Lake Country Scenic Byway
Minnesota Scenic Byway 86 mi in Minnesota.
About the Lake Country Scenic Byway
The headwaters of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park are a Minnesota Mecca, but this lake-splashed area has loads of other worthy attractions, from lodges and resorts with inviting restaurants, to excellent bird watching, golfing, miles of hiking and biking trails, art galleries, music festivals and road-side diners.
Approximately 3 ½ hours north of the Twin Cities, the 88-mile Lake Country Scenic drive travels a segment of Minnesota's Pine to Prairie Birding Trail, and also connects three "anchor" towns: Walker, Park Rapids and Detroit Lakes.
Itasca and the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge are good places for bird watching. Visit a small art museum in Park Rapids and a gallery of Indian art in Detroit Lakes. There are hundreds of lakeside resorts and campgrounds.
Explore Minnesota, for the Minnesota Scenic Byways Commission's own description, in its words. Byway page on exploreminnesota.com.
Camping along the byway
- on the roadAkeley City Park & Campground · City, county or regional park · reservable
- 1.5 mi offHungryman Lake Campground and Day Use Area · State forest · 14 sites
Public campgrounds within 5 miles of the road as the crow flies, nearest the road first (this stretch is in several separate pieces); each one's page has its facts, season and weather by month.
About this page's facts
The line is the Federal Highway Administration's scenic byways layer (HEPGIS, a snapshot of 2022-06-24, a US government work), cut at the state line and simplified for the map; the length is the line's. The designation is the program's own: the national tiers from FHWA's America's Byways roster, the rest from the layer's designation field. Road conditions, closures and seasonal gates change: check the agency's own page and the state's road conditions before you go.