Whitewater is the sixth Minnesota state park, authorized by the legislature in 1919, and the first in the Driftless Area of dramatic bluffs, ravines, and promontories in the southeastern corner of the state.
The sixth and final dam in the Headwaters Reservoir System, Gull Lake Dam was built in 1912 to increase the output of mills and turbines downstream. In 2019, the dam maintains water levels for recreation and navigation, and the site is also home to ancient burial mounds and a recreation area.