Wild River State Park - Recreation

Recreation

• Boating:
  • A concessionaire based inside the park rents canoes hourly and daily, and provides shuttle service back from take-out points.
  • Boat ramps in the main part of park and at the Sunrise access. Jetskis are prohibited.
• Camping:
  • Campground with 96 sites (17 with electrical hookups)
  • Group camp (5 sites each accommodating 30 people)
  • 20 rustic sites within the horse camp with picket lines available
  • Guest house (8 capacity)
  • 6 camping cabins
  • 8 backpacking sites scattered mostly at the very southern end of the park
  • 8 canoe-camp sites spaced along the shore
• Events: Naturalist programs are held at the visitor center year round and the park rangers facilitate educational programs for schools and other groups. Evening events are conducted at the amphitheater adjacent to the campground.
• Fishing: Walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass can be caught in the St. Croix River.
• Trails: 35 miles (56 km) of hiking/cross-country skiing trails and 20 miles (32 km) of horse trails. The Aspen Knob Loop and Goose Creek Loop are primarily winter trails that receive minimal summer maintenance.
  • Universal Trail (hiking/skiing/biking/accessible): A paved path from the trail center to the campground. The Old Logging Trail section follows the ancient river bluff (3 mi).
  • River Trail (hiking/skiing): Crosses the floodplain from the visitor center to the Nevers Dam site (1.5 mi).
  • River Terrace Loop (hiking/skiing): Descends the ancient bluff from the picnic area to the Nevers Dam site (1.5 mi).
  • Mitigwaki Loop (hiking/skiing): Circles through oak woods near the visitor center (1 mi).
  • Deer Creek Loop (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circles through the floodplain and riverbank south of the visitor center (3 mi).
  • Amik's Pond Trail (hiking): An interpretive loop from the visitor center passing 2 beaver ponds. Amik means "beaver" in the Ojibwe language (1 mi).
  • Windfall Trail (hiking): An interpretive loop from the visitor center through second-growth forest (1 mi).
  • Amador Prairie Loops (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circle through restoration prairie and oak islands from the trail center (1 or 2 mi (3.2 km) option).
  • Pioneer Loop (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circles through oak woods, savanna, and grassland (2 mi).
  • Aspen Knob Loop (skiing/hiking): Circles through the hilly oak woods and white pine stands south of the park office (2 mi).
  • White Pine Ridge Loop (hiking/skiing): Ascends a hill between the Aspen Knob and Pioneer loops for a view of the river valley (0.5 mi).
  • Sunrise Loop (horseback/hiking/skiing): Circles east through bottomland forest from the Sunrise River access (5 mi).
  • Sunrise Trail (horseback/hiking/skiing): Connects the Sunrise area to the main part of the park (10 mi).
  • Goose Creek Loop (skiing/hiking/horseback): Circles northwest through bottomland forest from the Sunrise River access. Prone to flooding in spring (3 mi).
• Tubing: A business in the town of Sunrise offers tube trips down the Sunrise River with shuttle pickup.
• There is no official swimming area.
• Geocaching opportunities include the Minnesota State Park Geocaching Challenge (Wild River State Park is a multi-cache with the starting coordinates N 45 31.583 W 092 44.645), Wild River State Park History Cache I (a puzzle cache which requires you to solve clues in order to determine the coordinates of the cache), and several other caches that are not sponsored by the park. More information can be found at geocaching.com.

• Wetlands west of the St. Croix River.

• Trails in the spring are prone to flooding. This is the river trail, but the St. Croix has flooded the trail making it impassable.

• Another flooded trail along the St. Croix.

• The St. Croix River.