Monson Lake State Park

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Monson Lake State Park is the smallest Minnesota state park, 187 acres (75 hectares) in area, just west of the town of Sunburg. The legislature established it in 1923 as a memorial to pioneers who died in the Sioux Uprising of 1862 at this site. It was originally named the Monson Lake Memorial State Park as a memorial to the Broberg family, local pioneers who were killed in the conflict.

[edit] Activities and amenities

The Combination Building (picnic shelter, concession, and kitchen for campers) and the Sanitation Building were built by the Works Progress Administration. These buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a memorial state park, only limited recreational facilities were built.

Activities include fishing, bird watching, picnicking, hiking, canoeing and camping. Fish caught at the park in Monson Lake include walleye, northerns, bass, and sunfish. White Pelicans, Herons, Western Grebes, and songbirds live in the park's wetlands and hardwood forests. There is a one mile long hiking trail. Although the park is open all year, its twenty camp sites are open only from Memorial Day to Labor Day.