Park Info
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area is located in Ironton, MN. The park is 5,000 acres and was once an abandoned mining pit that is now regenerated with vegetation and clear lakes. It offers camping, trout fishing, paddling, mountain/fat tire biking, and scuba diving. That last one is surprising as it isn’t something that is often offered at state parks.
There is eight miles of paved bike trail and over 50 miles for mountain and fat tire biking. You can even partake in the winter months! They keep groomed trails for biking, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing.
The water source is Portsmouth Mine Pit Lake. It’s 395 feet deep and is open for diving, swimming, boating, and fishing. Most of the lakes here are stocked with trout, so make sure to get your trout stamps!
If you’re looking to camp here, there are 29 drive-in sites (18 electric and 15 not), four walk-in sites, a group camping site, and three yurts. Yep, yurts. they look pretty cool. In the campground there are showers, flush toilets, and a dump station. It is not on the website if the facilities are accessible. There are also vault toilets available throughout the park.
All of this info came from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website, so credit where credit is due. Click here to view the original source.
Accessibility of Facility
Parking
There is a huge lot with ample parking in the Miner Mountain Rally Center.
Bathrooms
There are vaulted toilets and changing areas in the picnic area.
Getting to the water
The water was visible from the picnic area. You could legit walk up to it. There is also a boat landing down the road.
My Experience
So, I was supposed to go kayaking here on one of the many lakes. It ended up being way too windy to even transport my boat safely, so going out on the water was out of the question. I did spend time at the beach and enjoyed sitting in the sunshine immensely.
This S.R.A. has to be one of the most accessible ones I’ve been to. As you can see from the pictures, there are different colored trails for each ability level AND they give the reasons why it’s classified that way. It’s similar to my rating scale and I love it.
You can hike on the bike trails (where allowed) and I thought about doing it, however, there were so many bikers that I opted out. I found out that my parents are interested in coming here, so I will be back (probably with them) and have more for you all.
Do you spy Currently Unnamed CardyBear? If you spot him, put FOUND in the comments 😊
Be safe out there! REMEMBER YOUR MAPS AND PASSPORT STAMPS!! Seeyalaterbye <3
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