Rice Lake State Park

This is my first Minnesota State Park and I loved it. I camped at the first walk in site and it was perfect. I never saw the lake but just all the plants and trees it was such a lovely place.Also the lady at the check in window was completely wonderful. Ive never had a State Park call me up and tell me I could check in early. Then I checked in and she gave me great information concerning upcoming parks that I planned on visiting.Thank you Minnesota State Parks.

My kids and I stayed at the walk-in sites. I highly recommend this park and area. The view over the prairie was lovely and the shaded sites were just what we needed for a hot July weekend. A fellow campsite even had a mini concert for us! Love!

Smaller park with enough easy hiking to take up an afternoon. The toilets were clean and in good condition and there was plenty of wood at the ranger center. Lastly, the walk in sites were quiet and great for hammock camping under the trees.

Small State Park only about an hour South of the Twin Cities. Just went for the day & was able to hike all the trails in a couple of hours.Lake is a hot spot for Fall Migration & was lucky enough to see a huge flock of American Pelicans. Trails are flat & easy to hike.

Great campground. Good trails for hiking. Super nice staff. It rained and was cold all weekend but we still had a good time. My dog loved it too. Bring your fishing pole.

Great hiking trail along the lake among the trees that then goes around a beautiful prairie. Good way to spend a few hours with the family.

Great place to duck hunt, boat ramp is only good for canoes/kayaks, or boats equipped with mud motors.

Wonderful campground with more privacy than most state parks. There is a T shaped dock that brings you out past the cattails and give a great view of the lake. 10/10, would camp at again!

We took the hiking club trail, a pleasant walk through flat woods with a couple of stops along the lake. A couple of bathrooms lay on the route.

Its a great place for fall and spring migration of birds.

Nice easy hike. Fun wildlife including a group of pelicans. Beautiful tree lined paths.

Small but very nice park. I took the 2 mile hike. The hike by the lake was so nice and through the field was pretty cool with the different flowers. Camping looked good even though I didnt do that. It was a great place to visit nature.

A lovely park. We stayed in cart-in site #1 which has a great view of the lake, and a wonderful breeze. The cart-in sites have a lot less privacy than some in other parks, but the view almost made up for it. Also, they have super cheap boat rental, which was great. Just be sure to rinse off after you go in the water (no swimming beach, but we waded in at the boat landing) because we got swimmers itch.

My family and I loved the park. A nice picnic shelter and nature trails. Diligent staff and well maintained.

Small campsite, Only 1 tent allowed; no real spots for hammocks, the bugs were really bad here. Which would be expected next to a lake but these were the worst Ive encountered in MN so far. The boat landing was less of a boat landing and more of a swampy entrance only thing getting in there would be kayaks or canoes. Okay time overall

Spent time hiking and picnicking here and enjoyed the park, staff was super friendly and helpful! Recommend checking out the pier into the lake for some great views. Also see they have canoe in camping sites.

Spacious, lots of paths, camping. Parking, and of course, decent size lake. Not actually made of rice though..

Decent park, but no dump station for RV campers. Had to go to Cabelas to dump waste.

Nice place. A good alternative when Nerstrand was completely full. Bring bug spray.

A nice quiet hike. The terrain is very flat and makes for an easy stroll through the woods.

A very nice park, with flat trails along the lake and fantastic Fall colors.

Awesome park. Great trails.

Great hiking paths, bathrooms, canoe rentals, camping spots. In the winter they host candlelight hikes. Great park for southern Minnesota farm country.

Did the candle light walk here with the whole family. Wonderful experience!

Park was nice, great trails and fun park for the kids. Lots and lots of bugs.

Love camping here, just beautiful!

We went the this park for the first time. It is so beautiful. It was our first time there. So quiet and relaxing.

Nice for a picnic or hike. No swimming.

Very nice camping!

If your into rules and regulations this is the place to camp. Beautiful, clean but whoa, my friend and her two kids wanted to swing by and roast marshmallows and staff said they would need to be out by 10, then the park patrol drove past numerous times to make sure we were parked correctly facing out and then we were parked side by side we needed to line up a little over the top and too strict for my kind;)

Peace and quiet with not many people around.

Great state park. We went on a short hike down to the water. There is a cute little playground. Beautiful fall colors.

Definitely one of the weaker state parks within 2 hours from the Twin Cities. Some of the camp sites are right on the walking trail with no seclusion. The hiking trails are your typical MN flat trails.Honestly, if youre not here fishing, its probably not worth it.

Campsite b10E nice partially shaded backs up to woods- for exploring!:)

More walking than hiking, but beautiful views of the lake, some prairie lands, and some woods. Really enjoyed the fall colors and would love to kayak here, looks like they offer rentals for that!

Great peaceful place

Camping here in the walk-in sites was awesome! I had a great time with my friends here in our relatively private space, with nearby vault toilets (with no smell!).

We stayed at Walk-in site 5. It was great except for that there was a fairly loud, large group at the group campsite. The park itself is fairly small, but had enough for our quick, with-child camping trip. The park staff was very friendly and helpful. The grill on the fire pit for walk-in site 5 is fixed which made it more challenging to get the fire going under the grill area of the pit. Not a big deal, but our friends were staying at site 4 and their pit hinged open. Much easier to work with so we ended up cooking at their site more frequently than at ours. I noticed that walk-in site 1 had a grill that swung out and up and down, which would have been even better. All of the walk-in sites are very shady, which is what I prefer. So shady, in fact, that we almost didnt put up our sun-shade alcove. If rain hadnt been in the forecast, we probably would have forgone it.The walk-in sites were very secluded from the main, loop campground which we loved. They were also far enough away from each other that you didnt feel like you were camping with people in the next site. You could hear them, but only if they were loud or you were trying to listen.We drove by the main camping loops. It looked like loop A was mostly tents and loop B was mostly RVs.Pros: Shady, secluded walk-in campsites. Close to the city. Easy-access walk-in and cart-in sites. Clean vault toilets. Nice, friendly staff.Cons: No lake access (which we knew going in, but is something to keep in mind). Loud group camping group. Small park (not a big deal for us, but others might find it a con).

The lake is sometimes low, call ahead to check levels.

Easy hike through maple/basswod forests that turn into oak savannahs. I didnt kayak the lake but from the views from shore I would definitely want to bring my kayak next time. At the time I visited it was mid- summer so most of the wild flowers had faded but would recommend hitting this state park early spring since this would be a good location to view spring ephemerals.

Although its usually misqitoe infested after it gets warmer, it is a great place to see many varieties of water fowl. They have some nice hiking paths and a play set for the kids. Go early or wear misqitoe repellent.

Awesome Trails and very cool sights to see. Its very relaxing just to walk though there!

Its a great state park, with camping, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, cross country skiing, and snowmobile trails. The area is beautiful and you can rent a canoe or kayak from the ranger station.

First lake I have seen since moving to Dodge Center 3 1/2 years ago. Thank God I found you!!!

Well kept trails. Lovely scenery.

Great place for our Boy Scouts to learn canoeing. The sites were great. Hard to find the inlets marked with the green buoy. Will go again.

Facilities are sub-par (small poorly groomed), and staff that on two separate visits made me feel unwelcome at best (thought it must have been a fluke the first time). This place needs an audit. I hold this place in stark contrast with every other park in the Minnesota State Park system (usually awesome). Best avoided.

Very nice hiking trails. Not too populated, great place to walk dog. Very nice dock overlooking the lake . Seating benches along the paths. Very very nice park.

A hidden gem! Loop A has some very nice camping spaces with plenty of tree coverage to help keep you cool on the really hot days, and for some reason it is not very busy. Great for tenting! Loop B has all the electricity, but if you are looking for a place closer to the twin cities to get away, check this place out!

It was very wet at each site....but they have had a LOT of rain this month. Would be better is the season had been dryer.

Such a beautiful park, there are lovely walking trails along the water. I visited in the fall, as of colors were changing. Beautiful Yellow Birch and maple

Nice park. Clean and close to our home.

Trees, snow and deer sign. Pert much

Helpful people, very knowledgeable! quiet close by my home clean, showers lots of trails to walk dont need license to fish in this state park, lots of wildlife! Canoes to rent if u need! Cant wait to go camping here again!

Very quiet and peaceful State Park. Has a little lake and has canoe in camp sites. A loop is non electric and b loop has electric. Sites are very wooded.

First the pros of this park: Nice wooded area, with a lot of campsites available. You can drive-in camp, walk-in camp, or canoe-in camp. The bathroom facilities are updated but can be crowded since there a bit smaller and there are so many campsites available. The campground was very well-groomed and taken-care of. And they provided water to wash pots and pans.The cons: The campground is extremely overpriced for what you get in return. We spent $21to tent camp (plus having to buy wood at $6.00 per bundle since they wont allow you to bring wood in), AND also a $7.00 parking fee to keep our truck in the campground. The price came to $40 to camp one night here, which was completely excessive in our opinion. We felt that everything in this campground was controlled and regulated in a way that made us feel like we werent even camping in nature. We received a sheet of rules from the park ranger on duty and it made us feel like we werent to be trusted. The sheet told us exactly how to park our vehicles in the small designated campsite areas, that we couldnt gather any kindling or firewood, that we couldnt put up a clothesline to dry any items we had (we had been camping for days from previous parks), that we couldnt have any alcohol, and a whole number of other regulations that made us feel like we were in camping prison.Additionally the campsites were very close to each other, and each campsite had a specific spot made of mulch for the tents to be put on. The park was very busy with a lot of children and families, which could be good or bad for some campers depending on what you are looking for while camping. Overall, I didnt feel that the rest of the park was that nice. A very small boat landing area for canoes and kayaks, some small picnic areas, and no view of the lake or water from any parking space within the park. To view the water you had to hike the trails.We felt that for $40 this was a rip-off of a park to camp in. We felt that if you are forced to spend that type of money for camping in your tent, that the park should be super beautiful, kept up, spacious, and with the restrictive rules left out of the experience. We will definitely not be camping here again.

Great for hiking, canoeing and cross country skiing. Unique habitat as lake is very shallow (no fishing, boating or swimming). Lots of shore birds. Also good for geocaching. Electric campsites but no dump station. Nice quiet getaway.

Beautiful restored (or preserved?) prairie near park entrance with many windflowers, also a gorgeous lakeside trail with wide views of the lake. Many beautiful spots for taking photos and it felt so wonderfully relaxing standing on the trail nearby the waters edge just feeling the lake breeze sweep past me as it continued on into the lush green woods. Definitely worth coming back to!

Quiet and relaxing. No beach. Nobody here on a weekday while school is in session.

Sites are a little tight for big RVs. We had a tough time getting a long 5th wheel into our site. Great park otherwise. There may be some other sites that would have easier access.

Beautiful location!

Great place for kayaking or canoeing. Also nice hiking trails.

Beautiful peaceful a great place to camp at

This is a nice little state park just outside of Owatonna. Some people pass this one up because its so small. You can probably hike this entire park within a day or two, which is nice. You would think the bugs would be bad being on Rice Lake, but most of the time there is a nice breeze which helps. There is also a playground for kids which most parks dont offer. I would recommend this park for a day trip or an overnight. Enjoy your stay!

Fantastic fishing pulled in over 20 different catfish with my girlfriend.

I did not realize how extensive the park is. Amazed.

Rice lake is by far the worst Minnesota state park for camping I have ever seen. The spaces for your Rvs are tiny and driving through to setup is so narrow and not well groomed at all. The staff is by far the worst state employees I have ever dealt with. They tried to make my buy a second day pass for my over night camping saying I would need 1 for each day. When I showed them the state park website saying if you our camping you only need one pass and it is good until the following day until checkout, I brushed off by staff and told whatever.When I initially, came to check in for our site, I was asked name, which I stated and spelled, was asked again spelling which I stated again and was told to be quit after saying the first three letters.When asked about fire wood, I informed them I purchased it at fleet farm 6 miles away and she stated about needing to be in steele county and everything, which I get and I was like sorry I didnt know that and I would purchase their wood and bring it back to fleet farm. They told me they wouldnt let me leave with the wood and took it.I love going to minnesota state parks and have never had a bad experience but this was unreal. The staff our not fit to represent the park system and our beautiful state. The staff ruined my entire hope for this park as it is super close and my family will never go here again or support this state park until the staffed our trained on how to be an employee of the state and providing customer service.

Compared to other parks in the state system it is rather average in terms of beauty and hiking trails.

Great place for a quick getaway

Serene, Lush, beautiful!

Awesome little campground. Nice walking paths but not super extensive.

Very pretty campground! it is a little out of the way but it was a very beautiful place to stay

Great sights to be seen at this park, getting season pass for sure!

Small park hidden in country side.

Great proving ground for trying out your new gear. 20 minutes give or take to Cabelas. 15 minutes or so to Owatonna. Clean, quiet and relaxing.

Park staff are extremely friendly. Cross country skiing and hiking trails.

Its a small park, but a hiking trail along the lake shore is well maintained and offers great views

Fantastic walking trails. Enjoyed the peace and tranquility in the park early November.

Camping and canoeing available. Reasonable cost. All canoeing equipment included with rental.

Great park, with awesome hiking trails. Bring some bug spray during summer!

Great park! A hidden gem! Camping, hiking, canoeing and a lot of nature!

Great picnic area with awesome iew of the lake.

Sites are beautiful, bathrooms way below par to other state parks. Not a lot of hiking trails. and the ones their are, not kept up very well.

Great place for picnic or a gathering.

First time it was a nice walk

Very beautiful and serene, yet well kept!

Pros: close to twin cities.Cons: lots of mosquitoes.

Great park, a hidden gem, loved it!

Dont come its to peaceful and beautiful

Nice

I wish they had a cabin you could rent out. If so I might never leave.

Great campground, quiet and peaceful

This place is the bees knees.

Sucked

Boring no fish lake

Wish theyd groom for skiing more

Great place

Went there for birding.

Awesome for wildlife enthusiasts

Too many mosquitoes