Daily Experience

When the site is open

Explore Historic Forestville at your own pace through a new self-guided game at the site. Choose one of four professions to learn about what life was like for a teacher, family, tradesperson, or farmhand in Forestville by following a series of clues that will lead you throughout what remains of the old town. Find out why the town isn’t there anymore and what made people decide to stay or leave as the town started to decline. If you have fun following one series of clues feel free to come back to the visitor center to choose another path to follow and start again!

Tour details

• Included with site admission; purchase at the visitor center.
• Each profession takes approximately 30 minutes to play through.
• Purchase tour tickets at the visitor center.
• Each ticket is good from Thursday–Sunday; if you have fun or just want to explore more, you are encouraged to come back and play again.

When the site is closed

Experience this historic Minnesota valley and townsite at your own pace when the site is not open for tours.

Though the buildings are closed outside of posted site hours, you can still explore the townsite on your own with our self-guided brochure map. Download a PDF (1.2MB) of the visitor guide for more information. Explore the grounds on your own and find the well-preserved general store and homestead, as well as the sites where the grist-mill, distillery, cemetery, and schoolhouses once existed.

Think about the choices and factors that changed the course of this once-thriving community’s history. Engage with the history through the questions on the brochure.