Carley State Park — Attraction in St. Charles

This is our favorite park in the state, hands down. It's small and nothing spectacular, but it is such a beautiful, quiet, peaceful place. My wife and I spend hours walking the trails, taking whole afternoons to wander off the trails and get lost in the woods. There is a quiet, lazy little creek running through the middle of the park that has a couple fishing holes we occasionally drop a line into. The campsites are rustic, but more than adequate. They butt right up against the forest, giving you the impression that you're camping right in the woods. The impressive foliage and undergrowth give great shelter from wind and rain, and create a natural privacy curtain around each individual site. As much as I love the park, I hesitated to write this review because the park has always felt like our little secret haven away from home. Even though, I'm tempted to keep this "secret" to myself, Carley State Park is too good a place not to sing it's praises. Would highly recommend checking out for a day trip and hike, or a weekend (or longer) camping trip. No matter how often we go back, we always seem to find something new to enjoy. If you like walking in the woods, or appreciating the simple beauty of nature, give Carley a try and I think you'll be very...

A nice alternative to Whitewater State Park with much better fishing. We tried to reserve a site at Whitewater and found that they were all booked. We then decided to reserve a site at Carley and then drive over to Whitewater to day hike. This turned out to be a good idea.

We came at the height of the flower bloom. The hikes were beautiful. We also came at the height of Morel season. They were growing all around our campsite. The Morels here boast an excellent woody flavor.

In the morning, I woke up early and brought the kids trout fishing (you must have a trout stamp to fish in trout designated waters). Even though I was wading in the river every 2 minutes to rescue lures, we caught some wonderful trout! They are plump and voracious at Carley and much easier to catch than the trout at Whitewater.

After a morning breakfast of trout and morels, we drove over to Whitewater to hike. We also did the nearby fire tower. All rewarding.

Though Carley may not be as big or have as much geological diversity as Whitewater, it seems to be a wise choice for a number of reasons. In the end, avoid the crowds,...

I think Carley State Park is a hidden gem, but I would suggest it for slightly more seasoned campers. I brought my kids this last weekend and while I have lots of camping experience they didn't and the lack of more common amenities at other MN state parks was observed and caused some discussion and adjustment. That said, it has many beautiful trails that all can be hiked by a 3 and 5 year old with some assistance (dad carried them) at times. There was a swing set for the kids but the park is largely unmonitored so they did not have some of the activities we've taken advantage of in the past. The sites were nice and standard like most parks, but there were no flushable toilets, showers, or park buildings. The bugs were to a minimum and the hiking trails were beautiful around the river. There is some damage to the river crossings but it is managable, however not the safest. This is a small park and locals tell me that the river is stocked with plenty of trout!!! Lots of...