George H. Crosby Manitou State Park Campground

The trails of this park are either a hikers dream or nightmare. Exposed roots, large rocks, and elevation changes are common. Good potential for a twisted ankle. I would not advise bringing small children or inexperienced hikers as they will likely not have a very good time. Although there is the Bensen Lake trail that is a wooden boardwalk that rings Bensen Lake. This trail connects to the picnic grounds that is a great place for a day outing. You can drive almost right up to it and there is a vault toilet. The lake itself is fairly small. I don't know if it is worth the trouble of bringing a canoe or kayak unless you plan on taking some trout out of the lake.

9/14/2020 - 9/16/2020  
I camped in site 19 which is only .5 miles from the parking lot. Flat road and wooden boardwalk sounds good until you get to the trail that leads from the boardwalk up a hill to the campsite. According to my GPS this is 138 feet of elevation. And remember what I said about the large rocks and exposed roots? This trail doesn't disappoint. Let's put it this way, you will not feel guilty for playing hooky from the gym during your stay here. This site is also not level. It has a pitch of about 5 degrees which doesn't sound like much until you attempt to balance your cookpot on your backpacking stove. There also isn't a bear box which I am told the other campsites do have. My guess is that nobody wanted to carry one up that hill.  You do get a field latrine and decent view of the sky. There is a rocky outcrop in the middle of the site that is a perfect platform to lay down on and stargaze. There is a couple of bushcraft style benches and a stool near the fire ring. Good luck finding dry deadfall for firewood around the campsite. If you want a fire you are going to have to bring your own up the hill. 

I decided to take a look at the neighboring campsite 18 thinking that this must be a cakewalk compared to 19.  It wasn't on a hill but the trail resembled something like what Indiana Jones had to contend with getting into the Temple of Doom. I didn't even get all the way to it. Although I didn't come across any signs that said, "I'd Turn Back If I were You" - I turned back partially because I already had a long hike planned for that morning, and this isn't the trail I wanted to have to run down while being chased by a huge boulder. 

All this toil has its payoff though. There are some great views. The cascades on the Manitou river, the overlooks, and the Matt Willis trial that looks like you are going to see Robin Hood come walking down the trial at any time. This trail seems like it hasn't been touched by humans in a while. There were lots of trees fallen over the trail and there are parts where it is difficult to tell where the trail goes.   
Would I come back to this park? Absolutely. Will I reserve campsite 19 again? I think I will pass on that, and site 18 for that matter - wherever it is.

Note - there is no cell service in the park, You do get it when you get out to the park entrance on county road 7. There is a hand pump for water near the entrance. Otherwise you will need to filter or boil the water you find in the park. The map shows springs that flow towards the Manitou river, although they are not marked as such.

Rugged, Beautiful, Challenging 

My friend and I chose this park because of the backpacking/hiking and the proximity to waterfalls of the North Shore. Our site (#3) was right next to the beautiful Manitou River. There was lots of space for multiple tents, but we only had one. There was mention of a bear pole for hanging food but we didn't see anything of the sort. There was plenty of deadfall in the area for firewood. The Manitou River Cascades are maybe a half mile north of the site. There wasn't a lot of great star-gazing because of the tree cover. Despite the camp entrance being unstaffed and a little confusing on the location of the actual entrance, we had an excellent time and I'd definitely recommend it to others!

Waterfall Exploration 

This is one of the few state parks in Minnesota where you can winter camp! The trails are absolutely beautiful in the fall, the scenery changes often. It seems that there are different types of forest that you hike through to get to different camp sites. We stayed on site 16 (the furthest site) and it was very peaceful with the sound of the river next to the site. Most of the sites are pretty wooded, you won't get a lot of sunlight. 

Fall and winter camping 

George Crosby - Manitou State Park is a decent park, but it does not compare to Split Rock, Gooseberry Falls, and Tettegouche State Parks that are nearby.  You must be prepared to backpack into your campsite and if you are not used to backpacking it may be a difficult hike.  We ended up hiking nearly four miles one way and my 9 and 11 year olds had a difficult time, even though I carried the tent and all of the heavy gear.

The hikes are pretty and if it weren't so close to the other parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior I would give it four stars.  These are primitive campsites and do not have flush toilets or showers.

Skip George Crosby there are better parks on the North Shore

We loved exploring another part of the North Shore in the beautiful park! Loved it!!!

Beautiful!!!

The drive is on a beautiful dirt road off a small town called Finland, MN. The website and parking lot are pretty straight forward. There is a water source and restroom near the parking lot. There is a guide to which trail you should take to hike to your site. The trail maps can be tricky. I recommend a paper map ahead of time. The cell service is non existent. The website even boast river view panoramic photos at certain points on the Manitou River. You can choose from many campsites. Reservations are done online or by phone. They are pack in and out sites only. This hike is difficult. It's like hiking a steep rocky dried creek bed. Down hill and up hill. Large roots, trees, and some man made steps. Large moose prints were seen. Please pack your bear bells and be knowledgable in situations of crossing wildlife. The website states that certain sites are "river front". Campsite 1 is the farthest north and last campsite. It was chosen so we would not see anyone hiking by. They do push back most campsites from the trail. This one is a ways from the trail. Unfortunately after and intense hike in not only were we not river front the hike down to get water was not in the least user friendly. Three times a day for water and back up the steep large hill was not what was expected from a "river front" site. The place is beautiful and does supply a latrine, log bench, and fire pit with metal grill grate. The tall trees limit star gazing. August was a crazy month for the mosquitos. A bug shirt is recommended during hiking and on site. The trails are thick.

Another down fall to Campsite 1 is after hiking north all the way in you are about 1/4 mile from the main road (7) that wraps around north of you. You can hear cars driving by. In fact there is a small trail that leads straight to the dirt road and we hiked it out to the flat dirt road for an easy hike back to the car. It takes less than 10 minutes to the road. Then a 1.5 mile dirt flat road hike back to the car. Whats the point?

We did have an opportunity to follow the map to an awesome overlook and to see other sites. The trails are remote and beautiful. The river has amazing views of the falls. We will be staying at Campsite 4 next time. Its on the river, but unfortunately is also visible from the trail. Site 4 had a close latrine, direct access to clean running river water, pit, and a view to the falls.

There is access to the Superior Hiking Trail from this state park.

Campsite 1.

I did a solo hike and camp here. I reserved campsite 5, which is very secluded. This site is right on the river. Be advised, there is not a lot of dead hardwood on the ground for building a campfire. Plenty of birch trees fallen,but they are all moist and rotten. There are some pretty good elevation gains on Yellow Birch Trail. I’d suggest having trekking poles. Some of the trails are overgrown. They could be hard to navigate in low light so bring a good light source. I would camp here again. 

Camp Site 5

All campsites are hike-in, with the closest being about a mile in. Pack light. This was my first solo backpacking camping trip (also first with a 6 month old GSP) and the pack in was fine but hiking out I definitely learned that I over packed.

I stayed at Campsite #8 which was beautiful, serene and right next to the Manitou river, so easy access for water filtering and for the dog to drink. There is a very nice fire pit with grill rack, although no bear pole and not very many tress that you can get your food up in easily. There are two perfect trees to hang a hammock right near the tent flat area.

We didn't see much for wildlife, except for a few birds, although there was some wolf poop in our site.

Overall a great place for a solo hiking trip. There weren't as many views of lake superior as I thought there might be. Although, I would like to go back and continue to follow the river all the way to the shore, or at least see if that's possible.

Quiet and Calm 

This was our first visit to Crosby - Manitou, and we will definitely return. The hike to the river backpack sites is challenging with constant rocks, roots, mud and steep hills. You'll definitely earn your site on the hike in.

Site 13 sits on a ridge about 15 feet above a curve in the river and has an easy path down to the water. It's completely secluded, and the breeze off the river keeps the bugs at bay.

No showers or flush toilets, no cell service, no store within 20 minutes. But if you want seclusion -- we only met a couple of hikers over the course of 2 full days -- this is the park for you. Just avoid the parking lot on weekend afternoons as day hikers descend to do the short loops by the entrance.

Complete solitude and challenging hiking (BP13)

6/5/20-6/7/20. BP 6

We originally had another campground reservation this weekend but due to Covid it was canceled.  One site was available at Crosby-Manitou so we decided to head there, our first visit to this state park.   Crosby-Manitou is located along the very popular north shore but the parking lot and entrance are located about 20 minutes off the main road Hwy 61, so it gets less traffic. Admittedly, I have been to this area MANY times and never made the side trip here.  This state park did not disappoint and I’m sad I waited so long to visit.  

There is no ranger station and this is a minimal maintenance state park. They are 22 sites and they are all hike-in, backpack campsites.  Many are situated along the Manitou River and others along Benson Lake. The trails are very rocky and narrow in spots with many elevations changes,  it’s a true backpacking experience. We were in site 6 which is on an overlook and our upward hike was 1.75 miles. The site itself was wooded, spacious and gorgeous. At the overlook, steps away, we had sunrise and views of Lake Superior, the perfect morning coffee spot. There was a fire pit but no picnic table or bear locker, we hung our food.  We also had a pit toilet that was very clean.  We did carry in our own firewood, though there was some dead wood nearby and there was no nearby water source, so we had to carry in water as well. Many other sites have water access however. There is plenty of hiking throughout this state park and several waterfalls, the cascades waterfall is a big draw for day hikers.  When we visited the park was very busy and the parking lot was completely full. 

All in all we really enjoyed this state park and recommend to people looking to backpack in. 



Best state park for backpacking

Site 3. Summer 2020. The parking lot can be very full. It does have a bathroom in the lot.  The hike in is moderate to hard. Not easy for children if they are carrying things. You cannot maneuver coolers and things like that on the trail. Watch your step. Site three drops down to the creek. It is waterfront and very beautiful. You can hear the falls. The site is very large. It is creek front and bring your water filter. There is a non sheltered pit toilet within walking distance back up towards the trail. The site has a grate, but no table or bear box. It is beautiful. It has a lot of tree coverage. This is a buggy area in the summer. You can hear the trail hikers and somewhat see them but this site is mostly private. 

Inland from Superior

Came here for my first Backpack one nighter. I stayed at site #3 in early June 2020. The sound and sights of the river was mesmerizing. Mosquitoes were the worst in the parking lot but tamed once I got moving and applied some spray. The walk in was a little confusing and I took the wrong right turn but it was easy to get back to the main path then get back on track. Rugged terrain with rocks and roots, ups and downs, and so beautiful!! The smell of hemlocks was so lovely and the wildflowers made me swoon. Logs were set around a fire ring. There was no bear locker and I had to hang my bag. The primitive toilet was a little walk and closer to the next backpack site (#4). I believe there was a pit toilet in the parking lot as well. 

First Backpack Trip

I stayed in site 16 and took both the River and inland trails. The site was so pretty and right on the river. Had a nice space for a campfire with a grate! I didn't know what to expect with my first Backpacking site, but this surpassed it all! Very hilly along the river and obstacles in the way. The inland trail is flatter and easier if carrying lots of stuff. 

First Backpacking Trip

George Crosby is one of my favorites state parks for hiking and river fishing!

The site we stayed at however was not so great. BP19 has an awesome location on a secluded hill above Benson lake.... But it only has two tiny tent pads (2p or smaller) that are both VERY slanted. The entire site is anywhere from a 10-30% incline making sleeping, cooking and even sitting in a camp chair difficult! 

Definitely a site for someone who uses hammock tents and not for traditional tents.

Great park, but okay site

Great hike in site that had room for a couple small tents and hammocks if you have a small group. We were able to park just down the road from the sites (there is a small parking area really close to this little cluster of sites (see map photo) but it was full when we arrived. Hike in from the parking spot was about a mile. The site was really quiet and peaceful. The hiking club trail is pretty close to the site if you are looking to do that. The park has at least 1 waterfall, but I do believe there are a few.