Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children
Check pricesA museum on the site of a former Minnesota state residential school for wards of the state, with a restored boys' cottage and a children's cemetery.

Photo: McGhiever, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Watch swans, geese and diving ducks stop over on a shallow marsh-ringed lake, then camp or paddle at this quiet park east of Owatonna.
8485 Rose Street, Owatonna, MN 55060 · Owatonna, MN
Rice Lake State Park protects 1,071 acres around a shallow lake of about 750 acres, where Native people once harvested wild rice. In spring and fall the lake is a stopover for swans, geese, diving ducks, grebes and black terns, which makes it a birding spot. About five miles of mowed prairie and woodland trails include a half-mile accessible loop, and in summer you can rent a canoe or kayak. The campground has drive-in, walk-in, cart-in and canoe-in sites. A daily vehicle permit costs $7.
The closest stops to Rice Lake 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.
A museum on the site of a former Minnesota state residential school for wards of the state, with a restored boys' cottage and a children's cemetery.
8.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
One-hour guided tours of the 38-room 1910 mansion Dr. Charles H. Mayo built outside Rochester, furnished with original family pieces and run by the county history center.
28 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
A regional history museum and archive covering Rochester and Olmsted County, Minnesota.
28 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
Hike a bluff 430 feet above Lake Pepin to the In Yan Teopa rock arch, watch for eagles and spring warblers, and camp on the edge of the cliff.
46 mi awayMore like this
Paddle, swim, ride mountain bike trails or ski among a dozen lakes and ponds in Dakota County's largest park, a free stop south of the Twin Cities.
48 mi awayMore like this
Take a guided walk through Mystery Cave, Minnesota's longest cave, then fish trout streams or visit a restored 1899 village in the same park.
52 mi awayMore like this