afton state park

Plenty of wildlife and not very many people. A drive from the cities but not if your from cottage grove or Woodbury. It overlooks the st croix river.

We love Afton State Park with it's many hiking trails and backpacking campground. It's situated on the beautiful St. Croix river, and it's variety of hiking trails is wonderful. This past New Years Eve we did something different and rented a camper cabin there for two nights. It was cold out, but we played games and ate Nachos that we had brought in our crock pot. Later, we drove next door to Afton Alps, the ski area, and watched a really good fireworks display with some of their yummy cocoa. Then we returned to our cabin, took a brisk night time walk marveling at all the stars as the snow crunched underfoot. Then, we built a roaring fire and made s'mores and took pictures to be blown up for our wall. Then we went back into our warm cabin and rang in the New Year with the count down and some bubbly. It was the BEST New Years ever. New Years day was awesome too.

Love this state park. Hiking can range from easy and flat to a moderate challenge with hills. Nice long bath along the river that is extra stunning with its gold colors in the fall.

My husband and I loved this state park. We camped for 1 night in the backpacking campground. Our site was perfect, clean, secluded, and we loved having all-you-can-cut wood. We even had the experience of seeing a lot of deer and wildlife. There are also many hiking trails and picnic table areas. The only drawback was the mile hike in to the campground. We had never done a hike-in campground so we definitely brought too much and the last 1/4 mile is very much up hill. We are definitely going back in the spring!

What a beautiful location! We made it our Autumn hike and the colors were amazing. The park is vast with many walking trails of a variety of difficulty to suit everybody. Some trails are paved, some grass, some gravel, some forest floor. We did about 6 of the 20 miles and found them well traveled and maintained. Of the parks along the St Croix river I found these trails to be more accessible to a variety of abilities than the other parks. While not all would be stroller friendly, none were dangerous for a nimble person to carry a young child. There were many trails that were very child friendly. We had six dogs with us and the paths were ample for our menagerie. There were limited areas that we found access to the river on the north half of the park (didn't walk the south half), so plan to carry enough water for the inland trails. Pack a picnic, a camera, and make at least a half day of it. Better yet, buy a MN state park sticker and make it a frequent quick escape from the city bustle.

We hiked Afton 3 weekends in a row training for backpacking the Superior Hiking Trail. Our experience was great. The trails are well labeled and you can easily download the map from online. We wrote out mile by mile descriptions for anyone looking to do short hikes, day hikes, or need to train for a long hike or endurance. Click the link below for photos, trail descriptions, and difficulty levels.http://creekstopeaks.blogspot.com/2014/08/afton-state-park-minnesotawisconsin.html

There are only 4 camper cabin sites in Afton State Park, so we were lucky to find one available on a Thursday night for one night only. The sites are very secluded from the each other and the rest of the park so you don't see your neighbors or much traffic at all. The cabin was very clean, and included two sets of bunk beds (ours was the White Pine cabin and one lower bunk was a double bed; bring your own sleeping bag/linens), a table and two benches, and a screen porch. The cabin does have electricity and a ceiling fan, so we could recharge cell phones and stay cool in the afternoon.The campsite itself had a picnic table, fire ring with a grill, and benches around the fire ring. There is a "vault" toilet one one end of the road, and a drinking water tap on the other end, so if you bring your own soap, you can go potty and wash your hands if you're willing to take a short walk between the two. No showers at the campsite, but with river access throughout the park, it is pretty easy to stay "camp clean" for a few days here.As others have mentioned, there are lots of trails of varying lengths and challenge levels, and beautiful scenery -- woods, prairie, river -- so you'll never run out of things to do. A great weekend or quick getaway trip about an hour from Minneapolis-St. Paul!

Park is very hilly. It has a beach and can be accessed by boat via ST Croix River or by road or horse back. It has miles of hiking: prairie, oak Savannah, and forest. Hike in campsites. Great summer and winter.

We went to Afton State Park for a geocaching trip on Memorial Day. I was expecting it to be super busy, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the trails were very quiet, and we had them mostly to ourselves. Scenic, but close enough to the cities, this is a great location to get away without making a major trip out of it. The visitor center was clean (and nice and cool on a warm day) with information about the area. The town of Afton is quaint with plenty of dining and lodging opportunities for those that want to spend more than an afternoon at the park.

Amaizing hikeing camping. Privacy. Tents only. About a mile hike. The beach and river trail is cool. Eagles badgers wild life.Last year we wanted to use our trailer and discovered the only trailer RV tent camping is actually a group camp by reservation only. It is about 25 camp sites with table and pit, but you cannot drive in and use it even with a state sticker unless you reserverve the entire 25 sites on a 30 acre area. Its only $50. Oddly the night signin application says "Tent, Trailer,RV,". But no sign anywhere about "Reservation only". I think they want to steer away loud wild people but holycow. Whats wrong with a few open sites for drive in campers.??

I came out here to do some hiking in the summer. It was my first time in this area for hiking. It had some nice rolling plains as well as a real nice hill down to the river and back up to where I parked. There weren't a lot of people here when I came. The best part of the 4.5 mile hike I went on was the area along the river. There were some nice cliffs one side of me and the river on the other. The best part were the cool breezes on a warm summer day. The one hill going down by the river was pertty tough terrain. I would advise good hiking boots with ankle support to make it down. Totally worth a return trip.

My husband and I went last weekend for a hike to this park. I had read lots of positive reviews about the park..and I must say the park didn't disappoint us.Its one of the most beautiful hikes we have been in Minnesota. It was a hot day but the shade from the trees made it pleasant. We did two hikes, one was the Prairie Loop and other North River trail and both of them were adventurous. There is a particular section of the hike of about 0.3 miles which passes through dense vegetation and has a narrow path..its exciting as well as adventurous.The back packing site looked awesome..and Prairies..a perfect place for horse back riding.The beach has an awesome view of the river and one can spend hours relaxing on the beach..watching the boats sail..watch kids and pets play..Will definitely go back next year..

This is a great park to hike in. Miles of hiking trails in prairie and woods with vistas of the Mississippi. You can also do the orienteering course as well as geocaching. There is camping available, but you have to hike quite a ways to the tent sites. No car camping here.

My family and I have hiked the trails of Afton State Park many times over the years. It is best in the Fall, when the leaves are turning and it is not too hot, but also enjoyable in the Spring (although a bit muddy in places), the Summer (bring water to keep hydrated), and even the Winter (intended for cross country skiing at that point). Most people head North - to the left of the parking area - but I recommend heading South (to the right). You will come upon a plateau of Prairie flowers, a winding path, a descent into the woods, a very steep, rocky path down to the river (sometimes we have stopped for a picnic halfway down), then a lovely walk along the St. Croix River on what was once a railroad line. One day there were people mushrooming, and there are always people with kids and dogs enjoying the walk, with a breeze off of the river. The boats (and their motors) on the river don't create too much noise. Eventually you come to a beach, and then it is time to choose which path back up the hill - and having hiked quite a distance, this is the hard part - but it is exhilirating. Leaving the park you wind your way out on a narrow road, slowly, with a sense of calm.

I have Cross Country skiied and hiked and camped in the park. It is neat, well taken care of, and a great state park.