Why Lake Vermilion Is America’s Top State Park In 2023

If you're looking to head to the absolute best state park in the entire country, you don't even have to leave the Land of 10,000 Lakes!

While Minnesota is known for its vast number of lakes, we're also pretty fortunate to live in a state that has an incredible number of areas that have been maintained as state parks, which are great places for the average Minnesotan to enjoy the great outdoors.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports that it currently maintains 75 different state parks and state recreation areas that are spread across the North Star State. There are so many here in Minnesota, in fact, that there is a state park, rec area, or state trail within 30 miles of most Minnesotans.

SEE ALSO: This State Park Was Voted the Most Scenic In Minnesota

And now, one of those parks has just been named the best state park not just in Minnesota, but in the entire nation. That's the word from Google Reviews, anyway, which says no other park in the U.S. is better than *this* one here in the North Star State.

This study by vacation rental marketplace, Florida Rentals, analyzed Google reviews for each state park to determine the percentage of 5-star ratings and then ranked those parks accordingly. To come up with their list, they looked at the total number of Google reviews, the number of 5-star reviews, and the overall Google rating. Then they used those figures to calculate the percentage of 5-star reviews for each park.

And after crunching the numbers, Minnesota's own Lake Vermilion Soudan Underground Mine State Park remains the top-rated state park in America with thousands of positive reviews!

Google Maps/Canva

According to Florida Rentals, Minnesota's own Lake Vermilion Soudan Underground Mine State Park in Soudan took the top spot of all state parks in the U.S.

Lake Vermillion Soudan Underground Mine State Park ranked highest in the country with 93.12% of its 247 reviewers giving perfect 5-star ratings.

The main selling point of visiting this park, Google Reviews said, is that attendees have the chance to journey more than half a mile underground into Minnesota’s oldest iron ore mine. Here's the entire list of the Top 10 Highest-Rated State Parks by Percentage of 5-Star Reviews according to Florida Rentals:

Lake Vermilion Soudan Underground Mine State Park, Minnesota – 93.12%
Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park, Arizona – 92.01%
Hatcher Pass East Special Management Area, Alaska – 91.84%
Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia – 91.73%
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California – 91.38%
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California – 91.07%
Smith Rock State Park, Oregon – 90.70%
Half Moon Pond State Park, Vermont – 90.60%
Cook Forest State Park, Pennsylvania – 90.59%
Waimea Canyon State Park, Hawaii – 90.52%

Even if you don't head to a state park, there is a lot of scenic beauty in just about all of Minnesota's over 10,000 Lakes. But do you know just *which* of those lakes have the most common names in the state? (Hint: There are a *lot* of Mud Lakes in Minnesota!) Keep scrolling to check out the rest!