The park is located just north of Cornell in Chippewa County in the Northern Highland region of Wisconsin.

The park is named after Jean Brunet (1791–1877), an upper-class French immigrant who was instrumental in the development of the upper Chippewa River.

Two years later his employers stationed Brunet in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where he became a leading citizen, married, and eventually went into business for himself.

There he was engaged to oversee the construction of the first dam and sawmill on the Chippewa River, which opened the region up to logging.

Brunet and his wife, who were childless, took a liking to Francis Gauthier, a boy who worked for him, and treated him as an adopted son for the rest of their lives.