Itasca State Park Minnesota
This park is a gem in Minnesota State Parks! Just beautiful. Although we only had 1 day we managed to pack a lot into it. My advise is to start your day as early as possible. We went to the Mississippi Headwaters at around 8:15 am & had the place to ourselves. The gift shop isn't open yet, but when we went later for ice cream the place was hopping! The Wilderness Drive is a must see as well. There's some short hikes & a lot of wild beauty. They have a fire tower you can climb.
Biking is very popular & there's a dedicated bike path on the Wilderness Drive which is about 10 miles.
There's a lodge & restaurant.
Two visitor centers.
There are 2 campgrounds- Pine Ridge& Bear Paw. Electric sites only. I think it was$35 a night. There is a dump.
We were in Bear Paw site 37E. Frankly, I liked Bear Paw campground better, even though it's smaller. By the lake, but no sites are ON the lake.
Lakeview sites are 63, 67, 68, 69,& 70. There's good access to the bike trail. There's a path down to the lake, so if you have a kayak you can drag it down.
We were across from the bath house. It's very nice & clean! Showers are push button. Not too hot.
Pine Ridge we did a short drive thru. The campground registration office is there. We were told we didn't have to register if we we had an on line registration. No tags.
Pine Ridge had several loops, but we just went down the Spruce Loop. The sites looked flat & shaded. I didn't note any particular site.
We really enjoyed our stay & wished we could have added a couple more nights!