Banning State Park Campground

Banning is located just off I35 but you would never know it; unlike other parks close to highways, we didn’t hear any road noise at all. Small campground (34 sites including one cabin, about a third with electric). Some sites (18-34 especially) offer great privacy. Clean bathrooms. Great hiking trails (although the Wolf Creek Trail between the split from High Bluff and the falls is not marked and can get a little confusing to navigate). The Quarry Loop Trail is also interesting and you can pick up  an interpretive map. 

Easy access to a great park

This is a great place for winter camping! The campsites are large enough (despite the snow) to set up suitable winter tents, and each site has a picnic table and fire pit. In the park, there's a lot of ice climbing and cross country skiing. If you take a short walk from the main parking area towards the bathroom, and follow the trail alongside the bluff, you'll find awesome spots to climb and likely a lot of dedicated adventurers. Nearby the campsite you have a great water source, and a lot of peace and quiet at night despite being close to a residential area and town. 

Winter camping 

Stayed here as a layover en-route to Wisconsin. This park may be right off of the interstate, but it's quaint and the sites are roomy. They're also nicely vegetated so you get a sense of privacy. We stayed in the busy season (July) and even though most sites were full, once it hit the quiet hour, the whole campground went eerily quiet. Not far from the tent sites is Wolf Creek Falls, about a 1.2 mile hike (worth it!). The showers were clean and rangers were laid back and lenient with the camp fee.

Nice little waterfall in a quiet campground

If you like to canoe and kayak you will want to tryout Banning State Park.  There is a nice launch point in the park.  You can even canoe down the river and camp at the designated camp sites on the bank of the river.

The campground is normal.  Hiking trails and wide open campsites.  I will give a shoutout to the Park rangers and the camp host Chaz.  They are very friendly and very helpful.

Banning State Park is for canoeing and kayaking

This is a great location close to the cities. It was really fun to hike along the river. Very pretty. I went there after a couple heavy rains, but it wasn't really washed out - which was nice! The bugs were awful, but I think they were awful everywhere at that time.

Fun hiking!

Great hiking! In a few areas it became difficult to know where the trail was but that just made it interesting!

Beautiful!

My pup and I had a blast hiking at Banning!

Amazing Hiking

Rustic campground with beautiful trails settled along the Kettle River. This is a must for kayaking and you will see people running the rapids. Bring your camera as you hike the beautiful trails.

Kayakers haven

The hiking here is amazing! The Quarry Loop along the Kettle River has a ton of history, allowing you to explore the remains of the 130+ year old sandstone quarry. Seeing the drill holes in the cliffs was really cool and the remains of the old buildings were a highlight even to our small children. Would definitly make a trip back to explore even more!

Amazing History Filled Hiking!

We stayed early spring so there was maybe one other camper at the park? There wasn't much greenery but we did hike down to the waterfall, very peaceful! Curving stream through the forest, small waterfall but the rocks it fell over were beautiful!

Waterfall

We decided to try an extend the camping season by staying here in the first weekend of October, and we were rewarded greatly! The colors were near peak and the water was really high, so there were many kayakers going down the river as we hiked along the parallel trails. There was so much natural beauty along the trails, this park stands out as unique among several beautiful state parks along the St. Croix in eastern Minnesota.

Typically my family likes to camp where we can swim, and there is not a great option for that here, but this late in the season, hiking was on the agenda and this park is amazing for that!

Excellent for hikers and kayakers, wonderful in fall!

Second favorite campground in Minnesota!!

We arrived Friday to a not so helpful girl. I told her my name and ask to check in and was promptly asked for a site number, I couldn’t remember exactly what it was. I said 72 and she rudely said we only have 34 sites. Figuring you only have 34 site I figured it would be easy to find my name. 15 seconds later she told me it was site 27\. Not sure why she could find it earlier but no big deal. We were given no map, no information just a site number... our site was decent size private from our neighbors. The following day it rained, and rained, and rained so we greatly appreciated the elevated tent pad!! Because of the rain we headed to a trail listed on one of the maps I picked up, because it was a short hike. We had to drive into sandstone and drove down a dirt road (reccomend an suv or truck) to get to the trail. The drive to get to this trail is not marked so just trust the directions and look on google maps. We made it to the end of the road and a gate closing the road and off the the left is the trail with a little parking spot. I was so disappointed to see the amount of trash laying on the trail. I suspect it’s a local hang out for teens. We hiked on this trail for a bit and saw the rapids if you climb down on the rocks to the island be careful it’s slippery!!! Since it was raining we had the entire place to ourselves it was so beautiful and peaceful. We later hiked the self guided trail and it was so beautiful! Because it had rained the mini waterfalls (streams) where like something out of a story book! I thought the history part of it would be boring but it was anything but! Read the signs and pick up a map! Seeing something and being able to touch something that old was amazing! I can’t wait to go back next year already my husband has already said we are staying a week instead of just a day!

postives: Small campground but still very private! GREAT hiking! It’s absolutely beautiful here, straight out of a story book! Clean bathrooms and showers. Plenty of primitive bathrooms as well!

Negatives: Not so friendly staff, trash and graffiti on trails, our shower QUICKLY ran out of hot water which I wouldn’t really mind but my toddler refused to shower and cried about being cold.

a must see state park!!

A hidden gem!!!

I had the pleasure of stopping at this park as part of a day trip to do some hiking and relaxing and can’t wait to get back!!! Banning State Park also has an old quarry you can see if you’re interested. The hiking trails were well marked and clean and the bathrooms were also nice! (I can now say I’ve been in a composting bathroom that the smell didn’t make me want to die- super bonus!!!) However the real magic of Banning State Park was the beautiful river and the fauna. It was so so incredibly beautiful. Tall and lush trees in every direction! We also saw several different Warblers! 


The best trees I’ve seen in a long time!!!

Plenty of trails to hike, pretty waterfall and some interesting history. Easy to get to just off of I-35

pretty area and easy to get to

Camped here #7 for an overnight while heading to the North Shore. camp site was nice and adequate for what I needed. Next morning I captured the geocache I was looking for and back on the road. I loved how the park had clean pit toilets and recycling bins!!

Just a quick overnight

Secluded campsites, electrical hookups, friendly staff. Beautiful sights and amazing trail heads. Some were challenging but worth it! Bathrooms/showers were really clean as well. 

Really awesome trail heads-moderate to difficult

The fall colors are spectacular, the trails are amazing, and it does t matter what time of year you arrive.

I make 2 trips here a year.

My Favorite Park

Very quiet retreat. Campsites are well kept and bathroom/showers are nice. 
Trails are nicely maintained and the waterfall is beautiful. Camp host is helpful and great to just talk to. The office staff were great and very nice. Recommend! We will definitely stay again. 

Peaceful 

We stayed here mid-week in August and there were a few campsites available. The sites themselves are spread out, so they feel relatively private for a campground. Each site had a woodchip bed upon which you can pitch your tent, making sleeping here one of our more comfortable camping experiences during our road trip. You can conveniently pay the site reservation fee online, no printing necessary. You do need to remember to separately pay your car entrance fee, also online. The campground had nice, clean bathroom facilities and an impressive recycling system. Only downside is that the sites in our area smelled faintly like an outhouse, which was likely worsened by the recent rain.

Well maintained campground with plenty of space

10/11/19-10/13/19.  #9

We booked a site in advance and hoped to catch the fall colors. It was our first time camping at Banning. Fall came early in MN and it was just past peak. Most of the leaves were yellow (or on the ground), but it was still pretty.  As we were setting up our camp, it began to snow. We selected 9 as it was on the end of the loop and somewhat private. The campsites were fairly well spaced, wooded and offered some privacy.  There were multiple vault toilets in the campsite loops. 

There are several hiking trails with different points of interest. One leads to Wolf Creek Falls and is challenging and beautiful. Another goes along the Kettle River with beautiful views. You can also explore the sandstone quarry and do a self-guided tour to learn history of the ruins from the mining years. We really enjoyed our stay. 

Beautiful in the fall!

There are wonderful hiking trails to be hiked here. Make sure you go to the big spring falls trails. Best part of the hikes there with the river/falls/rocks area. Campground is nice as well (as long as your neighbors aren’t blasting jazz music and their AC at 8am) 

Wonderful

This is a beautiful state park along the Kettle River, famous for its rock formations, the whitewater Kettle River, and beautiful oak-ash forests. You can camp at the park campground in the woods, or at several secluded paddle-in canoe campsites on the river. There are miles of trails to hike, including along the river and to a waterfall, all kinds of paddling and rafting possibilities(bring your own, or join a trip sponsored by a local outfitter), or go bouldering amongst the interesting rock formations. The problem for campers at this location is that the number of campsites available is exceeded by demand for them, especially in summer and on weekends. Reserve early if you would like to stay here! The campsites are of good size, nicely shaded, and convenient for both tent camping and RV or trailer camping, however there are two real drawbacks: the campground is pretty far from park activities you might like to do, so you may have to drive to trailheads, picnic areas, or boat launch, or else be willing to make a long hike. And because of proximity to metro areas, there is competion in the parking areas from folks who are just there for day trips, so an amazing number of cars end up parked up and down the main state park road. The other drawback is that the campground is kind of in a lowland forest with a muddy substrate, that stays pretty wet and buggy even when it has been a while since the last rain. A plus is that you have access to top-rated whitewater for river activities, and a park trail also leads outside of the state park to a premier rockclimbing destination in Robinson County Park on the south border of the state park. Folks come afrom all over the Midwest for the rock climbing and the whitewater, so scoring a campsite within Banning State Park is helpful if you want to access these stellar recreational opportunities.

Nice for activities, busy and buggy for camping

We had sooo much fun hiking with our family here. There were plenty of easy trails for my young children and grandmother, and even a few more advanved trails for us adults that could handle it.

The scenery was absolutely stunning! We had a blast finding new places to explore on some less beaten paths, and plenty of learning on the more well known ones.

The falls were a little difficult to get to for my grandmother only because there was no easy way over the boulders. But we made it!

Best hiking for all levels.

We visited on a surprise warm day in November - wanted to get in a good hike! This park boasts a waterfall, so that sold me. 

Park is close to Sandstone for any last minute needs. 

- Campground is off and a bit sequestered from the rest of the hiking and kayaking, which is nice. We didn’t drive through out of respect since we were day trippers- BUT I like that they set it “aside” to keep it private. There are trails from the campground itself that connects up with the other trails and the waterfall hike. 

- Picnic area pretty great, with little fire ring and picnic table areas separated decently. 

- Hike along the Quarry Loop Trail (the hiking club trail) for some interesting facts about the old quarry and stone workers. The ruins are worth an explore for sure! We went a little off trail and went down from the hells gate trail to  the portage trail along the river that connects to Lower Hells Gate Trail and the waterfall. Def not for little kids, but a fun rugged experience! Need good shoes and not to be done if wet - could be slippery and dangerous. BUT - you can just take the High Bluff trail above it and be fine! 

- This park is definitely busy, my guess is in season that the kayakers are aplenty! Nice bathrooms at the parking and picnic are. 

Great hiking, busy park, plenty of amenities, ski trails, known for kayaking, rapids, and a waterfall. Campground set aside from the busy area of the park. 

Interesting Hike, Views 

Beautiful hiking trails and spacious campground. Campsites are more sand than rock which is no so great. Bathrooms and showers were not open for the season unfortunately. They have vault bathrooms. 

Great hiking trails

Nice campground near great hiking.  If you can be picky when booking I would avoid 2E, 4E and 6E as these sites are wide open with no privacy from the foot traffic to and from the restrooms/shower.

Nice little campground but would avoid this site 

Sites are spacious and offer lots of tree coverage for shade. Sites with electric, sites without electric, and cabins are available to reserve. Highly recommend the hike along the river. 

Super woodsy campground

Lots to do here and even has a bit of history thrown in there for some education. Good trails that everyone can enjoy. Great to come out here in the winter and walk around when it is a little bit more peaceful. I’ve stayed here during the warmer months and really enjoyed it. Close to the cities which is always a bonus for a quick get away. Also floated by on the kettle River a few times and noticed that you can access the campgrounds which is nice. Gotta portage but still nice to know you can get here if you needed too. 

Busy but peaceful

Nice well maintained State Park. 
Some sites (12e) are hard to back a trailer into because the main road is VERY NARROW and not enough radius to back a 24ft trailer using a full size truck, extended cab, with long bed. Nice sized sites and picnic tables. 

BRING DRINKING WATER! The water is VERY RUSTY! We even ran the water through a filter and still couldn’t get it cleared up. Sign says better water is by the park office. 

Can hear the interstate highway in the park during the night.

Great trails. 

We will try site 34 next time, nice location. 