Glacial Lakes State Park — Hotel in Benson

Glacial Lakes State Park near Starbuck, MN.

Of all the parks I've been to so far this was my least favorite. I didn't even do a hike since I could only find mowed trails that were easily accessible without a camping registration and horses were using them.

Being a hiker, I wasn't interested in stepping in horse dung to see... well... a whole lot of what you see in these pictures. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong. Just not my idea of a good time. Non-horse trails all seemed to originate from the campgrounds where there was only parking for those with reservations. Irritating.

This park is set up for horse riders, campers, and special group outings. In fact, an area of the park is off limits for people who aren't in one of the groups. Can't remember the name of the group but it was kind of irritating. There is a very long bike trail but that leaves the park and goes into Starbuck and beyond.

On a scale of 1-10, I would give Glacial Lakes State Park a solid 3. Riders and campers might disagree. For me, the drive to get there was better than the destination. Even Belle Prairie Park in Little Falls, MN. is more engaging. At least from what I was able...

The scenery was beautiful, but for our family it was very inconvenient. We had to dump and refill every other day. There was no full hookup. The showers and restrooms were gross to me although my husband used them, so we used water quickly. To dump and refill, you had to go all the way back to the front, turn around and come back in, because it wasn’t set to where you could get to it in two directions. So many low hanging branches that it caused tiny scratches on our motorhome. As I said, the lake and prairie lakes d are beautiful, but facilities need funding. Front office ppl are ok. I never expect much in that way. I saw kids really enjoying biking, canoeing, kayaking as they for in from the dock. They towed through lovely sections of lily pads. Mosquitos are HORRIBLE! Buy 2 Thermacell and put one on your picnic table and your regular table. It will flat clear your area. When hiking wear tons of repellent. This place is covered...

Update.. Thank You!!!! The docks have been repaired and are now usable. 4.5 stars for this amazingly simple state park

Let me first say the office staff is great. While we truly enjoyed our stay here for it's small size and quietness this camp needs a major update. Sadly this campground has been forgotten and left behind by MN funding. The showers and bathrooms are very worn out. The docks in the lower campground are completely rotted away or covered by downed trees. Really thought we could fish those as they were close to our campsite but sadly they are not functional at all. With all the great fishing lakes around here a fishing cleaning house with water and electric would be wonderful. I would still love to return here despite these flaws. Just makes me sad to see a park with so much potential just completely left behind. I would still highly recommend staying here as there still are many pros and it's a nice...