Father Hennepin State Park is 2 hours north of Minneapolis St. Paul. The park is situated in the south-east corner of Lake Mille Lacs. We were excited to stay at Father Hennepin as a co-worker had boasted that it was a beautiful park.
At Father Hennepin are 2 campgrounds with a total of 103 campsites. You may also rent the group campsite at $30-$75/night The park has 2 shower buildings & 2 restroom buildings. With regular “vault” toilets located throughout the park.
Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by the park staff. They took our reservations and admitted us into the park with no hassle. The camp office offers firewood for $3.50 per bundle and ice for $1.50?? We were also able to buy a Frisbee for $1.50 and a nicely honed walking stick for only $6.95.
We had reserved campsite #94 – located just a few hundred yards from the shore of Lake Mille Lacs.
Since we’re becoming avid campers, it took a total of 10 minutes to set up our tents. One thing we noticed right away was the large change in temperature at our campsite. The dense tree canopy and close proximity to the lake made it feel a good 20 degrees cooler.
Father Hennepin State Park, the Doorway to Lake Mille Lacs
Most Father Hennepin campsites had special sandboxes for our tent placement. The sandbox area held our 2 room tent nicely and we still had plenty of room in the wooded area to accommodate the adult tent.
After we settled in, it was time to check out the restroom/shower facilities. The ladies were none too pleased. There was a constant musty smell accompanied by literally 100’s of dead mosquitoes on the sinks and rolls of damp toilet paper in the toilet stalls. The ladies promptly decided they would not be showering during our stay.
A walking trail on the back side of our campsite took us down to the shore with a very nice fishing dock. The kids were able to net catch minnows. Just to the left of the fishing dock was a decent sized boat launch and a short distance from the boat launch was a sand beach for swimming with a playground. It started to rain just as we headed to the beach so we didn’t stay to check out the swings.
We were very pleased by the level of service our Park Rangers offered. They drove by once every couple of hours and never stopped. I think they were just checking to ensure no one had started a forest fire.
Although drinking is strictly prohibited in all Minnesota State Parks, we found a few tell-tale beer caps and noticed our neighbor campers were drinking beer in plain sight.
Although we were only able to stay one night, it is definitely a park we will return to. I get the feeling that even in the middle of summer, the tree cover will keep the campsites cool and hopefully the breeze from Lake Mille Lacs will keep those monster sized mosquitoes away.
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