If you love hiking then this would be a fun place for you. But I am not a hiker. The old quarry was neat but the hike around it was a tad too much for me (I'm recovering from a broken shoulder blade but even if I wasn't it would have still been too long). The beautiful waterfall that is pictured above is a several mile hike round-trip so we never got to see it (of course this is why we went in the first place :^\ ). Now we did get to see the other waterfall further south. It involved leaving the park, driving through the town of Sandstone, and driving down a road that turned into a kinda sketchy dirt road. Followed as far as we could and parked. Then it was a short walk to the river and to the waterfall. This lower part was more fun and cooler by far than the big main part of the park. And we wouldn't have needed a State Park Pass.
Great state park! We came in the spring time so it was too chilly out to camp still. But we hiked down to the waterfall which is gorgeous coming over those bright rocks!! Had a great time!
Great place to camp. We love to take nature walks and spend time outdoors when we go camping and this is a great state park to do that at. We have had many camping trips here and it is on the top of our favorites list. We will be returning again and would highly recommend it to others.
One of my favorite sites I got to see while I was here. Spent around 1.5 hours taking pictures and it never became dull. Will definitely go back when I get the chance.
In conclusion I would have to say "Boo. Boo. Bad park. Hiss." But this is just my opinion, and opinions are like butt-holes. Everyone has one and they usually stink.
I really enjoyed the Quarry Loop and Hell's Gate trails in the fall. The trail largely follows the Kettle River. The Quarry Loop includes markers informing hikers about the quarry's history.
Banning State Park is a US Campground based in Sandstone, Minnesota. Banning State Park is located at 61101 Banning Park Rd, Sandstone, MN 55072, USA.
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