Whitewater State Park - Chimney Rock and Hiking Club Trail - Summer 2023

This park had me at "No mosquitos!"

Whitewater State Park (Altura, MN) is known for Chimney Rock and for not having (many) mosquitos due to very little standing water. We visited this park with our 7-, 5-, and 3-year-old on our trip to Lewiston, MN.

I knew these trails would be a bit of a challenge for my children, which is why I wanted to start the day at this park. Make sure you bring plenty of water and be ready to take breaks.

The Visitor Center had a lot of fun activities and we spent time there both before and after our hike. My children especially enjoyed the taxidermy animals, ranger outfits, and magnetic fishing activity.


The Hiking Club Trail at this park is interesting, because the booklet tells you to just hike from the Visitor Center to the end of it and then loop back on the paved road/trails. The AllTrails version of this, Coyote Point Trail to Dakota Trail, has you going out and back on the same trail. Since we wanted to see Chimney Rock anyway, we decided to do a combination and hike from the Visitor Center to the end of the Hiking Club Trail, cross the road, and head up to Chimney Rock. Then we continued around the Chimney Rock Trail and headed for the pavement to take us back to the Visitor Center.


The majority of this trail is through the woods. At some points, the trail is wide, while other points we had to walk single file, but it was all well-maintained and not overgrown. There were quite a few ups and downs and some rocky sections, but for the most part, the Hiking Club part of the trail was easy/moderate. My children were able to complete it without too much complaining.

The Discovery Loop took us through the woods and down to a river crossing. My younger two needed some help with a few uneven stones and bigger gaps but it was easy to lift them over. The girls had fun pretending to be wilderness explorers.


We continued along the trail, finding wildflowers, butterflies, and a giant "blowy" dandelion. At one point, the wooded trail pops out for a panoramic view of the valley before leading to Coyote Point. After taking in the views, we descended the ladder stairs down and around the rock. The rest of the Hiking Club Trail is mainly wooden stairs down the hill, which was a relief to tired legs.


After a snack break, we continued across the road towards Chimney Rock. We walked through a grassy area, where a large group with matching shirts played. We looped around the pond to our right and crossed two bridges toward the trail. This part was challenging, and we took a few breaks on the steep incline of over 100 stairs. Thankfully, the trail is only 0.3 miles to get to the rock, but the elevation gained is 300 feet. The destination is worth it! Chimney Rock loomed above the trail overlooking the bluff. We climbed into the bottom of the rock and peaked through the openings over the bluff. Be cautious with this part; there is a steep ledge on the other side, so we took our impulsive girls up one at a time.


What goes up must come down, and as we walked down the stairs, we could tell the girls were reaching their limit. It was a relief to get to the campground area, walking paved trails the rest of the way. We stopped one more time at the Visitor Center, where the girls caught fish, built a campfire, and cooked the fish in a pot with some other children.

This park (specifically the Chimney Rock Trail) pushed my children a bit, but once they recovered, they spoke excitedly about Chimney Rock and how fun it was to climb to it and under it. There are several other trails we want to check out (particularly Trout Run Creek Trail and Inspiration Point), so we'll definitely be returning again someday!


Location: Whitewater State Park, 19041 MN-74, Altura, MN 55910, USA

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