Willow River State Park is just beautiful. It's a great place to hike on trails and to the falls. The camping is excellent. Good place for all ages.
I'd heard good things about the trails here and decided to finally check it out. The falls made it worth the trip and I was surprised more people hadn't raved about them. They are very large for so close to the metro area. The trails are okay - pretty smooth. I expected more scenery along the trails. Note there are some significant inclines and declines but otherwise flat. Your legs will tell you that you worked the hills the next day. Also noteworthy if you bring your dog: there aren't trash cans in the park so you'll be carrying presenting back to your car.
Easy to get to. Fish for trout in the stream. Nice trails and very peaceful. Beautiful falls to dip your feet into.
The hike in is a bit challenging from the south down a steep hill, and the hike in from the north is a bit long. But no matter how you get there, you absolutely have to experience these falls both from below on the walking bridge and also from above on the observation deck at the top of the stairs to the north. Absolutely amazing and worth the effort in getting there!
The most remarkable feature of this park is that it is under utilized. It is well kept with a great variety of things to do. Lots of open spaces as well as heavily wooded. Nice play areas for kids, hiking trails, water fall, picnic areas and swimming beach. The water quality at the beach wasn't that great but other than that very nice place. Been there on weekdays, weekends and evenings and pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Not sure if they have a problem employee or what happened. Received notice that there were 0 dollars in parking envelope (funny that they got the envelope w/o the money). My partner wrote license info on envelope, my girlfriend gave him the $10 and he put in envelope and deposited it. Just got a notice and they added $5 to the fee and it's $162 if I don't pay within a few weeks. Just not fair, we put the money in there. We're in our 50's & 60's so it's not like we were trying to pull a fast one - if someone was going to do that - why fill out the info on the envelope in the first place?. Be cautious and have backup. Just use your phone to video tape the process. Hope this doesn't become common place.
I LOVE coming here, you can fish, swim, hike, picnic, camp and observe wildlife. I like coming here to walk with my soon to be husband and reflect on life, everything slows down when you're here and nothing else matters. We watch the birds and go fishing, bring our dog sometimes, go on the trails. Only thing people need to be aware of is rattlesnakes HAVE been sighted here, so bring a walking stick and be alert of your surroundings.
We've been here as a family and hiked on a weekend. There is a beautiful falls well within the park, if you hike towards it, it will be a welcome surprise! We love this place!
Offers something for every season to be enjoyed,,Highly recommended. Fee yes but worth every penny..
The Falls are a Beautfiul sight and so serene. Explore all the trails and hikes around the park. The park is well groomed and clean as well as a good way to burn some calories both in summer and winter w/ the trails.It's a great place to pack a picnic and spend the day or weekend doing so many things nature has to offer.