Rice Lake State Park in MN -- Camping

Rice Lake State Park spans 1,071 acres around a shallow, 750-acre marsh-ringed lake in southeast Minnesota, featuring hardwood forest of maple, basswood, elm, and oak with meadow openings. The lake, averaging just three feet deep, supports wild rice and is a major stopover for migrating waterfowl including swans, geese, ducks, and grebes. The park offers a 42-site drive-in campground with 16 electrical hookups, plus walk-in and canoe-in camping, group camping areas, four miles of hiking trails, a boat launch, and winter cross-country skiing and snowmobiling trails. Formed as a glacial kettle roughly 10,000 years ago, the park sits on limestone bedrock beneath glacial deposits.

• Moderately separated here.
• Sits on broad, near-level ground.
• South Branch Middle Fork Zumbro River runs 0.1 mi off.
• Open country, with nothing named rising within 30 miles.
• Estimated night sky: Bortle 3, a dark rural sky.