like what camping should be. Maybe for RV's it would be different, but not tents.Another thing that really affected my experience, which again wasn't the park's fault, in the middle of friday AND saturday night, a huge pack of very loud Coyotes came through our campground. I believe they were just looking for food. They did not bother our tents, but having never heard what a coyote sounds like, it scared the crap out of me. I did not go to the beach but I heard that was pretty nice. Quite a ways from the lower campground. The showers were push button, but great pressure. The vault toilets were alright. Sort of smelly, but what else do you expect? Had it not been for the HORRIBLE mosquitoes, it would've been a pretty nice time.

This state park appears to be an undiscovered gem. With a new visitor center (excellent exhibit) and a spacious campground you would think folks would flock here. The only downfall to this prairie location? A lack of trees (and therefore shade!) in the newest campground. Not ideal during the heat of July but the location provided panoramic views and solitude. Brand new bathrooms to boot!

This was our first trip to Lac Qui Parle State Park. We also went to the Lac Qui Parle Mission located 2 miles away from the park. The park is not manned, but we did see a ranger out on a 4-wheeler. We went to the beach and skipped stones to cool off on a very hot day in July. There are huge seagulls on Lake Lac Qui Parle that my boys enjoyed watching. There is a lower and upper camping area. Bathroom vault toilets are located near the swimming beach and boat landing and on a few of the trails. There is a $5 entry fee for the park if you don't have a MN State Park pass. We have the pass so it was free entry for us.