RECREATION

State Parks

• Itasca State Park
  36750 Main Park Drive • Park Rapids, MN 56470
  218-266-2114
  Built in 1891, this is Minnesota's oldest state park, which features thirty two thousand acres of wildlife sanctuary; points of interest include Old Growth Pine at Preacher's Grove, the Peace Pipe Vista, the Itasca Indian mounds, and over one hundred lakes.

Hiking & Climbing

• Heartland State Trail
  29083 County Highway 46 • Park Rapids, MN 56470
  651-296-6157
  This twenty-eight-mile blacktop trail passes through stands of pine, oak, and aspen trees; the western part of the trail is mostly flat and passes through farmland, near ponds and lakes, while the eastern half of the trail passes through rolling hills of the Chippewa National Forest that is scattered with scenic chains of lakes and marsh areas.

Snow Sports

• Freedom Ridge ATV/Snowmobile Resort
  10694 State Highway 200 #1 • Park Rapids, MN 56470
  218-266-3938
  This resort rents ATVs and snowmobiles, and offers miles of riding trails.

• Soaring Eagles Trail
  101 Main • Park Rapids, MN 56470
  This trail provides mostly intermediate level skate and ski trails that run through four hundred eighty acres of state land that is filled with rolling hills and a birch forest.