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Established Camping

Black Beach Campground

Closed For the Season

This campground is closed for the season from October 16, 2024 through May 14, 2025.

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Black Beach Campground, near Silver Bay, Minnesota, is a solid choice for those looking to enjoy the beauty of the North Shore. With its proximity to the stunning Black Beach, you can easily stroll over for a day of sun and sand.

The campground offers a range of amenities, including clean restrooms and showers, which visitors appreciate after a long day of exploring. Many campers have noted the well-maintained sites, with options for both RVs and tents, making it a versatile spot for different camping styles. One camper mentioned, “Campsites are very well maintained and easy to get into.”

While the campground is conveniently located near Highway 61, which can bring some noise, it also provides easy access to nearby attractions like state parks and hiking trails. Reviewers have highlighted the campground's cleanliness and the friendly atmosphere, making it a great base for your North Shore adventures.

If you're into ATV riding, this spot is popular with that crowd, so expect some daytime activity. Overall, Black Beach Campground is a practical and enjoyable place to set up camp while you explore the natural beauty of the area.

Description

Municipal

Our campground is comprised of 49 sites and situated on 14.5 acres adjacent to the shores of Lake Superior, located near the intersection of the North Shore Scenic Byway and the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway. Situated in the heart of the North Shore, the Black Beach Campground is an hour drive north of Duluth following Highway 61 and only 50 miles south of Grand Marias. If traveling from the Iron Range cities (Biwabik, Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia) our campground is approximately 60 miles east from Highway 53 when taking Highway 16/Forest Highway 11 towards Silver Bay. The campground's location makes it the ideal basecamp for those looking to explore the wonders of the North Shore.

Fee Info

Extras $10/stay lock chosen site

$10/reservation change

$10/night per tent

$5/night per vehicle

$5/stay per pet

$6/firewood bundle $5/bundle purchasing 3 or more

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Location

Black Beach Campground is located in Minnesota

Detail location of campground

Directions

From the South | The campground is roughly a 3 1/2-hour drive from the Twin Cities. Take Interstate 35 north out of Minneapolis or St. Paul and drive towards Duluth. Upon entering Duluth, take Highway 61 north and following it until you reach the campground on the right-hand side of Highway 61. From the North | The campground is approximately a three-hour drive from Thunder Bay, Ontario. Head south out of Thunder Bay to the U.S. Border and continue to the town of Grand Marais on Highway 61. The campground is about 50 miles south of Grand Marais on the left-hand side of Highway 61. ​ From the West | The campground is approximately an hour drive from the Iron Range cities (Biwabik, Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia) on Highway 16/Forest Highway 11. Upon entering Silver Bay, stay on Outer Drive and continue to Highway 61. Take a left at the stop lights. The campground will be on your right-hand side.

Coordinates

47.3137133 N
91.2501834 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Walk-In
    Park in a lot, walk to your site.
  • Hike-In
    Backcountry sites.

Stay Connected

  • WiFi
    Fair
  • Verizon
    Fair
  • AT&T
    Good
  • T-Mobile
    Good

Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Standard (Tent/RV)
  • Group

Features

For Campers

  • ADA Access
  • Trash
  • Picnic Table
  • Firewood Available
  • Phone Service
  • Reservable
  • WiFi
  • Showers
  • Drinking Water
  • Electric Hookups
  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Sanitary Dump
  • Sewer Hookups
  • Water Hookups
  • Pull-Through Sites
  • Big Rig Friendly

Reviews

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5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

17%
59%
10%
10%
10%

3.5

out of 5

12 Reviews

Reviewed Aug. 11, 2024

Ideal as base to discover north shore, but not nice with a tent

We were at the part close to the high way. Very noisy. Facilities are clean and well maintained. Sites are note usable by tent. I barely got the tent Ankers in the ground. Mostly RV or trailers. Not that close to the beach.

Site7
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Bjoern C., August 11, 2024
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Bjoern C., August 11, 2024
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Bjoern C., August 11, 2024
  • (5) View All
Reviewed Sep. 30, 2022

Campsites are very well maintained

We stayed in site 28, sewer, water and electric, a nice site. The bathrooms/showers are clean and a nice designed. Campsites are well maintained and easy to get into.

Nice walk to Black Beach.

Would be nice if they had an “official” walking path from lower campground sites up to bathrooms/showers.

People were respectful of quiet times.

SiteSite 28 & 29
Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Tom , September 30, 2022
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Tom , September 30, 2022
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Tom , September 30, 2022
Reviewed Sep. 17, 2022

Beautiful Black Beach

Stayed here summer of 2020 and 2021. Beautiful beach in walking distance. Camp site lacks shade trees, but none the less has nice restrooms and showers. Lots to explore in the area, most a short drive away. Centrally located for all the North shore has to offer.

Site7 & 12
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Michael V., September 17, 2022
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Michael V., September 17, 2022
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Michael V., September 17, 2022
  • (5) View All
Reviewed Jul. 2, 2022

Good for what it is

I definitely prefer the more secluded, wooded style of campground — this makes no attempt at being something it is not. It’s in the parking-lot-genre of campground. It’s next to highway 61. Centrally located amongst several must see state parks and beaches on the north shore. It was clean and orderly.

Site3
Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Oct. 1, 2021

Bad location

Very noisy with the roar of traffic on hwy 61 all night. ATVs coming and going at all hours. The city had the opportunity to build this site down by the lake and instead put it in a field next to the hwy. black beach is still a beautiful place to visit though

Site3
Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Karl R., October 1, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Karl R., October 1, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Karl R., October 1, 2021
Reviewed Jul. 13, 2021

Barren

Great location between Duluth and the far North Shore. Close to  2 state parks and land mark Black Beach. Silver Bay has small grocery store and services. The park is a tree dessert with only young saplings...no shade. Facilities are clean but limited in number for number of camp sites. Maintained by the city or county so it is kept pretty clean. We were here 4 days...waiting for next reservation. Easy access from 61. No camp store that we saw. Level gravel sites with various hookup options. Very few are full hook up.

Site6
Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by sandra , July 13, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by sandra , July 13, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by sandra , July 13, 2021
Reviewed May. 31, 2021

Clean, under $50, and safe location on Lake Superior

A rare find - clean, level, large RV sites with full hook ups on the North Shore not filled with residents in all the good sites. Strict rules such as no early check in and no late check out. Tents and rvs also allowed in a section next to the highway with electric only. NOTE: no onsite dump station - if you do not stay in a full hookups site you must drive into the town of Silver Bay to use the city dump facility, which may be too awful to use, depending on how many used it first. ATV trails connect to this campground, so it is very popular with them. No one starts before the 8am quiet time end, so we enjoyed watching the different types pass by. A new security code locked bathhouse is clean and nice. We stayed during the Memorial Day weekend, and were pleasantly surprised at the well behaved and polite people here. I recommend this campground as a nice place to explore the North Shore from.

Site17
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jennifer  B., May 31, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jennifer  B., May 31, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jennifer  B., May 31, 2021
Reviewed May. 1, 2021

Close to Highway, but great location

Seems to be a fairly new camp ground. It was empty when we stopped in. They have two sets of sites here. One is very close to the highway and can get a bit noisy, but the other is a little closer to the beach. I would say anyone can camp here but it looks set up for bigger rigs. I would suggest booking the sites near the water and a little away from the highway for the noise sake. Not many trees and you don't have any privacy.

Month of VisitApril
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Scott M., May 1, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Scott M., May 1, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Scott M., May 1, 2021
  • (8) View All
Reviewed Apr. 4, 2021

Fresh

Very nice campground. We had full hookups and a very level site. Because it is quite new, the trees in the southeastern portion are very young as sparse. There was wifi, but we didn't connect. This location seems to be heavily trafficked by quads/UTVs.

Reviewed Feb. 18, 2021

Nice base camp

This campground was just what we needed for out Nor' Shore adventure.  We ended up staying in a basic site without sewer hook up but for 2 nights that was not supposed to be a big deal.  The basic sites are right off Hwy 66, the full hook-up sites are further back, and seemed bigger in general.  Having lived in Duluth for a few years we had our regular things to do planned but getting snow (in early Oct!) caused us to change it up a bit.  One of those changes involved wandering down to Black Beach (right next to the campground) for the first time and it was awesome; cannot believe in all my trip up the shore I had never been.  That night the snow moved in and we had an great evening around the fire while the snow fell.  We also ended up doing the Alpine Slide at Lutsen and hanging out in Grand Marais the next day.  Before heading to Duluth for a day, we had to use the city RV sewer dump area that is just a couple miles into Silver Bay since we did not get a spot with full hook-ups.  The problem was when we got up there it was not working. And by "not working" I mean it was flooded with nasty-nasty "brown" water.  We didn't want to drive +200 miles with the tanks full so we went back to the campground and dumped in a full hook-up site that was empty.

PROS:  Great location for hitting all the North Shore hot spots.

Reasonable rates

Very clean

Full Hook-up sites are available, and are further off the highway and bigger

Right next to the very unique and cool Black Beach

Right in Silver Bay so option for groceries and restaurants

CONS: City RV sewer dump is not a bad alternative to no onsite dump, but only if it works!

The basic sites are right off Hwy 66 (which was not too bad all things considered), smaller and close together

SiteSite 5
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jeffrey S., February 18, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jeffrey S., February 18, 2021
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Jeffrey S., February 18, 2021
  • (5) View All
Reviewed Dec. 19, 2020

Great jump off to see the north shore

This is a great no frills campground. Walking distance to Black Beach. The park is as new so it was very clean. Large sites, hookups were in good locations, fire pits. The campground is separated into two areas. If you are in the spaces closer to the lake you would probably want to drive to the showers.

We will definitely go back here again.

Only downside for us was it is very popular with atv and utv people, so it was a bit noisy at times during the day. At night is was super quite.
Still 5 stars.

  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Nick K., December 19, 2020
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Nick K., December 19, 2020
Reviewed Jun. 9, 2020

Preview- New North Shore option

It isn't very often that a new campground pops up on the North Shore!  So I was definitely excited to check it out- it opens on 6/25/2020.  It is within short walking distance to the black sand beaches of Silver Bay- which features my favorite picnic/wading spot on the north shore.

It is very much a municipal campground where all the spots are identical and do not offer much privacy.  The sites are long and flat with immature landscaping, so it will be a while before there is enough tree cover to provide shade and privacy.  The finishing touches like picnic tables are still to be placed. The sites are for either RVs or tent camping, but the general aesthetic makes me think that there will be more RVs and tent campers here.  There are basically two loops- once closer to Hwy 61 and one closer to the lake.  Each offers a small bathroom facility.

Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Krista T., June 9, 2020
  • Review photo of Black Beach Campground by Krista T., June 9, 2020
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  • (6) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How much does it cost to camp at Black Beach Campground?

    Camping at Black Beach Campground can cost between $30.00 and $45.00 depending on the site.

  • Does Black Beach Campground have RV hookups?

    According to TheDyrt.com, Black Beach Campground has water hookups and sewer hookups.

  • What is the elevation of Black Beach Campground?

    Black Beach Campground is located at 691 feet.

  • What is the max vehicle length at Black Beach Campground?

    Black Beach Campground allows vehicles up to 75 feet.

  • Are fires allowed at Black Beach Campground?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Black Beach Campground, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

  • Does Black Beach Campground have wifi?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, Black Beach Campground does have wifi.

  • Is there cell phone reception at Black Beach Campground?

    According to campers on TheDyrt.com, Verizon signal is fair, AT&T is good, and T-Mobile is good.