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- Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) — A sprawling maze of lakes and islands where the core experience is paddling and portaging between campsites; nothing else in the Lower 48 gives you this level of quiet, water-based backcountry. Bring a canoe, maps, and time. (Personal favorite.)
- Voyageurs National Park — Big-water wilderness that’s meant to be experienced by boat: houseboats, kayaks or day launches between boggy shorelines, northern forests and lichen-strewn rocks. Great for fishing, stargazing and feeling properly remote without a multi-day portage.
- Split Rock Lighthouse State Park — A dramatic cliff-top lighthouse on Lake Superior with real shipwreck history and blow-your-hair-back lake views. It’s compact, photogenic, and you can feel the power of Superior up close.
- Itasca
- Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) — A sprawling maze of lakes and islands where the core experience is paddling and portaging between campsites; nothing else in the Lower 48 gives you this level of quiet, water-based backcountry. Bring a canoe, maps, and time. (Personal favorite.)
- Voyageurs National Park — Big-water wilderness that’s meant to be experienced by boat: houseboats, kayaks or day launches between boggy shorelines, northern forests and lichen-strewn rocks. Great for fishing, stargazing and feeling properly remote without a multi-day portage.
- Split Rock Lighthouse State Park — A dramatic cliff-top lighthouse on Lake Superior with real shipwreck history and blow-your-hair-back lake views. It’s compact, photogenic, and you can feel the power of Superior up close.
- Itasca State Park — Headwaters of the Mississippi — The spot where a trickle becomes America’s greatest river; you can actually walk across the tiny stream that becomes the Mississippi. Beautiful old-growth pines, easy trails, and a surprising sense of pilgrimage for a state park.
- Soudan Underground Mine State Park — Descend into an old iron-ore mine on a guided tour and get a real feel for the mining history that shaped northern Minnesota. It’s literally a day spent underground, which you don’t get many places.
- Minnehaha Falls Park — A 53-foot urban waterfall inside Minneapolis that locals picnic around year-round. It’s a perfect mix of city and nature: short hikes, river trails, and the falls themselves are lovely in winter when they ice over.
- Grand Portage State Park & High Falls — Boundary-edge wilderness where Ojibwe trade routes and dramatic cliffs meet a thundering waterfall on the Pigeon River. The combination of cultural history and raw north-country scenery is uniquely Minnesotan.
- Whitewater State Park (Hidden gem) — Southeast Minnesota’s limestone bluffs, trout streams and carved valleys feel more like the Driftless Area than the stereotypical lakes state. Hikes are spectacular, it’s less crowded, and the rock formations are addictive to explore.
- Jay Cooke State Park (Hidden gem) — A rugged gorge on the St. Louis River with suspension bridges, boulder-strewn rapids and surprisingly wild hiking just outside Duluth. Locals love it for quick wilderness fixes without the long drive north.
- Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park — Mystery Cave (Hidden gem) — One of Minnesota’s longest surveyed caves, with guided tours through stalactites, hidden rooms and interesting karst geology. Cool in every sense of the word—great escape on hot summer days.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past decade, I’ve backpacked through 80+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.