Lake Bemidji State Park

Lake Bemidji State Park is a year-round destination for outdoor enthusiasts. Whether it’s hiking, biking, skiing, paddling or fishing, this park offers lots of options on the north shores of Lake Bemidji. Lake Bemidji State Park is located about 6 miles northeast of Bemidji in Minnesota’s Beltrami County.

Trails

Choose from 11 miles of hiking trails for your own exploration. On the interpretive boardwalk you can hike through a conifer bog and see some unusual flora, such as orchids and insect-eating sundews and pitcher plants. Lake Bemidji State Park is also the northern terminus of the 115-mile, paved Paul Bunyan State Trail, which connects to a city trail and bike route to circle Lake Bemidji. For those looking to bike off the paved trails, the park offers five miles of mountain bike trails.

The Old Logging Trail

The bog walk through the conifer bog

The Paul Bunyan Trail in Bemidji State Park

The bogwalk takes you on a hike through a unique ecosystem

Camping/Lodging

Lake Bemidji State Park offers 100 campsites. The park also has two group camping centers, which have room for a total of 80 campers. For those looking for a few more comforts, Lake Bemidji State Park also has four year-round camper cabins.

A typical campsite

Camper cabin

Lake Bemidji

In fair weather, 6,765-acre Lake Bemidji is a giant playground as sailboats, motorboats and canoes share the lake. Fishing for walleye, northern and perch is always popular with park visitors. If you don’t have a boat, you can rent one in the park. The Mississippi River Canoe Route passes through Lake Bemidji and you can canoe upriver to the river’s headwaters at Itasca State Park. Nymore Beach, on the south shore of Lake Bemidji, was the site of a lumber mill that operated during Minnesota’s last logging rush. Scuba divers occasionally discover logging artifacts in the water near the beach. The park’s lakefront is its busiest spot. The large picnic grounds are shaded by some of the big trees that the park is noted for. The enclosed picnic shelter is ideal for family reunions or special group gatherings. The swimming beach and boat landing are also located along the shoreline.

The swimming beach on the north shore of Lake Bemidji

Plants and Wildlife

Rose-breasted grosbeaks and a host of other woodland birds will serenade early morning hikers. When the lakeshore is quiet, especially at dusk or dawn, you might notice loons, black terns or even white pelicans. The twilight woods come alive with a chorus of tree frogs, leopard frogs and spring peepers. On the quarter-mile interpretive boardwalk you can hike through a conifer bog and see some unusual flora, such as orchids and insect-eating sundews and pitcher plants. Bald eagles are a common sight throughout the park.

A bald eagle watches over Big Bog Lake with a backdrop of evergreens and tamarack

Winter

Outdoor activity at Lake Bemidji Sate Park barely slows down when the snow falls. Cross-country skiers tour on eight miles of groomed loops designed for all ability levels and snowshoeing is allowed throughout the park.
More about skiing in the Bemidji area