DeSoto Lake Backpacking Sites — Itasca State Park

Stayed at backpack site 10. It’s about 250 ft from main trail and about a 40 min hike in/30 min hike out from parking lot. The main trail is wide and well maintained with ambling hills, but overall pretty flat. It is about 1/3 mile away from nearest campsite.

The site is lakeside. You can easily access the water and there are some great views (at least in early spring before the leaves come in). There is a pit toilet on the other side of the trail and is clearly signed and clearly visible from the trail (best hope no one hiking by walks in on ya).

There is only level ground enough for one tent—maybe two two-person tents if you cram them next to each other.

You can forage for firewood on the forest floor, do bring a saw. I was lucky and there were plenty of downed branches nearby. But I suspect later in the season it’ll be harder.

Also, getting water to filter from the lake was difficult without getting wet—the reeds inhibit easy access.

I read in another review that you are always aware of people around. While I think that is more true of the non-dispersed sites, I could clearly see hikers from this site. More annoying—at about 8 am there was a very loud mechanical noise that radiated over the landscape for about an hour before stopping. No idea what it was.

Unfortunately the people who had this site before me didn’t clean up after themselves—beer cans everywhere (that I ended up packing out) and a dirty diaper thrown in the woods near the tent pad. I did let the park know.

The Remote campsites at DeSoto Lake provide a Boundary Waters type experience without being far from the towns of Bemidji snd Park Rapids. These campsites have the double distinction of being both on the National North Country Scenic Trail, as well as being in the backcountry region of Itasca State Park. Local NCT members help maintain the trail and campsites, but as the campsites are with the State Park Boundaries, the sites must be reserved through the MN State Park reservations website, with request for Itasca Backpacking sites # 3 or 4. These sites are accessible to NCT through hikers, but access within the park is either through backpacking in in the Nicollet Trail or DeSoto Lake Trail (each a several hour hike in from the Parks Wilderness Drive), or from the Gartner Farm trailhead of the NCT to the west, or the Itasca South entrance parking lot. For those who prefer paddling, the Desoto Portage is about a 15 minute portage from the 113 parking lot to the south shore of DeSoto Lake, then a paddle acroos the lake to the campsite landings.

Both campsites are on a bluff on the northeast side of the lake, with a landing and set of stairs up to the sites. The west site has log benches, fire ring, and room for several tents, and the east site also has a picnic table. Both have access to a pit toilet of the modern type with three walls and a roof, but no door as it is off in the woods facing away from the camping sites and overlooking another nearby lake. From these camp sites you can portage into several nearby lakes that are even more remote and pristine, or you can hike miles in any direction either on the NCT, or in several state park trails that intersect nearby. DeSoto lake itself is full of many islands and small bays where there is abundant wildlife including wild swans nesting. A calm, serene, and beautiful retreat if you dont mind backpacking in at least three miles or portaging a canoe or kayak about a mile. You need to bring your own water, or a water filter as there is no potable water.

Info about remote MN state park camping and link to reservations: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/remote_camping.html

Info on Itasca State Park: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00181#homepage

Info on the North Country Scenic Trail, part if the National Park Service’s national trail system: https://www.nps.gov/noco/index.htm

Info on the Laurentian Lakes chapter of the NCT, which maintains the trail to the DeSoto campsites https://northcountrytrail.org/trail/minnesota/llc/

As a native Minnesotan who relocated to Oregon just a few years ago, I miss my regular summer visits to Itasca State Park in Northern Minnesota. From May through October, I have enjoyed tent camping and biking the trails there. Every visitor should plan to stay at least 2 days to take in all the activities they can here, including walking (or wading) across the Mississippi headwaters, hiking the volumous and beautiful trails, and if possible plan to bike one of the trail routes or rent a kayak or canoe to enjoy the lake. The tent sites are well-spaced, with plenty of privacy between, due to the thick woods. Be prepared for lots of mosquitos, woodticks, deer ticks, and occasionally biting flies... a heavy duty insect repellent with DEET is your best bet. This area is teeming with wildlife, too: watch for bald eagles, deer, fox, coyote and bears. The bears are most active around the campgrounds at night, so be sure all food and fruit-scented products are locked up in your vehicle to be safe. These are typically smaller black bears, which are easily scared off by dogs or noise, and I've never met an experienced camper who was afraid of them. However, as with all wildlife they can be unpredictable and you should always take precautions for your safety. Enjoy the wild beauty, the historical sites from early settlers, the call of loons at night, and the fabulous smell of the freshwater lake through the pine trees!