Franconia Sculpture Park
Franconia Sculpture Park
4.5
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
About
Franconia Sculpture Park is the pre-eminent, artist-centered sculpture park in the Midwest. Founded in 1996, Franconia provides physically and intellectually wide-open spaces that inspire new ways of thinking through access to contemporary sculpture, installation, and land art. Located in the scenic St. Croix River Valley of Minnesota, Franconia operates a 50-acre outdoor museum, active artist residency program, and a depth and breadth of community arts programming for a diverse and engaged public.
Duration: 2-3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
134 reviews
Excellent
94
Very good
28
Average
7
Poor
5
Terrible
0
jwfornow
jwfornow107 contributions
Aug 2021
Wandered through a huge meadow admiring the wonderful sculptures. The first sculpture we saw was By Michael Richards honoring the Tuskegee Airmen from WWII, a review I read after our visit described it as depicting 3 airmen and it represents "not so much the exhilaration of flight as dreams of freedom crashed to earth"... Franconia made it their first permanent sculpture, having the original fiberglass cast in bronze after Richards died in his studio at the World Trade Center on 9/11. There are light hearted sculptures as well. They all make you think and the exploration is totally worth the visit
Written October 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emily M
United States1,304 contributions
Oct 2021
Impressive collection, and we did appreciate several of the pieces, but trying to really understand pieces proved to be challenging at times. Good place for kids to see large-scale art using a wide variety of mediums. I think the adults would have liked it more if we were on a guided tour.
Written January 1, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jace M
Marshall, WI33 contributions
Aug 2024 • Couples
We planned a stay in St Croix Falls, and as I scanned Google Maps, I noticed Franconian Sculpture Park less than 15 minutes from our destination. Upon researching the Park, a couple things caught my eye. First of all, it is free (donations accepted). Secondly, the place is HUGE, around 50 acres of trails connecting @ 100 sculptures. We easily spent over 1 1/2 hours enjoying some very nice (and some head-scratching) sculptures/pieces of art. Very pleasant time spent at a spur of the moment stop.
Written August 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Beth43323
Minneapolis, MN216 contributions
Jul 2023 • Family
My 11 year old granddaughter and I spent 1.5 hours here on a nice summer day. Huge area with eclectic large sculptures. We could have seen more but the two golf carts were already checked out. Fun memorable place!
Written July 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mhindal
Jacksonville, FL89 contributions
Jun 2018 • Couples
We were on the way to Taylor falls and saw a few sculptures from the road, so we decided to take a look. We thought this would be 1 hour tops, but we were there for about 3 hours, there was so much to look it, so interesting. There were things that reminded me of the movies: Beetlejuice & Nanny McPhee. We saw something in the woods and it turned out they even have sculptures hanging from the trees! It's a very big area to walk around, so bring a drink and/or snacks, if you have trouble walking, they have golf carts that can be used for a donation, they also have waters and popsicles for a donation.
Written June 15, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Richard Hildebrand
Tucson, AZ598 contributions
Jun 2018 • Friends
Interesting place to visit if you are into quirky art. I did not get much out of the various sculptures even after reading the blurbs that went with the work. There was one that was meant to honor the tsunami victims of Japan in 2011(?) that I thought would have been really interesting if the artist had been able to complete it (he ran out of money).
Written June 17, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mumzie9196
Hudson, WI299 contributions
Jul 2017 • Couples
Went on a Saturday & it was really quite interesting to see. Speaking with workers we got good information on a nasty plant, wild parsnip. A great place for kids to get to run off some energy. Golf carts available for people who need them. Nice first time visit.
Written July 8, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
pdwschmidt
Roseville, MN294 contributions
Jul 2016 • Family
What do you need to know about this place? It's a solid drive (45 min. from St. Paul) but is made convenient by its proximity to the popular Taylors Falls area. It's free, except we had to pay $5 for parking on a weekend event day. They have a regular summer schedule; check it out in advance so you can see live pours of molten metal or, as was the case for us, some great live music. The park is large--be prepared to walk--and be prepared for the weather. Also be warned that kids need to stay on the wide (10 foot) trails; don't go trouncing through the high prairie grasses. There are some dangerous weeds: we spotted wild parsnip, which causes painful burns. Most sculpture can be played on, and this is family friendly, though that's not to say that the art isn't by "serious" artists, because it is. It just isn't as high-brow as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (clearly). All of my kids (16, 11, 2) really enjoyed the park--that doesn't happen many places!
Written July 16, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Taya H
Hutchinson, MN52 contributions
Jun 2019 • Family
This place is free and the sculptures are sooo cool...dont think we saw every one because of how big the place is to walk around!...also had freezies in a freezer for hot days think they were 50 cents each.
Written January 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tazziazan0812
Blaine, MN26 contributions
Aug 2019
My 13 year old triplets, 2 boys, 1 girl loved this park. we were there on a day you could create a sand mold that could receive a pouring of molten metal to create a metal casting of your design. It was great. they worked very hard to get their design perfect. We ventured around part of the park. Then found out the casting would not be done till after lunch. so we drove into taylors falls for lunch. Came back then walked all over the many acres of sculptures. All different kinds. Some were realistic, others were very modern, some whimsical. Some they could climb on, climb thru, climb under. walk over, walk up stairs , even swing on one. it is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon or all day walking around and discovering the next sculpture.
Written December 10, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What is a fun hotel/bed and breakfast close to the park to stay overnight?
Written September 24, 2015
You've heard of two nice places. There is also the Summit Inn B & B in Center City, the Country B & B in Shafer, and if you want a hotel with pool, there is the GrandStay Hotel in Chisago City.
Written September 24, 2015
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