Mille Lacs Kathio State Park - State park in Onamia - 15066 Kathio State Park Rd, USA

This might be my favorite MN State Park. There are hiking/skiing/horseback trails, I particularly like Landmark Trail with it's wonderful views of interesting terrain and Ogechie Lake. The archeological/anthropological information is fascinating, and I'm glad there are some perspectives shared of Native people today. All in all this seems to me like a well managed state park for a day of adventure or a calm picnic. The observation tower is fun even though I can't get very far up it! I can't speak for the camping as I haven't been there yet (but want to).

What a great park. The campsites are large and spacious! They have lots of trees and coverage and we felt pretty close to secluded. There is a small swimming pond that is good for kids. No pets allowed here though. The interpretation center was nice lots to learn and do. They have programs during the weekends that we did that were good. The rangers were very friendly and helpful. We saved some turtles that were in mortal danger. There is SOO much to explore. More reasons for us to come back to. We did the beaver dam walk and we don't recommend this. It is very overgrown and it got way too dense at one point and the trail is not very obvious. It was a highlighted trail so we were surprised by how overgrown it was. The camper bathroom shower areas were very clean and nice. The women's section doesn't have small trashes in each stall however. Otherwise they are good. When we went there was a space for a playground but it has since been removed.

We stayed in camper cabin #4 for 3 nights Sept 17 - 20. There were very few people in the park and even fewer bugs. Red maples were glowing. Park and cabin are very well maintained. We didn't realize until our last night that there are hot showers available in the main campground just a few hundred feet away. We especially enjoyed hiking the Landmark Trail including a night hike where we saw awesome northern lights across Ogechie Lake. Beautiful ducks, hawks, cranes and swans on Ogechie Lake. This park is huge with many miles of roads and trails.

Pretty nice weekend trip. I wasn’t blown away by anything though. I wouldn’t say its worth making a whole trip to, but if you are in the area it’s cool. It was really buggy though. We had to wait in line for the fire tower and were being devoured. Also, the staff REALLY should put a 6 person max sign by the tower. All other towers in the area have this, and people are too stupid to wait.

My favorite park in Minnesota. I've walked half a dozen trails at Kathio. Favorite is the Landmark Trail. Thanks for the parks!!!

Even covered in snow, it was beautiful. It was so quiet and peaceful, and my whole family had a great time. We did not have snow shoes, so we did have some difficulty, we made it out in the end and were able to laugh about falling through the deep snow afterward.

During the summer the bugs absolutely swarm the place but during the fall it is great and well maintained. The observation tower inside the park gives you an amazing great view!

Very buggy in parts, the tower is worth the short walk! We were disappointed by the "beach". It's a very small pond even though there is a lake and river right there. We paddle boarded on the river for a bit before backpacking in to Glacial Ridge. Its a super easy but buggy hike. The trail could use a good trim and the trail from the site to the water was very very overgrown.