The Red Lake State Forest is a Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 state forest

State forest

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state.The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction...

 located primarily in Beltrami County

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Beltrami County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 44,442. Its county seat is Bemidji. Portions of the Leech Lake and Red Lake Indian reservations are in the county. The northernmost portion of the Mississippi River flows...

, although portions extend into Koochiching County

Koochiching County, Minnesota

Koochiching County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 13,311. Its county seat is International Falls. A portion of the Bois Forte Indian Reservation is in the county. A small part of Voyageurs National Park extends into its northeast...

. The forest borders the Pine Island State Forest

Pine Island State Forest

The Pine Island State Forest is a Minnesota state forest located primarily in Koochiching County, although portions extend into Beltrami, Lake of the Woods, and Itasca counties...

 to the east and Upper Red Lake

Red Lake (Minnesota)

Red Lake is a lake in Beltrami County in northern Minnesota, USA. It is the largest natural freshwater lake in Minnesota, and the 16th largest lake in the United States. The lake is separated into two sections by a peninsula on the eastern side that almost bisects it in the middle. The community of...

 to the west. Minnesota State Highway 72

Minnesota State Highway 72

Minnesota State Highway 72 is a highway in northwest Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with U.S. 71 in Blackduck and continues north to its northern terminus at the Canadian border in Baudette...

 runs through the forest.

The location of Lake Agassiz

Lake Agassiz

Lake Agassiz was an immense glacial lake located in the center of North America. Fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined, and it held more water than contained by all lakes in the world today.-Conception:First...

 in the area led to the flat topography

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 of the forest, which is dotted with wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s and bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s, a sandy loam is throughout. The vast expanses of old-growth northern whitecedar

Thuja occidentalis

Thuja occidentalis is an evergreen coniferous tree, in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is widely cultivated for use as an ornamental plant known as American Arbor Vitae. The endemic occurrence of this species is a northeastern distribution in North America...

 and pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

 were extensively logged

Logging

Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...

 in the early 20th century. The landscape is now dominated by black spruce, tamarack, and northern whitecedar in the lowlands; aspen

Aspen

Populus section Populus, of the Populus genus, includes the aspen trees and the white poplar Populus alba. The five typical aspens are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the Northern Hemisphere, extending south at high altitudes in the mountains. The White Poplar, by...

, pine, and balsam fir predominate in upland sites.

Popular outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in natural or semi-natural settings out of town...

al activities in the forest include fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 and hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

. Trail

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

s are designated for hiking

Hiking

Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...

, as well as snowmobiling in the wintertime. Camping

Camping

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity. The participants leave urban areas, their home region, or civilization and enjoy nature while spending one or several nights outdoors, usually at a campsite. Camping may involve the use of a tent, caravan, motorhome, cabin, a primitive structure, or no...

 is available at a campground near the town of Waskish

Waskish, Minnesota

Waskish is an unincorporated community in Waskish Township, Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Waskish is located on the eastern shore of Upper Red Lake and Minnesota State Highway 72 north of Kelliher. Waskish has a post office with ZIP code 56685....

 and throughout the forest in the form of dispersed camping