When you went to the ballot box on November 4, you were probably primarily concerned with electing a new president. However, another interesting and far more local issue was also on the ballot: the Minnesota Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment. This measure, passed with 55 percent approval, raised Minnesota’s sales tax by three eighths of a percent in order to provide more funding to preserve the state’s cultural and environmental heritage. 14.25 percent of this money will be directed toward the Minnesota State Park and Trail system, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The passage of this amendment shows Minnesota’s special relationship with their parks and forests.

Minnesota’s extensive State Park system has always been one of the nation’s best. If you’ve never been to a Minnesota State Park, or you’ve only been to one or two, you’re in for a treat. According to the DNR, there are 66 parks in the system, totaling about 267,000 acres (about 97.8 times the size of the University of Minnesota campus). With that amount of recreational space, there’s something for everyone. Here are a few of what I believe to be the best parks, including a few less than a four-hour drive from the cities.

My first camping trip at a state park was before I could talk, and each successive trip, be it with family, friends, or alone, offers a new and special experience for me. I’ve been to probably about half of Minnesota’s parks, and many more than once. Here are some of the standouts:

Jay Cooke
My absolute all-time favorite State Park is Jay Cooke. Cooke is located about 2 1/2 hours from the city just off of Lake Superior south of Duluth. The St. Louis River crashes through the park with rapids and giant rock canyons that make for great climbing and exploring. You really feel like a trailblazer. Known as an excellent park for hiking, Jay Cooke has a normal car-campground and several hike-in sites for those who want to be a little more secluded. There are also bike and horse trails. This is also one of the best places in the state to see amazing fall colors. Make sure to check the weather before your trip, though: the park’s soil is primarily clay. Rain, I discovered last fall, turns the park into a muddy, slippery mess.

Afton
Afton State Park is quite a bit closer, located less than 45 minutes east on the St. Croix River. Perfect for day hikes or quick camping trips on a weekend, Afton provides scenic trails and backpack camping on a bluff overlooking the river. If you can tolerate the number of suburbanites who come here to jog and walk their dogs, you’ll be in for a great day of camping, biking, or hiking a stone’s throw from Minneapolis.

Itasca
If you’re looking to get away from the Twin Cities in earnest, you might want to visit Itasca, Minnesota’s largest and oldest State Park. After about a four-hour drive, you will arrive at a park that boasts 32,690 acres of wilderness and is crisscrossed with tons of hiking trails. Biking is not so good here, but there are 11 really, really amazing secluded hike-in campsites that will make you forget your homework in an instant. This park contains the source of the Mississippi River, at Lake Itasca. It’s small enough to jump across.

Whitewater
If you’d rather canoe to your site than walk or drive, but don’t want to go to the Boundary Waters, then Glendalough State Park is for you. Situated around Lake Glendalough, the park offers great bass fishing (I caught a huge one here) and a canoe or bike-in campground. Glendalough also has a nice variation of terrain, from broadleaf forests to lakes to canoeable creeks to prairies. This is another one of my all-time favorite parks, and is definitely worth checking out.

As you can see, there are tons of recreation opportunities available at Minnesota state parks. Every time you buy something, you’re supporting this valuable resource, so it makes no sense not to take full advantage of it. A weekend of State Park camping typically costs less than $40 plus gas, so it’s dirt cheap. Reservations for the best weekends in the summer go quickly, so if you’re looking to plan a state park outing this summer, reserve a site quickly.

Reservations can be made at www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/index.html