Jul 14, 2021

Crookston, Minnesota, is a small, beautiful city and a budding tourist destination. If you are planning a Crookston vacation, there are a lot of things you can do during your stay. Below is a list of some of the areas you should visit to enjoy your holiday.

Crookston Central Park

Park with a Pond and Trees

If you’re a fan of the outdoors, visiting Crookston Central Park is an excellent option for you. Here, you can enjoy a day of fishing, camping, or canoeing. Take your RV out for a night in the campground at very affordable prices. Enjoy activities such as fishing at the Red Lake River and a game of Frisbee Golf on its nine-hole course. You can also enjoy cross-country skiing, sledding, and ice skating in the winter months. Dog owners can also take their dogs there to play and interact with other dogs.

Crookston Central Park is a great place to spend time alone, with your friends, or with your family. The park is open to all, and it is located at N. Ash St. & Mitchell Lane. The campground is the best place to start your holiday, and it is open from May to September.

Grand Theatre Crookston

Is there a better way of relaxing and winding down the day than spending an evening at the theater? The Grand Theatre Crookston is one of the country’s oldest continuously operating movie theaters. It started as a live theater, hosting entertainers and artists like Mark Twain, The Siamese Twins, and Mary Pickford. It kept up with the times, evolving from a venue for plays and vaudeville to a movie theater for silent films and eventually to talking films.

The Grand Theatre has been in operation for over 100 years. To this day, the Grand keeps evolving, adopting new technology and meeting the public’s demands. It is a vital part of community life in Crookston and definitely a place you should visit to relax and enjoy a movie. 

The Grand Theatre is located at 124 E. Second Street, Crookston, MN 56716. You can call about showtimes at 218-281-1820 or reach the office at 218-773-1059.

Carnegie Building

The old Carnegie Library, operated by the Polk County Historical Society, should be on your destination list when in Crookston. It holds many local history and art displays and contains some of the oldest traveling exhibits from the Minnesota Historical Society.

The building used to serve as the Crookston Carnegie Public Library up until 1984 before a new library facility was built. The building now serves an important function: housing the historical society’s archives. Carnegie building is itself an iconic building, built in the Classical Revival style with Gothic-style lettering. It is a spectacle for anyone who has an interest in architecture.

The Crookston Public Library is located at 110 N. Ash St., Crookston, MN 56716. The Carnegie Building is close by. The museum operates throughout the year, and you can call ahead to get the schedule of events and plan when you can go.

Polk County Historical Museum

The Polk County Historical Society in Crookston, Minnesota, should be on your list when you visit Crookston. Named after the 11th U.S. president, James K. Polk, Polk County was an important farming center in the 1800s. For over eight decades, the Polk County Historical Society has been collecting and stashing pamphlets, microfilms, books, obituaries, and other materials to document the history of Polk County.

The museum is a treasure trove for Polk County history, as it shows the lives of the Valley pioneers by showcasing their food, clothing, and general lifestyle. The museum’s antique exhibits include early farm machinery, the 1876 log house, and 18th-century fire trucks. You will also find musical instruments like the square piano, the Fairchild single-seater airplane used for crop dusting, an 18th-century church, and old blacksmith tools. Additionally, you’ll find a kitchen, living room, and bedroom that reminisce 19th-century houses. 

The museum hosts a Farmers Market from June through to October every year. To book your reservation, call 218-281-1038 or visit the Polk County Historical Society at U.S. Highway 2 on the east side of Crookston.

Agassiz Recreational Trail

The Agassiz Recreational Trail is an abandoned railroad grade. It now serves as a multi-use trail that parallels State Highway 32 and passes through four cities (North to South): Ulen, Twin Valley, Gary, and Fertile. The trail provides support facilities, so if you are love outdoor activities like hiking, riding horses, or mountain bikes, this trail is the perfect spot for you. As a bonus, you can explore what every city you pass through has to offer.

Make sure you ride appropriately and stay safe. There are river crossings that if taken lightly can cause accidents. The rivers have bridges installed to make the trail user-friendly and easily accessible for those who pass through it.

Check on the trail conditions before setting out to see which trails are fit for passage. If you’re starting from Crookston at 820 Old Highway 75 South and need more information, you can contact Richard Sanders from Crookston, MN 56716 at 218-470-8253.

Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge

Encompassing 24,270 acres, the Glacial Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is one of the nation’s largest prairie restoration projects. It is the habitat for numerous rare species, such as the Dakota Skipper Butterfly, Greater Prairie-Chicken, and the Marbled Godwit. You can watch the Greater Prairie-Chicken in spring to see them perform their mating dance ritual.

Glacial Ridge has a mix of small wetlands and is surrounded by woodland savannas and upland prairies. This environmental mix is essential as it is a breeding habitat for different migratory birds, including songbirds, waterfowl, shorebirds, and many others. Visiting this refuge is a great way to see these birds and enjoy a relaxing day in nature.

The wildlife refuge is located 10 miles to the East of Crookston at 17788 349th St. SE, Erskine, Minnesota 56535. You can call at 218-687-2229.

As you travel from the South to the North of Crookston, you need a comfortable car to complete your experience. If you need a new or used Cadillac, contact us today for assistance. We rent, lease, and sell various Cadillac models and can arrange suitable financing for you.