Camden State Park

About Camden State Park

Camden State Park offers visitors a variety of activities, from wooded river valleys and hiking trails to hiking and biking trails, and a wide range of activities for all ages and abilities. The Dakota Valley Trail runs through the picturesque fall colors of the Redwood River Trail, a trail through wooded rivers and valleys that provides spring cooling - lined pools, brown trout fishing in the Redwoods River and Brawner Lake, as well as hiking, biking, camping and fishing.

The park is dominated by the Redwood River and its tributaries, as well as Brawner Lake. Sun-drenched prairies, grasslands and swamps provide additional variety, and the many lakes and rivers in the park offer waterfalls, streams, ponds and lakeside recreation.

Camden's cool, wooded valleys offer visitors a variety of opportunities to observe plants and animals in the forests and prairies. The park offers a wide range of outdoor activities, from hiking and camping to hiking, cycling, fishing, canoeing and kayaking.

In spring, the prairie comes to life with blooming flowers and smoke, and in summer, purple cones and bright stars bring color to the prairie. In autumn, goldenrod, aster and gentian bloom on the prairie, but Camden's forests are coloured by a variety of wildflowers, including pine, pineapple, birch, hazelnut, pear, pecan and pine.

Camden is located in an area in southwest Minnesota called the Coteau des Prairies, meaning "prairie highlands." This makes Camden State Park one of the largest prairie parks in the United States and the second largest in Minnesota.

Camden is located in the Coteau des Prairies in southwest Minnesota, south of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. There is a high plateau that rises 900 feet to a peak, and the money is piling up on where the glaciers have stopped their advance and held steady.

During the last Ice Age, slate and sandstone in this area were covered by glaciers of mixed rocks, gravel, sand and clay, which together are known as arable land.

The water that flows through this country cut through the cash register and cut through the Redwood River Valley. As the glaciers receded to the north, a river valley formed with a stream, a lake and a series of lakes and streams. Not all of the topography of the park is a direct result of glacier activity.

Over 150 years ago, the Redwood River Valley and its tributaries were an integral part of life here, as were many other rivers and streams.

bass and bluethroat in Brawner Lake and brown trout that enter the Redwood River from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and their tributaries and from Lake Tahoe every year.

The Redwood River Valley is home to prehistoric and historical people, and archaeological research has shown that people have been using the valley for hunting and fishing for 8,000 years.

In the mid-1830s, a trading post for the American Fur Company was established in the valley. In this position, the Frenchman LaFramboise was commissioned to trade with the local Indians and to manage the company throughout the Coteau-Prairie region. American and European settlers came to this valley in the late 1850s and beyond.

The village of Camden was founded in 1874 and the town grew until 1888, when the railroad decided not to build a depot in Camden. Camden prospered with a general store, hotel, smithy and sawmill, which was later converted into a scrap metal factory. In the early 1930s, the city of Burlington, Vermont, just a few miles north, was a reminder of that.

Locals used the area, which was then called Camden Woods, for picnics and family celebrations, leading to Camden State Park in 1935. Take Highway 23 10 miles south and turn left onto Camden Road and then right onto Route 23 just north of the park.