Exploring Beautiful Banning State Park (2021)

Fully vaccinated, I vowed to make summer 2021 a summer to remember. Technically, it isn’t summer yet; summer doesn’t officially kick off until June 20, but according to the warm weather and my mindset, summer is already here. So, with that in mind, my fiancé and I left our apartment and hit the road, driving out of the Twin Cities and heading north towards Sandstone, Minnesota and Banning State Park.

Banning State Park is just over an hour and change away from the Twin Cities, making it the perfect spot for a day trip. If you’re curious about what to expect up there, you’ve come to the right place. While we didn’t come close to exploring the entire park, our experience will hopefully shed some light on the kind of day you’ll have at Banning.

Banning State Park Hiking & Rafting

Banning State Park was established in 1963 and is stretched along 10 miles of the Kettle River. The part of the river that runs through Banning features a series of rapids ranging from class I to class IV, making Banning a destination for whitewater rafting, canoeing, and kayaking.

However, whitewater rafting isn’t our thing; instead, we went to Banning for the hiking. My fiancé and I embarked early to beat the crowd, and sure enough, by the time we made it to the park’s main parking lot, there were plenty of open spaces. After parking in the main lot, my fiancé and I walked to the start of Trillium Trail, a mile-long trail surrounded by forest.

As we marched down the trail, we full, green trees fully encompassed us. The trail was eerily quiet; we did arrive at the park early, but it wasn’t like our car was alone in the lot. Where was everyone? We weren’t sure, but the peace and quiet proved to be an excellent way to start our experience.

However, it didn’t take long until we faced our biggest obstacle we would encounter all day — mud. I had read online that Banning State Park could get muddy, but I wasn’t expecting it would be quite like this. Every few minutes, we’d stumble upon an incredibly muddy area. Sometimes, we’d walk slightly off-trail to avoid the mud. Other times, that was impossible, and we’d trudge right on through. Mud covered our shoes, and our socks were soaking wet. It was at this moment that we both wished we had hiking shoes.

We never saw a soul on that hike; the only evidence of other life was the buzzing of mosquitos and tracks in the mud. We saw several deer tracks but didn’t come across Bambi ourselves.

Wolf Creek Trail — Beautiful Waterfall

Trillium Trail led to Wolf Creek Trail. Again, our hike on Wolf Creek Trail was quiet and muddy; we walked undisturbed for another mile or so before coming across the park’s campsite. This is where we spotted our first humans on the trip. Past the campsite, Wolf Creek Trail continued another .8 mile, and so did we.

The second part of our Wolf Creek Trail hike was a much different experience than our first experiences. To start, we were suddenly hiking around other people, including several families. While we appreciated the tranquility of the first part of the hike, it was nice to be around other people. Additionally, the landscape started to change; things became much rockier as we approached Wolf Creek Falls. Suddenly, we were descending rock formations, and you could hear and see the creek. There was also no mud, which was a relief to us.

Wolf Creek Falls didn’t disappoint; it was a beautiful sight and well worth the trip. There was plenty of space to enjoy the falls from different perspectives, including an area at the top of the falls which attracted playing children. We both agreed that the second half of our hike to the fa

After the falls, we went back the way we came, walking back on Wolf Creek Trail towards the camping area. It’s worth noting that you have to climb up the rocks you previously walked down on the way back, but the rock is smooth, and it’s an easy task for most people.

Quarry Loop Trail — A Hike Back In Time

Once back towards the campsite, we headed to Deadman’s Trail, a .2 mile connecting trail that leads to Quarry Loop Trail. A quick history lesson, Banning State Park is home to pink sandstone, which is exposed by the Kettle River. In 1892, quarrying began, using the sandstone for construction materials. The quarrying only lasted about a decade; it came to an end by 1905.

As we walked the Quarry Loop Trail, we saw the quarry. Interpretive signs explaining the history of the quarry dotted the trail. Another highlight of the trail — remnants of an abandoned power plant, which was interesting to see. The Kettle River is also visible from parts of the trail. The Quarry Loop Trail is considered one of Banning State Park’s busiest trails, but we only saw a few other people as we made the trek back to the car. Again, unlike Trillium Trail and the first half of Wolf Creek Trail, there was no mud.

By the time we made it back to the car, the parking lot was completely full, and we were both glad we started our day at Banning nice and early. We packed lunch in a cooler, but the bugs made the prospect of a picnic untenable. We escaped Banning State Park with relatively few bug bites, but we considered ourselves lucky; anytime we stopped along the trail, bugs hounded us.

We noticed several cars circling the parking lot as we drove off, hoping to score an empty spot. We also noticed that parked cars, unable to get a parking spot in the lot, now lined the road.

Banning State Park proved to be the pleasant day trip we needed; the drive up to Sandstone was quick and easy, and the park was beautiful. Our recommendations:

• Get there early.
• Bring your hiking shoes and bug spray.
• If you’re a boater, bring the canoe or kayak.