Stearns County is not considered part of the 7-county metro of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but go west on 94 and you’ll run right through it in the next ring out of counties often considered part of the larger entity, the 18 county metro pulling in 2 additional counties from Wisconsin.

Founded in 1855, Stearns is now home to over 150,000 residents and it’s town seat and most populous city is St. Cloud. The territory was originally occupied by the Sioux, Chippewa, and Winnebago tribes when the first large immigration of German Catholics arrived starting in the 1850′s.

Today Stearns is known for being a close getaway from the Twin Cities with its many lakes and rivers, ripe for cabins and trips fishing or boating. Some of its largest and most popular include Lake Koronis, Horseshoe Lake, Beaver Lake, Becker Lake, Big Lake, Big Fish Lake, Big Spunk Lake, Big Watab Lake, Bolfing Lake, Browns Lake, Carnelian Lake, Cedar Island Lake, Clear Lake, Eden Lake, Goodners Lake, Grand Lake, Great Northern Lake, Island Lake, Kings Lake, Knaus Lake, Kraemer Lake, Krays Lake, Kreigle Lake, Long Lake (one in Cold Spring and one in Richmond), Lower Spunk Lake, Lake Marie, Middle Spunk Lake, Pearl Lake, Pelican Lake, Pleasant Lake, Rice Lake, Sagatagan Lake, Sand Lake, Sauk Lake, Schneider Lake, St. Anna Lake, Sylvia Lake, Two Rivers Lake, Uhlenkolts Lake and Zumwalde Lake. All of these range from 54 acres up to 3,014 acres in size – plenty of room for water sports galore.

Whatever your pleasure, Stearns County offers dozens of state, county and local parks, water access, shelters, picnic areas, preserves, docks and landings, camp sites and trails to explore on foot or by bike, or even scuba diving and rock climbing at Quarry Park. If you’re more of a winter sports fanatic, you’ll also find several with ski trails, snowshoeing trails, snowmobile trails, and trailer campsites.

Alex Anderson
Stearns County Realtor

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