Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park preserves a rare remnant of Minnesota’s Big Woods, the dense hardwood forest that once covered much of southeastern Minnesota before settlement and farming in the 1840s. Its landscape reflects both ancient limestone bedrock and deep glacial deposits, while its surviving woodland, spring wildflowers, and endangered dwarf trout lily make the forest itself the park’s chief significance. The woods endured because local settlers divided them into small woodlots rather than one large logging tract. After years of land assembly beginning in the 1930s, the park was authorized in 1945, later expanded, and renamed in 1992 to emphasize the habitat it protects.

Minnesota · United States