The ‘Little Yellowstone of Minnesota’ is Just Two Hours Away from Rochester

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Have you ever heard of 'the Little Yellowstone of Minnesota?' It's a park that is often called by that name, and it's just a little over two hours away from Rochester.

My wife and I took a trip to the real Yellowstone National Park (the one in Wyoming and Montana) back in October and were stunned by the scenic beauty and natural features of America's very first national park. So when I stumbled on this story about a park called the 'Little Yellowstone of Minnesota' it caught my attention.

The park Only In Your State refers to as the 'Little Yellowstone of Minnesota' is actually Alexander Ramsey Park (or, more accurately, Ramsey Park) and it's located in the city of Redwood Falls, in central Minnesota. (Google Maps says it's a little northwest of Mankato, about 150 miles away from Rochester.)

And according to the city of Redwood Falls website, Ramsey Park is the largest municipal park in the state of Minnesota, at a whopping 256 acres in size. (That's pretty big, but it still pales in comparison to the size of Yellowstone National Park, which is nearly 2.2 MILLION acres!)

 Termed as the “Little Yellowstone of Minnesota”, the park is enhanced by 1930′s Civilian Conservation Corps shelters and bridges and picturesque Ramsey Falls. The park serves as a focal point for community events, festivals and summer activities and features campground facilities, shelter houses, four miles of paved hiking trails, a DNR trout stream, scenic overlooks, and a zoo.

The biggest feature of the 'Little Yellowstone of Minnesota,' however, is likely Ramsey Falls. According to Only In Your State, "Ramsey Falls is not as large as the waterfall at Yellowstone, but it is certainly beautiful nonetheless. It drops over 30 feet into a wide, rocky gorge." Just for comparison, here's a picture of Gibbon Falls at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming:

And, from the Ramsey Park Facebook page, here's a picture of Ramsey Falls...

They both look incredibly scenic, don't they? Camping and shelter reservations at Ramsey Park are now closed for the season but will reopen again next spring. I'm going to have to check it out!

And if you're interested in Yellowstone or any other national parks, keep scrolling to see some amazing pictures of the most popular national parks here in the U.S.

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