Palisades State Park
Under $25Hike, climb or paddle among pink Sioux quartzite cliffs that rise above Split Rock Creek near Garretson.

Photo: Rigadoun, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Watch a bison herd graze the prairie from a viewing platform, then hike or climb along a pink quartzite cliff just north of Luverne.
1410 161st St, Luverne, MN 56156 · Luverne, MN
Blue Mounds State Park protects one of Minnesota's largest prairie remnants and a herd of bison that grows to about 100 animals in summer. A viewing platform with a scope in the northeast part of the park is the easiest place to spot them; the Mound and Western Loop trails also skirt the range. The pink Sioux quartzite cliff rises about 100 feet and draws rock climbers. A daily vehicle permit is $7, and the campground has electric sites.
The closest stops to Blue Mounds State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Hike, climb or paddle among pink Sioux quartzite cliffs that rise above Split Rock Creek near Garretson.
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A national monument in southwestern Minnesota where Indigenous people have quarried red pipestone for pipes used in prayer and ceremony.
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Watch the Big Sioux River drop over the falls from viewing platforms and a five-story tower with an outdoor deck.
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Two free Sioux Falls history museums: the Old Courthouse Museum and the Pettigrew Home and Museum.
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Free regional history museum in an 1890s quartzite courthouse in downtown Sioux Falls, with three floors of exhibits, a restored courtroom and 16 early-1900s murals.
Transit: reachable by public transit
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