This is a nature lover's delight. Explore prairie, pine, and hardwood forests. View the Mississippi River from historic and picturesque 'Chippewa Lookout.' Novice canoeists can paddle the calm waters of the Crow Wing and Mississippi Rivers. Crow Wing is a park rich in cultural history. In this area, a frontier town emerged to serve the needs of travelers and traders. The town died when the railroad chose to cross the river at Brainerd. Walk through the site of the Old Crow Wing Village for a sense of history. The park still has a section of the famous Woods Trail, which served ox cart traffic that carried supplies between St. Paul and the Red River settlements.

Wildlife
Park visitors enjoy seeing white-tailed deer browsing at the forest edge; beaver, muskrat, and waterfowl in the wetlands and waterways; and eagles and hawks flying along the riverway. The careful observer may catch a glimpse of a coyote or fox, while the ever-present songbirds add something special to a family outing.

History
A 1957 archeological investigation uncovered many of the old town site foundations. This spurred a push to preserve the site, and Crow Wing State Park was officially established in 1959. Both the town and the park were named Crow Wing for their location at the confluence of the Mississippi and Crow Wing rivers.

Geology
Crow Wing is located in the far northwestern corner of the Anoka Sand Plains region. This region was formed by the drainage of the glacial Lake Grantsburg. As the lake drained, the meltwaters formed a series of coalescing outwash plains wherever the ice exposed low ground. In this way, the vast sandplain was formed, also receiving water from the diverted Mississippi River. Small lake plains were formed here, in addition to the outwash plains of Lake Grantsburg.

Landscape
Original vegetation included oak forests and barrens interspersed with pine and prairie openings. Conifer bogs and wet prairies occupied the depressions in the region's landscape. Today, visitors experience an oak forest, aspen, jack, red pine, white pine, prairies, and wetlands.