Scenic State Park

[MedicDan]

Hey has anyone been to Scenic State Park. I am going up there in a little bit possibly, what is is like, etc. What do you do there?

[vitalshot5]

6 times a year the last 31 years....best campground around and the fishing is not bad either....very scenic...2 lakes to fish....has electric and primative campsites(showers for the kids and ladys)....decent beach....a lodge for friday and saturday night nature stuff...and some of the best hiking trails around.

[scaup]

We were there a couple of years a ago. It is really a nice park with some of the nicest trails I have been on.

[MedicDan]

Hey thanks guys! Made a reservation for this next weekend.

[Lund4ver]

You can't go wrong with going to Scenic State Park. Good fishing, great hiking, and friendly staff. My personal best walleye came out of the lakes there.....30 incher.

[colonel42]

Just got back from the Scenic. Stayed the whole weekend of the 4th. Nice park!!!! Very rustic. You would think with the forth weekend they would have mowed the grass. Our site had eight inch high grass loaded with flies and skeeters. The beach!!! What beach??? The little area they call a beach was so loaded with goose dung I finally went back to the camper and grabbed a rake because as one of the workers there stated they are so short handed. Come on!!! Minnesota State Parks this one needs help. Trails are nice but when you go with kids they like to swim and have some activities to do. Not impressed with this one at all!!!!

[moviking]

WE to would like to stay at Mn St. Pk. But now being from out of St, we have to pay a non-residence fee, which we think is a ripoff. So we go to private RV parks, cheaper and more things for the g-kids to do.

[vitalshot5]

Can't afford the help but have all the money in the world to put a new one on vermillion....makes ya wonder.

[Queenswake]

Our family went back to Scenic in 2006 after camping there several times in the 1990s. We were shocked at how much it had changed. This park used to be extremely hard to get into. It was booked solid months in advance. It was a bustling campground with multiple ranger-led activities each day for kids and adults at the lodge. But when we were there in 2006 we found a largely empty campground with no activities. It made it worse that the fishing was not good (this was during the severe drought up there and the lake was down many, many feet). We barely caught a thing during our weeklong stay. Back in the 90s we had constant action with a variety of species.

With gas prices the way they are, things will continue to deteriorate at these far away parks. It's such a shame and one more reason we have got to get kids interested in the outdoors and our state parks. They are the ones who will vote to keep funding them in the future. The nice thing about state parks is that most are undeveloped. How many other lakes are left like that anymore? It's a beautiful thing to not have pleasure boats, to have excellent fishing because of less pressure and because green grass has not replaced the natural habitat around the lake's perimeter. We have got to preserve these places.

[Lund4ver]

Welcome to government cutbacks, and all the money being dumped into Itasca S.P. as well as the ones along the North Shore.

Other way to look at it, the less people there for years to come, is a better chance of the lake restocking itself for better fishing in the future....<Keeps fingers crossed>. My kids love it up there, and we go back at least once a year for a end of the year family get together.

[minndonn]

Do not blame it on Itasca, the North Shore parks or the new Vermillion park. Blame it on the people who do not want to pay taxes for anything. When our kids were young (1990's) many state parks had naturalists. They had traveling naturalist programs with Charlie McQuire Doug Woods and others that visited all the parks and did programs. We used to plan which park to visit by the programs. St Croix State Park was without a naturalist for at least 5 years until this year. Before that they had programs every night and several on weekends. Scenic had possibly best naturalist in the system. Budget cuts removed many naturalists and life guards from the park system. Since then the beaches in many parks have been overcome with geese and lack of maintenance.

You only get what you pay for.

[hiwayman33]

I was thinking of booking a trip there for August 8th and 9th. Taking my 8 month old daughter and wife. The daugther loves being on the boat and I like the fact you can tie your boat up at the dock. Also, the wife loves to hike and the trails sound great. One question, wanted to catch some fish whether it is panfish or walleyes. From what I have been reading is the fishing suspect? Should I consider going somewhere else?

[dewydog]

In late June my wife and I and the four kids took a camping trip that consisted of 4 state parks in northern Minnesota. We started at Father Hennepin (Great). Then went to Scenic (okay). Then to Bear Head Lake (Absolutely the best). Then to Jay Cooke (Very Nice). We spent three days at each.

Go to Bear Head Lake state park!!!!!!!!!!! Fishing is great.

[DinkADunk]

How's the ramp at Bear Head Lake? I have a Lund Fisherman 1800 and wondering if that would be a bit big for the launch.

[dfruechte]

I was just up at Scenic 1-1/2 to two weeks ago. Not much for fishing. Carried in a canoe, and went to a site that was hike-in/boat to only with 3 other people. Tiny northern and a couple perch on the shore, a 21" northern on the water, thatwas the extent. Just remember powerboats, there is a speed limit of like 10mph or 15 if I remember right.

[Lund4ver]

Speed limit on Coon-Sandwick lake is 10 mph.

I can honestly say that my family has dumped money into Scenic State Park, as we are the family that provided the money for the park to put in the two handicapped campsites, because my grandparents loved that state park, and always went there. I believe in my heart that if it wasn't for the money from my family, those sites would have never been done.

How many paved bike trails do you see in Scenic? None that I am aware of.....On the counter, how many are at Itasca state park?

[Queenswake]

So it seems like fishing is still down there. Like I mentioned before, 10 years ago, the fishing was really good. A lot of nice northerns, some of the biggest sunnies I've ever caught, and the walleyes were not bad either. It'd be interesting to hear from locals or the DNR as to what's going on with those lakes now.

Many summers we'd camp a week at Scenic and then a week at Bear Head (crappie bite every single night at the same time in the same hole with huge crappies). Two of the nicest parks in the park system.