 August 2026
 Your State. Your Plate. 🚙🌲
After 10 years, it’s time for a new license plate! In 2016, Minnesotans helped design and choose the current state parks and trails license plate. In 2026, we’re doing it again! Minnesotans are invited to put their creativity to the test and show their love for state parks and trails through an original license plate design. Learn more about the current state parks and trails specialty license plate and the new design contest below.
  📷: The 2016 state parks and trails specialty license plate.
Go the Extra Mile 🛣️
Ditch the sticker — get the plate!
With the state parks and trails license plate, your days of remembering when your vehicle permit sticker expires are in the past. Anyone with the state parks and trails license plate has year-round access to every state park and recreation area in Minnesota — no sticker needed!
Show your support for Minnesota’s state parks and trails everywhere you go with a state parks and trails license plate. With an annual contribution of $60 or more, you will not only have access to all state parks, but all proceeds from the plate go exclusively to helping support and maintain the state parks and trails. From staffing the ranger stations and providing educational programming to making sure there is toilet paper in the bathrooms, every dollar of your donations makes a difference!
You don't need to wait until your registration is due to switch to the state parks and trails license plate. You can apply anytime — online, in person, or by mail. Learn more on the DNR website!
 State Park License Plate Design Contest
Your chance to make your mark on Minnesota.
In the 2026 Minnesota legislative session, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources was authorized to hold a new design contest for a second state parks and trails specialty license plate — with a few specific requirements.
The winning design must "celebrate the North Shore and Lake Superior agate; not be created in whole or in part using artificial intelligence; be created by a resident of Minnesota; and be selected no later than December 18, 2026."
Start designing now! Entries will be accepted through a digital submission form September 15 through October 31 at 5 p.m. After a DNR panel narrows down submissions to the top three finalists, you will decide the winner by a public vote in December 2026. For more information on contest rules, visit the DNR website.
 📷: Tettegouche State Park
What is Considered the North Shore?
An iconic landscape, from shoreline to ridgeline.
A design requirement by the Minnesota Legislature is that the new state parks and trails license plate celebrate the North Shore. How you choose to celebrate the North Shore is up to you!
The North Shore refers to the western shoreline of Lake Superior from Duluth to the Canadian border. While many people associate the region with rocky beaches and lake views, it also includes the adjacent forests, rivers, waterfalls, cliffs, ridgelines, and backcountry landscapes that together create one of Minnesota's most rugged and recognizable outdoor landscapes.
State parks along the North Shore include Grand Portage, Judge C.R. Magney, Cascade River, George H. Crosby Manitou, Temperance River, Tettegouche, Split Rock Lighthouse and Gooseberry Falls. State trails along the North Shore include the Gitchi-Gami State Trail and Lake Superior State Water Trail.
 What is a Lake Superior Agate?
Minnesota's state gemstone.
A second design requirement by the Minnesota Legislature is that the plate must also celebrate the Lake Superior agate, Minnesota's state gemstone.
Lake Superior agates are colorful rocks known for their distinctive bands of red, orange, yellow and white. They began forming more than a billion years ago when mineral-rich water slowly filled air pockets in ancient lava along what is now Lake Superior. Over time, layer upon layer of dissolved quartz and other minerals crystallized inside these cavities, creating the colorful bands that make each agate unique.
During the Ice Age, glaciers loosened the agates from the rock, smoothed their surfaces and carried them across much of Minnesota. What sets Lake Superior agates apart from agates found elsewhere is their rich red, orange and yellow colors, created by iron in the surrounding rock, along with their distinctive bands of quartz.
Today, these unique stones can still be found across Minnesota, making every discovery a reminder of the state's remarkable geologic history. In Minnesota state parks and recreation areas, you can hunt for agates but you may not remove them. Take a photo, leave the gemstone, so that future generations can enjoy our shared natural resources.
  Moose Lake Agate and Geological Center
Learn more about the state gemstone.
Get to know the rocks and minerals beneath your feet at the Moose Lake Agate and Geological Center! Located at the entrance to Moose Lake State Park, the center features Minnesota’s state gemstone, the Lake Superior agate, along with interpretive displays exploring the rocks, minerals and geology found throughout Minnesota.
The center is open daily through September 7, 2026, and Thursday–Sunday September 8 to October 18. A Minnesota state park vehicle permit or state parks and trails license plate is required to visit.
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