Mille Lacs Kathio State Park — Attraction in Kathio Township

A non-descript park. We drove up from the cities to camp with 3 boyscout troops. It is a decent park with some interesting pioneer and Native history but not much else. The fire tower was pretty cool.

I thought it was interesting that the park touts the beach as one of the best in the state. It's just a little pond with a sand embankment.

The dam is not really a dam.

The reason why I gave the park 2 stars is that the nature and trails are decent but the ranger was not the most pleasant to deal with. Our troops rented 3 campsites. Some of the boys wanted to be together so they pitched a couple of extra tents on one site. You're only supposed to have 2 tents on a site or 6 people. Even though our paid-for adjacent sites were not maxed out at 6 people, we were reprimanded for having too many people at our middle site. We were told we would have to pay the cost of an extra site before we left. Mind you, we were the only ones at the park besides one RV trailer that we saw. The only ones!

I understand the idea of minimizing impacts on the flora and fauna at the campsites but there wasn't a blade of grass around this time of year. It was yet another display of letting us know who was in charge. I am growing quite tired of the state park system for this reason. It seems as though every time we go to a state park, we never get out without some form of reprimand no matter how hard we try to practice leave no trace. It's like the staff feels it's their duty to teach you a lesson.

Going to a best western has less rules and people breathing down your neck than the state parks (that are meant to give you a break)

Uncle Sam,...

Stayed in July and we had to leave early and won't be back. Website said, "fly and mosquito season is here." I've been to plenty of sites where black flies and mosquitoes are abundant, this was different. They were deer flies, and we're talking clouds of them. We couldn't hike or even enjoy being out our tents. Deer flies aren't deterred by bug spray, citronella, nor attracted to fly traps. They're only attracted to heat, dark colors, and your breath. It's kinda a big thing to specify, especially when it's not a few here and there. We had a cloud of 12-20 on every person and pet in our party (8-12).

That was obviously the deal breaker for us. But the neighboring sites were fairly close though admittedly shielded by brush. I could hear my neighbors constantly. Smell their cigarettes. Most people seemed to be piling way too many cars and tents into their reserved site and the rangers did nothing about it. One site somehow has 4 cars and tents piled in with almost no space to even stand around. The swim pond was pretty nasty looking.

Maybe it could ok another time of year, but we couldn't even hike or enjoy anything with the amount of deer flies...

A nice and centrally-located state park just south of Lake Mille Lacs. It is open all year round - in the winter they offer some groomed CC ski trails. I would recommend visiting to tower as well. It offers a good view of the surrounding part and some of the lake. Though, it does close during the winter months. The trail center is open and free to use (obviously with a park pass). There is a warm fireplace which is very nice during the cold winter months. Additionally there are some tables inside the building for use, plus a free bathroom. There are many trails of various uses, but some can get wet in the spring/summer months, so definitely be aware of that.

The only negative is that it can get crazy buggy in the moist and warm months of spring/summer. It is nice to travel back during the winter to experience the freedom from the bugs.

The entrance is nicely signed coming from HWY169. Very easy to get to. Overall a very nice park and I would definitely...