Wallace State Park

About Wallace State Park

The attraction of Wallace State Park is tranquility: Located in the heart of the city of St. Paul, Minn., north of Minneapolis, the 500-acre forest park offers recreation and relaxation. For recreation, visitors can swim, fish and picnic in a six-hectare lake, walk along one of the park's four picturesque trails, or hike, cycle or canoe along the park's four paths.

Scattered picnic areas provide a quiet place for lunch, and benches along the paths allow visitors to sit and enjoy the sights, sounds and slow pace of nature. For larger groups there is a large picnic area with picnic table, picnic tables and picnic chairs. In addition, visitors can sleep up to four nights in the park's cabins for $5 a night.

The campsite's amenities include a picnic area with picnic table, picnic tables and picnic chairs, as well as a campfire, a fireplace, a water fountain, showers and toilets.

Managed by the Department of Natural Resources and owned by Nature Conservancy, Trice Dedman Memorial Woods is located 20 miles southwest of the park and is home to a variety of wildlife habitats and a number of hiking trails. The quiet, family-oriented campsites in the park include campsites of all kinds, some of which can be reserved. Play equipment in Camp 2, a travel camp, or an escape into the forest for a day trip with picnic tables, picnic tables, and a water fountain and toilets.

For those who seek more seclusion, there are also hiking campsites, and organized youth groups can reserve special use areas in the park. Each campsite has 20 pitches, which can be reserved by an organized group of five or more people. Reservations for these campsites must be made in advance at the Trice Dedman Memorial Woods Visitor Center.

Each campsite can accommodate a group of 40 to 50 people and has a picnic area, picnic tables, a fireplace and picnic table, as well as toilets and showers.

Campers must arrive before the gates close, and campers can only camp in the parking lot after the gates close. For more information about parking, camping or other parking services, please contact our parking office at (816) 632-3745.

Fishing is allowed in Lake Allaman, which is six hectares large and not overcrowded, and small boats with electric motors are allowed.

Picnic areas are scattered around the woodlands of the park and around the lake, and provide an excellent place to enjoy lunch. For large family celebrations, the park has open-air picnic areas with lake views, as well as picnic tables, picnic benches and picnic chairs.

To reserve a picnic area, call the parking office at 816 - 632 - 3745 and a reservation is required.

Open shelters also have play equipment and can be reserved for up to 30 days and are available on a first - come, first served basis. The use of closed accommodations costs $35 per day, but if not reserved, open accommodations cost $30 per day.

This 4.8 km long trail leads down to Deer Creek and as you walk upstream you will notice limestone shelves that were once used as fords by farmers who once owned land on both sides of the creek.

The ford on the Mormon road is about 1.5 km upstream from the hiking trail and about 2 km south of Deer Creek.

The trail ends at a picnic area where you can choose from a variety of picnic tables, picnic benches and picnic chairs. This path is located in a special area, but is open to all who wish to use it. Vehicles must park at the gate of the special area and then walk along the special area road until the end of the road.

This is an old quarry and there is a shortcut that reduces the distance to 0.5 miles. Perhaps the early inhabitants of the area found natural limestone outcrops with large rocks that may have been used as foundations for houses and barns.

If you are arriving by car, park your vehicle at the entrance of the campsite and walk to the footpath on the west side of the park, about 1.5 miles from the entrance. This path leads to a small Scottish pine plantation planted in the mid-1950s.

An easy descent leads to a broken brook with a small waterfall and then an easy climb to the top of the mountain. This path is best described by its diversity: it is a diverse mix of trees, grasses, shrubs, trees and plants from all over the state.

A fawn with footprints and waymarks will take you on the 2-mile route, and if you take a shortcut through Old Field, the whole way is only about a mile long. Deer Creek Loop leaves the Deer Run Trail and the total hike is about 3.5 miles, with an easy climb to the top of the mountain and then a short descent back down.

Wallace State Park is planted with a number of common trees, some of which are identified within a mile, such as the old ones - pine, oak, birch and oak.

Take I-35 North to Exit 48, turn right onto the freeway at the exit, and turn left from the parking lot at the north end of the park into Wallace State Park.

Wallace State Park is about 50 miles from the Iowa-Missouri line, and the park is about 3 miles from I-35.

Take I-35 South at Exit 48, turn left at the exit and turn right into the Wallace State Park parking lot.

In St. Joseph, Wallace State Park is about 36 miles from St. Joseph and the park is about 3 miles from I-35.

Take I-35 South at Exit 48 and turn left at the exit onto the freeway and the park is about two miles away. Turn left on the left side of the parking lot and then right onto the street and you are in the parks.