Reviews

Shawn Lyon

Banning state park is a beautiful park with a history. Being an old quarry, there are several ruins on the trails and explanations of what they were. You also see rock slabs stacked around the park in a way that are not natural. This adds to the park as you have signs of man's hand around th park among nature reclaiming the structures.

thanuja ramesh

Banning state park during the fall is gorgeous. They have multiple hiking trails along the river and a campground too. Weekends can be crowded but still worth it.

Ann Provo

What a find! Beautiful park for hiking, camping and more! We did the Quarry Loop-self guided. It was beautiful, peaceful and super interesting! The quarries were incredible. Lots of nature and the fragrance of the leaves and pine trees was so wonderful. The trails had lots of roots and rocks that you could trip on, so be careful. We will be back, my favorite hike yet!

Shane Rooney

Banning is one of my favorite state trails. There are so many side paths and ways down to the river. The views are amazing of the river and the rabbits. And it's very well labeled down the paths and trails and a lot of maps. It does get very busy do you have to park on the road sometimes. If you do go and your adventurous I would go in the morning so you have all day to explore there's so much to explore here. I do recommend wearing good shoes cuz you're climbing a lot of rocks if you go down by the river. Definitely recommend if you really like water views and a really good hike!

Alexandra Ruiz-Adan

*PLEASE READ IF YOU’RE PLANNING TO COME HERE* A beautiful park and beautiful trails. The views are spectacular! Lots of poison ivy, stay on trails, and watch your step! There’s also lots of ticks! We took campsite 9, it’s fairly small, but it was fine since we used a tent. HOWEVER, when we got here we realized that the showers and restrooms are closed. I did further investigation and realized that THEY HAVE BEEN CLOSED FOR OVER 2 YEARS! I was shocked and disappointed that this fact is not mentioned in the MNDNR website, only in reviews from past campers :( But there are two drinking water sites and outdoor toilets. Now I know that might not be a problem for RV users but still, quite disappointed at that fact.

Sasha DeMarre

The Kettle River makes this a very interesting place to hike. The Quarry Trail will take you along the river where you may see kayakers tackling the rapids. Beautiful moss lines the trees and sandstone formations. Hell’s Gate is a must if you want some adventure, but wear the right shoes and keep the kids at home. Lastly, bring binoculars and you may get a closeup on a Mink hunting in the water.

Marcelle Alvernaz

Wish I had more time at this park. Did it as a stop in and did one hike and unfortunately my phone went dead and didn’t have my camera with. It looks absolutely breathtaking. Would love to come back and kayak.

Valérie Lent

Worth a visit. Entrance is $7 for the day, per vehicle. The ranger told us the grass had not been mowed on most trails, so we stayed on the wider and rocky ones to avoid ticks. The best part was when we drive to the South unit to see the falls. The directions on the flyer we were given are very bad. Instead, we used Google maps which took us there. You have to leave the main park and drive across the town.

kara cole

This was a last minute pit stop on our way back home from vacation. We were all so happy we stopped. This is a beautiful park. The trails are a bit rough/semi-existent but we managed to find our way around well. The falls were beautiful and so was all the water carved rock structure/sandstone. Absolutely beautiful place to stop. And we saw osprey. So cool.

B A

Banning State Park has some of the most beautiful landscapes and is one of the most exciting Minnesota state parks out there. Park in the picnic area parking lot and hike to the lookout, then hike down towards the river for some of the most fantastic views you'll find in Minnesota. The Kettle River has some beautiful rapids here. The rock formations down the hill from the lookout are breathtaking as well. Hiking up and down the banks of the river are some great trails with beautiful views. If you hike far enough south, you'll come across two sets of amazing waterfalls. If you like hiking beautiful and exciting scenery, I'd highly recommend here.

Phill White

Beautiful hiking trails over large rocks along the Kettle River. Great place for semi to Advanced kayaking and canoeing. Spring is the time for more experienced canoeing because of the water flow. Camping is available and picnicking is great. Bike trailes are close by with access to the State. Phill

Mike Mulvihill

Banning state park is a classic. Really cool terrain. The semi-marked "Devils Gate" trail is really really fun to hike. Ran into a lot of rock climbers enjoying themselves and just overall had a really good vibe to this place. Will be continuing to come back here.

Peter Lamm

Banning SP runs north-south roughly bounding both sides of the Kettle River. In the lower reaches around Sandstone adventurers can find kayaking, tubing, rapids shooting, rock and ice climbing. In the middle reaches near Banning Junction where I arrived early this morning its all about having a quiet forested hike on gentle slopes, babbling brooks and bird song. On the lower trails, find splendid views of rushing river gorges. The park and trails are well maintained, posted and safe for most ages, the upper trails are partly accessible by wheelchair i think. Overall great place for families, get there early it could get busy in summer

Paul Clemente

Beautiful park!! Great way to get out of the cities for a little bit. We hiked for a couple of hours and even decided to cross the river (i do not recommend)

Teri

Tried to hike to the falls. One trail was covered with about 30 feet of thick sewage. The other trail had deep crevasses where someone can break bones. Wasted trip and time. Will go elsewhere in future. Very poor upkeep.