Franconia Sculpture Park

We came here our first night to Center City. This place closes at dusk so we quickly walked through at around 6ish. There were still people visiting around so wasn’t too worried with the time. We saw a house nearby so speculated the owners lived pretty close to the sculpture garden. We liked the sculptures further away from the house. Any sculptures close to house looked like it was Pee Wee’s playhouse. The place has some cool concerts in the summer so would like to listen any bands later.

You can’t go wrong for something that’s completely free and open all year-​round. There was a ton of really interesting sculptures and, for a free place reliant on donations, it was pretty well-​maintained. There are gravel-​laden pathways and information signs on each piece. Unfortunately, I went on a whim on a day the temperature plummeted unexpectedly so I didn’t have my winter coat with me and wasn’t able to stay for as long as would be needed to see everything. There was also a lot of ice and mud because it’s the weird in-​between season.
My only suggestion would be to make it drivable in the winter time. They have a sign saying they have a go-​kart for people who have trouble getting around because it’s just such a huge park but I didn’t feel comfortable bothering the people in the on-​site residence. If I could have driven my own car on the pathways, I could have seen it all and been out quickly without needing to bother anyone.

Franconia Sculpture Park is nowhere close to Twin Cities, it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but that’s what’s so beautiful about it.
If you take the hour drive northwest of downtown Minneapolis, you’ll find this 43-​acre land filled with large scale sculpture, many of them interactive. It’s free, but it’s suggested that you give a donation.
Friends and I came here on a hot summer day, the entrance is not guarded or anything, so you can just park your car and waltz right in. They had freezies and water available for «purchase», you can help yourself to it as long as you remember to put money in for it. It’s an honor system.
There’s a lot of sculptures here from artists all over the world and they’re very spread out so it’s a really nice walk around for a couple of hours, I even saw some people bring their lunch and snacks and have a little picnic using the the picnic tables they have set up near the entrance.
I think they have tours here, not sure how that works, but I did see a guide drive some people around with a golf cart.
You can also see some artists working on stuff in /​outside the barn area.
I really enjoyed it here and I can’t wait to come back again to see more art.

Fabulous, unusual, fun, mind boggling, huge and ever changing are a few things that come to mind regarding this intriguing place! Linger or zip through it for some quick inspiration and time in nature.
Surprises at every turn of what you’ll find next. Set in a field/​meadow with mowed walking paths are sculptures of all sorts of materials and sizes. Some are kid friendly and engage them to play on/​in them.
Family friendly entertainment. Exhibits are titled with artist credit and often descriptions, those insights can be helpful, though art can certainly be enjoyed if you skip those.

Great attraction for everyone, especially families with kids. The park is free, but offer a donation if you can to help support it. It is a self guided walking outdoor sculpture park. Some of the art is aged and a but worn, some no longer functioning as originally designed, some is recent and a few are new. Artists are always adding new pieces to the park. They also have a Iron Pour that is open to the public. I’ve my gone but is supposed to be fantastic, and anyone attending can design a casting to mold during the pour.

Such a lovely place. Appropriate for all ages, and open 24/​7, perfect for those days when you are low in funds, but need something to do.

I only have good things to say about Franconia! It turned out to be a great day trip from the cities and I would recommend it to others! My friend and I decided to head out to Stillwater first to walk around and get lunch and then took the backroads up to Franconia and enjoyed the ride along the river. I knew very little about Franconia so I was shocked at how many sculptures they have and how long it took us to get through them all!
My friend is interning there so he took us around and told us about the sculptures and their artists. They are slowly adding more information to their plaques, which was helpful and made the art more interesting. It is so enjoyable to read about the artworks and climb up on them — I felt like a little kid! There is a back wooded section that has a couple of sculptures so don’t forget to head back there! We ended up walking around and hanging out for 4 hours so It was definitely worth the drive and I would love to come back for a performance or even just a lunch date! Plus, it’s free but they accept donations to keep it running.

I have no idea how I didn’t know about this place, but here I am, just finding out about it now. I’m familiar with the sculpture garden at the Walker, but I have to say this is much more my speed. The park is fairly large with sculptures by a bunch of different artists in different media, some of which you can climb on or under and most of which you can interact with in some way. The best thing about it is that the sculptures are so unusual, not the polished perfection that you get with a more formal sculpture garden but much more vibrant and experimental, more accessible, like a mad playground constructed in a junkyard and continually evolving.

Perfect for an afternoon trip from the Twin Cities to entertain kids or for a fun date.
I had heard about this magical place via word-​of-​mouth and always had assumed it was too far away to be enjoyed on a whim. It’s less than an hour away and totally worth it! We drove through tiny north-​north suburban towns like Lindstrom where they have the cute teapot as their water tower.
The park was fairly hopping for weekday afternoon. The stereo stack sculpture enticed my husband, the floppy nipple thing intrigued me, and the kid eagerly anticipated the giant, scrappy playground at the end. To keep her on her toes there were several interactive sculptures that we could play/​climb on and all of it in a massive field so she wore herself out running around.
There was one sculpture that seemed basically like a square wooden silo with a lookout on top. There was a straight ladder leading to the top. I probably shouldn’t have climbed it with a 7 year old because once she made it to the top she began hyperventilating because it’s pretty high up! A mighty trooper however, we descended down after «enjoying» our view.
After experiencing all of the wacky art pieces we had a picnic under a tree. A few bites of snacks later the kid was back on the scrappy playground and on the fun train car where there were other kids to play with.
Restrooms: usually in a strange field of art you may not expect restrooms to be anything more than port-​a-​potties. These restrooms were fairly clean and had art all over them with with artists ‘postcards’ plastered on the walls! It took me awhile in there solely because of the fun things too look at… in the restroom!!!
On our way home we stopped for DQ. Good day!

This sculpture park is such a hidden gem! I had never heard of this place nor has this place ever been recommended to me, but in driving to St. Croix Falls from Minneapolis, this phenomenal sculpture park was on the way there and back. We decided to drop by on the way home and was pleasantly surprised. Maybe it’s because we were expecting another typical sculpture garden — sculptures, art in the park, etc. Nothing mind blowing. But this park was interactive art. It was fun art. It was creative and applicable to everyone. It’s great for those who appreciate art because there is plenty of room for interpretation. It’s great for those who don’t care for art because almost everything is either interactive or strangely interesting.
For example, there is a multi-​colored, artsy jungle gym of sorts. There is a lighthouse/​tower that you can climb — enjoy the view of the sculpture garden and really take in the beauty of what’s around you. With an almost missable door at the bottom, where you can go in and at one time, enjoyed some view of «stars.» So awesome.
Another huge plus? Seems like this place is an artist refuge. The house where the artists live is right in the park — you can see artists working on their next pieces, discussing how to approach, working with fire, working with their hands to come up with their next creations. It’s amazing and ABSOLUTE fun. Definitely recommend!
P. S. The Italian ice was actually 2 for $ 1 — honor code.

Like a corporate polished version of the Noah Purifoy foundation. Plenty to see and enjoy. I most enjoyed the bit going on back in the woods, but instantly regretted it on the way out as the mosquitoes then followed me around the rest of the park.

You gotta see it. It can’t be adequately described. Worth a stop on the way. Many other things to do in the Oseola, St. Croix/​Taylor Falls, Luck area.
And…it’s FREE.

There is nothing about this place that’s under 5 star! It’s a shame I’ve not been here before, because the sculptures are awe inspiring, the grounds are the perfect place to roam with kids and dogs. Spend the day here with a picnic and friends!

Even if you haven’t been to Franconia Sculpture park, you’ve probably seen their bumper sticker that reads «Start Seeing Art» — you should take their advice. The sculptures are scattered over a beautiful patch of land on the corner of hwys. 8 & 95.
Regardless of whether «seeing art» is your thing, there’s no denying the craftsmanship and planning that went into the works featured here. Personally, I find it to be a very peaceful place.
It’s a great place to take children, as many of the sculptures are okay to climb on and they have a huge playground /​sculpture.
I’d highly recommend checking out one of their music events during the summer, not only do they bring in some awesome groups, they perform on a cool little covered stage in the middle of the park. I believe the concession stand, (which is housed inside an enormous lizard sculpture) is open during said events.
If the 45 minute drive from the cities is a deterrent, no worries — there are plenty of other things to do in nearby Taylor’s Falls.

I am ashamed to say that after all of these years living in Minnesota, I visited Franconia for the first time yesterday, and was completely blown away. The park is expansive but manageable, and contains interactive, beautiful, contemplative works from artists young and old, new and seasoned alike. The rustling prairie grasses transport you, opening up your senses to soak up the art, the natural wonders, and the possibility surrounding you. My 35-​year-​old husband was running up and down mounds of grass, I took to the swing inside a tiny little hobbit hole underneath an enormous metal playground, and I looked in awe upon the sculptures that somehow reflected the natural world around them despite being so protruding and decidedly man-​made.
There is something really magical and peaceful and FUN! about Franconia, and we can’t wait to make another trip. We paired it with a hike through Interstate State Park, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect fall day!

Over the years I have driven by this place multiple times, but this year I was finally able to stop twice! This is the only place I know where you can go at your own pace walking through the grounds looking, touching and climbing on all the large art pieces. Most of the pieces have a youthful feel to them with bright colors, tunnels, slides, and graffiti. Bring your friends, kids or even a date!
This most recent was on a Sunday and there were artists there welding and pounding on what looked like a new piece. My favorite piece would have to be all of them. I hope to catch a concert or picnic here sometime in the near future!
It’s free to walk the grounds here, but remember to drop a donation before you leave!

My brother had been talking about this place for months, so I finally made the journey to the Franconia Sculpture Park just outside of Lindstrom and Taylor’s Falls. While you shouldn’t expect anything similar to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, it’s still a fun day trip for people wanting to get out of the city.
The sculpture park is located off of Hwy 8 just before you reach the St. Croix River. It’s quite a drive for those who live in the city. Even without traffic, I would estimate that it took 50 minutes to an hour to drive out there. The good news is that the park is free and they have their own parking lot. Everything is arranged well and you can easily walk about and enjoy the artwork. There are restrooms, live music on some weekends (the sign said 5pm-​9pm) and what appeared to be a concession stand. There are also ample places to sit including picnic tables.
The art is… Weird. I do love art and have seen some pretty unusual pieces in my travels around the world, but I admit Ive never seen some of the things I saw at Franconia Sculpture Park. This may be good or may be bad – Im really not sure yet. The style seems to be mostly industrial and the materials seem as if they were being recycled into a work of art.
I think this park is fantastic for a day trip especially if you are combining it with Stillwater or the Taylor’s Falls area, but it may be a bit of a drive just to go to the park. You can see the entirety of the artwork in about 30 minutes and the art itself may not appeal to everyone. It certainly makes for some interesting photo opportunities too – something I appreciate.

Art, Nature, Free… what’s not to like? Yet once again minnesota continues to amaze me with the creativity of it’s people and it’s value placed on having beautiful outdoor spaces for everyone to attend for free. This place is totally worth the drive, which really isn’t too far at all from the twin cities.
We took our doggies here for a picnic and had fun climbing on the sculptures and walking the expansive park. So many great photo opportunities here too, I ran out of batteries snapping away.
I liked that many of the sculptures were interactive as well which made the experience more engaging. Fun place to take people from out of town too to show off some «unique to minnesota» type places.
The have a parking lot, restrooms and a few picnic tables as well. Please donate to help keep it going so we can all enjoy it for years to come.

Wow is right. There just are not enough of these private coop art spaces around… Especially here in MN.
We came up for their 17^th annual festival and it was great for the entire family with face painting, food, art and music what else is needed for a fun Saturday?
If you are up here, stop out to EICHTEN’S MARKET AND CAFE (
) for one of their famous free range bison burger and some amazing cheese!

Wow. Cool.
Fantastic.
Inspiring.
Amazing.
Creepy.
By far the most iconic piece they have at this FREE (pls donate) sculpture park is a collapsed barn suspended in the air held by wires to a rusty metal frame. You have to see it.
This is the piece that is photographed for magazines like Metro or MN Monthly when they do their local-​look-​how-​great-​minnesota-​is articles.
But they have so much more!
It seems that almost yearly there is a new artist in residence, most of them young, many of them from the midwest.
Speaking of young, the first handful of pieces we saw were from people born in the 80’s.
IN THE 80’s!
I remember the 80’s, so when I find people who were born the year the Bears won the Super Bowl, I think about my own mortality.
Don’t let this stop you.
This is like a hippie version of the Walker Sculpture Garden, where you may not know the artist by name, but may actually be their next door neighbor.
So do yourself a favor and hop in the car, drive up to Schafer and spend an hour here, wandering among the fields.