Minnesota Camping and Backpacking

Hello!! I’m taking a trip up north with 2 friends for 4 days. we want to do dispersed/rustic camping and some fishing. somewhere preferably close to lake superior, or on another lake. ideally in an area with plenty of cool sights to see as we don’t have anything planned but camping for those 4 days. any suggestions?

I love to camp all over up North. Lately I've been trying to get into backpacking with some friends. We've got a 4-day hike in planed.

I've been looking at a couple different options for filtration. Is it worthwhile to buy a filter that can handle viruses?

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Last year, did an overnighter bike camping trip on the southern section of the trail. I stayed at the walk-in/canoe-in site near Pine City and that was super nice and convent.

Does anyone know of a similar site or good areas where dispersed camping is allowed in the Northern Section?

I know this is campground is in Wisconsin but the WI/camping page is not as active as Minnesota. I see tent sites are first come first serve. Has anyone camped here? Only an hour from the cities.

Any chance of getting a spot on memorial weekend if I come Friday night?

So I am familiar with the 120 day rule. My question is, do sites all become available at a specific time (eg, 7 AM) each day for the next 120th day. Trying to, hopefully, book a cart in site on the northshore and I can tell there is some steep competition!

I'm looking at doing my first solo camping trip, just 1-2 nights in the next couple weeks.

I'm pretty flexible, just hoping people can share specific campsites (preferably actual site #'s) that they loved. My main goals are:

• Secluded/Quiet, ideally very secluded/quiet
• Some kind of view from the site (rivers, lakes, valley, prairie, etc. would all be great)
• Ideally within 3 hours from Minneapolis but flexible there
• Moderate hike is okay, nothing too extreme

I would really appreciate pics or links to pics if possible.

I am looking if anyone has recommendations for sites that are remote or secluded that I can use with my Travel Trailer. State parks and private camp grounds are nice but have you right on top of your neighbors. Looking for places that have good space between sites and offer privacy or that are remote. I have generator so I dont need Electric, but it is a bonus if it does.

So I just ordered a bunch of camping gear because I want to start taking my daughter camping around Minnesota this year. She is 6 years old. Another thing I would like to do along with that is also go visit some abandoned ghost towns around Minnesota. I wish that there is somebody that could come with to help keep me company on these excursions. It's one thing to have my daughter come with but it's very difficult to have a conversation with a 6 year old autistic child.

Looking to start backpacking just wondering if I have to reserve a site anywhere I go, for instance Afton, or wild river. In which case if i am backpacking would it be better to just disperse camp?

Does anyone have recommendations where 4-6 people can drive in near a lake in northern Minnesota all the way up to lake of the woods or superior and be able to do activities like kayaking,fishing, and whatever cool activities there could be.

Hello fellow campers! My friend and I are heading up to Voyageurs NP in a couple of weeks where we will be camping in the backcountry. Our sites are only accessible by canoes rented from the park. However, I can’t find any info on if paddles are also provided by the park or if we need to bring our own.

Has anyone been up there who can report on the status of paddles?

The park requires us to use their canoes to prevent invasive species so we thought they might also need to provide the paddles, but don’t want to get up there and be stranded without them!

Hello Minnesotans!

I am new to MN and looking to plan a 3-day 30-35 mile hike on the SHT over a long weekend in early June.

I would love inputs from anyone that has hiked the trail on the best section to hike. We would be a group of 3-4 and most likely drop a car at the end.

I have plenty of backpacking experience on the east coast and in the Rockies, but I’ve never been camping in Mn.

Hi

I am camping in the BWCA this summer, paddling in and out. I see the rule that says cans and bottles are prohibited but I would like to bring some beer because nothing tops off a day of paddling like a couple beers. Do any of you have ideas or insight about this rule and how strictly enforced it is? Do any of you have ideas on how to bring beer without bottles or cans?

Also - I will be packing out any cans I bring. I am not an asshole. Thanks!

I grew up camping in MN state parks, and don't recall ever taking any special precautions to keep bears away from camp and never once had issues. However, it's been a couple decades and it sounds like there have been a lot more bear sightings around populated areas in the state so I'm wondering if more precautions are necessary these days? Or maybe I was just young, dumb, and lucky in the past and should have been more cautious all along?

I'll be car camping at MN State Parks with drive up sites, I won't allow any food in the tent(I don't want mice, squirrels, raccoons, or bears in the tent) and plan to put the cooler, and any other food items, in the car at night, as well as not leaving food/dirty dishes out either. Is that sufficient for most car camping sites at the state parks, or do I actually need to be hanging my food at night and cooking further away from the tent?

I'd assume the larger human presence around the car camping sites would keep most of them away, and I'm also aware black bears are highly unlikely to attack humans, but I'd also rather not have my stuff destroyed by a curious bear.

What precautions do MN car campers take at the state parks?

My girlfriend and I will be visiting the north shore for the first time this summer. There's so many points of interest and beautiful parks but I don't have enough time to see them all.

I'm looking for camp grounds (I'll be tenting but would prefer access to electricity/showers/toilets), and sight seeing suggestions in-between Duluth and Thunderbay.

Ill have about a week to travel up/down the coast. Ideally would spend 1 night/day at each campground.

What are the places I have to visit?

Also my girlfriend is obsessed with finding rare rocks/stones bonus points for places to do this at

Thanks for the help!

Looking for some advice on which campground to stay at. We are planning a long weekend trip for Labor Day to the Ely area. We would like to stay at either Lake Vermilion/ Underground Mine State Park or Bear Head Lake State Park Campground. Which one do you like and why?

Electric site is a must for our small travel trailer. We are a family of 4; 12yo boy, 5yo girl and we are all active biking and hiking. We will have our MTB bikes with and would like to explore some trails and maybe even get out the inflatable kayak. Lend us some knowledge and experience from your own trips to the area. TIA

I'm looking to see if there are any other good options for easy backpack sites, specifically ones that are reservable. I've taken my daughter on a backpacking trip the last 2 years and am just seeing if I am overlooking any good spots. She'll be 5 when we go sometime in September so I want an easy hike of less than 3 miles.

Our last 2 trips have had us stay at the same site for 2 nights (Friday and Saturday), so we'd want a dayhike option or something fun to do during the day Saturday. For reference, the last 2 trips have been Wild River (~ 1 mile) and Split Rock Lighthouse (~1.8 miles)

Savanna Portage or maybe Jay Cooke could work. I've never backpacked at Cascade River. I'd consider returning to Split Rock if we could get a site. The other option would be to hike the SHT, but then we'd need to move sites for Saturday, and I don't think my kid would have as much fun sharing a site with strangers.

Any other good spots we should consider? Parkfinder has an option to list all state parks w/ sites more than 1/2 mile hike.

Does the Minnesota DNR or GFP have an app to book campsite reservations through for state / county parks? The only one I could find was the MN DNR app, but it seems to been abandoned. I'm from SD so am familiar with the SW / SCentral areas of MN, but wanted to start exploring a bit more into the northern areas and was hoping they had an app to easily browse, plan, and book sites.

Got carried away digging into what county parks offer camping around the state, made a spreadsheet.

MN County Park Camping

Table based roughly on the state parks tables with a side of insight into the wild variety of reservation approaches around the state.

All information is based on what's available on the county's websites via my data entry which means absolutely nothing in here should be treated as reliable information.

Had the camping bug, and the weather was too nice not to go for it. Felt good to beat the prime season rush.

Also, I recently got a nice mattress to try out SUV sleeping. It was a little chilly, but I had a good sleeping bag and some toe warmers to stay snuggly. Temps got down to the upper 30s.

For my college final as a product designer, I have to redesign a first aid kit for camping. I am trying to gather more information on already existing kits and improvements people would like to see. Any insight and feedback are greatly appreciated! It is relatively short, consisting of 16 questions.

https://forms.gle/tSLQdd8wRaXiMxEQ8

What are the best sites at the park?

We just booked BP14 for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and I was just curious how that site was compared to others/what the view was?

Unfortunately booking sites a month out in advance for Memorial Day really limits our options, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about the backpacking here