It has about 300,000 visitors annually, and is located 7 miles (11 km) north of St. Charles on Minnesota State Highway 74, which runs through the park.

[3] It was nominated for its examples of New Deal federal work relief, diverse National Park Service rustic design, and landscape architecture on a challenging site.

[4] The park's bedrock is lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, with limestone and dolomite especially prevalent near the surface.

As the rains far exceeded the absorption rate of the soils, flash floods rapidly overflowed the river and spread across the valley floors.

[7] Three bridges were destroyed, and campgrounds, bathhouses, a group dining hall, and water and sewer systems suffered extensive damage.