The Buena Vista State Forest is a state forest

State forest

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state.The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction...

 located in Itasca

Itasca County, Minnesota

Itasca County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version the Latin words veritas caput, meaning 'truth' and 'head', a reference to the source of the Mississippi River. As of 2010, the population was 45,058. Its county seat...

 and Beltrami

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Beltrami County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 44,442. Its county seat is Bemidji. Portions of the Leech Lake and Red Lake Indian reservations are in the county. The northernmost portion of the Mississippi River flows...

 counties, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recreational trails, and recreation areas as well as managing minerals,...

 manages 18693 acres (7,564.8 ha), with the majority of the forest being managed

Forest management

200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...

 by private companies and the United States Forest Service

United States Forest Service

The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...

 and other government agencies, as the eastern half of the forest falls within the Chippewa National Forest

Chippewa National Forest

Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in northcentral Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass, and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices in Blackduck, Deer River, and Walker.-History and...

.

Boat

Boat

A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...

ing and fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 are popular on the lakes accessible in the forest, including Lake Beltrami, Big Bass Lake, Gull Lake, Sandy Lake, and Three Island Lake

Three Island Lake

Three Island Lake is a small alpine lake in Boise County, Idaho, United States, located in the Sawtooth Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The lake is accessed from Sawtooth National Forest trail 462....

.

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation

Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity is leisure pursuits engaged in outside, especially in natural or semi-natural settings out of town...

 activities include hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

, picnicking, as well as backcountry camping. Trail

Trail

A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...

s include 20 miles (32.2 km) for cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing

Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

, and 21 miles (33.8 km) for snowmobiling. The snowmobiling trail connects with other regional trails to provide access to Nebish, Blackduck

Blackduck, Minnesota

Blackduck is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 785 as of the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and is water. -Demographics:...

, Turtle River

Turtle River, Minnesota

Turtle River is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 77 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.1 square miles , all land....

, and Bemidji

Bemidji, Minnesota

Bemidji is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was at 13,431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beltrami County. Bemidji is the most major city in North Central Minnesota and the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth,...

.