To deter overuse of a state park only 20 miles (32 km) from downtown St. Paul, there is no vehicle access to the camping area or swimming beach.

The park lies on a glacial moraine, scribed with deep ravines running down to the St. Croix River.

With William O'Brien State Park growing increasingly crowded in the 1960s, Minnesota was on the lookout for more recreational land near Minneapolis–Saint Paul.

State park officials and advocacy groups acted quickly and purchased the property the next summer.

The park entrance was moved from the north to the west side, snowmobiles were banned, and the road was shortened from its original plan.

Afton State Park finally opened to the public in 1982, with the visitor center only being completed the following year.

A group of a dozen young men drove around the gate into the park, where they ransacked an administrative building and vandalized two camper cabins.

State parks were open to people entering on foot, and an early-morning hiker alerted authorities to the suspicious presence of vehicles.

Some of the group scattered and hid, but the Washington County Sheriff's department conducted a manhunt through the park and arrested all but one of the suspects.

A four-mile (6.4 km) paved trail open to bicycles extends from the park entrance to the visitor center.