Itasca State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The park spans 32,690 acres (132.3 km2) of northern Minnesota, and is located about 21 miles (34 km) north of Park Rapids, Minnesota and 25 miles (40 km) from Bagley, Minnesota. The park is part of Minnesota's Pine Moraines and Outwash Plains Ecological Subsection and is contained within Clearwater, Hubbard, and Becker counties.
The headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park
The first bridge (and only log bridge) over the Mississippi, about 25 feet south of its source at Lake Itasca
Old-growth red pine, Itasca State Park
Tourists wade the Mississippi near Lake Itasca in 2007
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state, some of the Mexican states, and in Brazil. The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales. The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park. Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies.
Niagara Falls State Park, New York, US
American bison in Custer State Park, South Dakota, US
Bodie State Historical Park, California, US
Babcock State Park, West Virginia, US
