Campground is open year round. Showers/flush toilets are open May - October

Gooseberry Falls State Park Campground

The entire Gooseberry Falls State Park and campground were built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The stone work is amazing! There are great hiking trails along the waterfalls as well as away from the water along the Superior Trail (which was developed long after the CCC work ended). The campground has nice sized private campsites, newer and clean modern showers and bathrooms. The campground is very popular and fills up fast, so you might want to make reservations. Supposedly there are one or two kayak in sites at the mouth of the river, but I did not check it out. This park is VERY busy with visitors who want to see and play in the falls. But it is easy to escape the crowds- just head out on one of the hiking trails away from the falls and you will have the place to yourself.

Spectacular scenery and great access to hiking trails

Love this state park! The falls are within walking distance from the campsites and are beautiful! Because they're shallow and easy to access, they're a great place to take kids for a dip (as long as you watch them closely). The Gitchee Gami State Bike Trail (paved) runs through this park and goes along Lake Superior so I definitely recommend bringing some bikes! Only downside of this park is that it's always really crowded and books up fast. 

Beautiful but Crowded

This is worth the stop on your drive up the North Shore. There is a beautiful visitor center with clean bathrooms. The falls are only a short hike on a very well maintained trail. Went while is was sprinkling so not as many people there as usual. Areas for swimming on the nicer days

Falls are only a short hike away!

Gooseberry Falls State Park might be the most visited and recognizable of the parks on the North Shore, except for maybe Split Rock.  The bathrooms and showers are clean and all of the campsites have enough room for your car and your tent.  The Waterfalls are the main attraction but there are great hiking trails throughout the park and it is easy to get to the Lake for a picnic.

Don't forget to stop at Two Harbors as you are traveling north from Duluth.  In Two Harbors you will find the Superior Hiking Trail Association at 731 Seventh Avenue, P.O. Box 4, Two Harbors, Minnesota 55616.  At the Association headquarters you can get all of the Superior Hiking Trail maps (A set of 6) for under $10.00.

Two Harbors is a nice little town and is built to support campers and visitors to the North Shore State Parks if you are looking for extra amenities or just an ice cream cone. 

Gooseberry Falls is a must see if you are in the North Shore.

Don't miss all of the hiking as you admire the falls!!!

Gooseberry Falls are beautiful, especially to take a longer hike a around, and the CCC history at this park is awesome, but the camping is a bit crowded for my liking. Personal preference but I might be inclined to camp elsewhere along the shore and stop at Gooseberry on my way up or down Hwy 61.

Rather Camp at Other North Shore Parks

The park offered good sized camp sites with a fair amount of privacy. Facilities were clean and updated with plenty of toilets and showers to handle a full park.

Great day hikes around the falls as wel!

Family Friendly Car Camping

First, don't miss visiting this park, just a short drive from Duluth and the start of the jewels of the North Shore.  The hikes are busy at the falls but if you go a little past that, they open up and the fauna is spectacular.

For the camping, I think this would be a great spot for families and car camping pros.  For me it wasn't the right fit.  I prefer a little more solitude and privacy.  The sites are nice but close to one another.  However, if the north shore is booked up (which does happen) I would be more than happy to camp here.    

Come for the Hiking but the Campground is more for Families 

First off, if you've never been to northern Minnesota in the fall it's a must and you will not be let down. Gooseberry still remains one of my favorite north shore campgrounds. Although the sites are a little closer than I would prefer and on the weekends and holidays it is crowded. The views along with the unique section of shoreline and wonderful hiking this park cannot be beat. 

Oct of 2016

This is one of our favorite campgrounds! The campground books up fast, but it's perfect for families that are car camping. Our site was good, near enough to the bathrooms for little ones making middle of the night potty trips but far enough away to not hear the hustle and bustle of everyone else. Our site was on a slight down slope and we had some severe storms while we were there, so we had a small river through our site at one point, but it dried quickly and other than that it was great! The hiking here is our favorite. Our kids loved hiking up to the fifth falls &amp; then all the way down to where the Gooseberry River meets Lake Superior.

Perfect Family Camping!

We have come to Gooseberry Falls so many times! It's beautiful and so close to Duluth! Although we have stayed in the summer, I would recommend coming out here during winter too! The falls are frozen over and pretty cool to see!

Winter Hiking

What else but the falls lol. The waterfall was amazing and fun to hike all around. It was rushing so fast and yet tickled off towards end where you could walk out on and get good looks at the falls. Campsites were nice and very packed lol there was alot of people out but still had a great time. Nicely maintained park!

Falls 

### Favorites!

One of my favorite state parks. The campground is large with tons of trees making it very private. Make sure to keep your tent/camper door shut, I had a chipmunk come inside the camper and join me for a nap :) the hiking here is GREAT, a lot of cool trails and waterfalls to see. Along lake Superior there are a lot of cliffs to take in the view of the great lakes and a great spot for a picnic. I've been here in the summer and spring and both are awesome

Favorites! 

Stopped here when I was a kid and wanted to stop again. They keep everything well maintained and have nice campsites for small units. There were larger travel trailers there but its best for tenting and smaller camping units. Bathrooms were in great shape. Hiking trails well maintained and have access to many great views. I prefer to stop here after peak season so its not so crowded. The north shore on hwy 61 is a must.

Great views,  nice trails. 

Gooseberry Falls is a spectacular but heavily visted state park. The large campground is very busy and fills quickly throughout the summer and on fall weekends, so reserve ahead…or, if you like a more adventurous camping experience (we did!) you can reseve a paddle-in site accessible by kayak at a spot where the Gooseberry River flows into Lake Superior. Whether camping at the park, or just there for the day, families will appreciate the variety of naturalist activities, the educational visitor center, the unique swimming experience at the base of the falls or on the Lake, and extensive hiking and biking trails. Families with kids in strollers or folks in wheelchairs will appreciate the myriad accessible paved trails. The Rustic Inn just south of the park entrance has great homemade food if you want a break from campfire cooking, and their offerings include an extensive pie menu

Gooseberry Falls

This is my favorite place in all of Minnesota! I spent my babymoon here and hiked it 6 months pregnant, and 4 years later we take her here now to play! We spend hours here and we love taking our daughter to play! being able to climb on the falls and the hiking around the falls makes this one of my favorite places to come!

Everyone should come here at least once!

Visit this majestic destination state park along the North shore of MN! Gooseberry Falls is an incredible family friendly state park with tons of hiking and private feeling camping spots. You can hear Lake Superior from your campsite! The “yelling” sounds you hear in the morning are from the seagulls according to a local I asked. Bring your camera as you visit the falls. Come during the week to avoid the crowds and get visitor free pictures of the falls. You can walk right out in water on the rock formations. Waterproof shoes are a plus. My 13 year old son said it is the most beautiful place he has ever seen. The park staff are very friendly and there is a great gift shop at the nature center. If you come on the weekend get there early. Parking spots near the nature center and trail heads fill up fast. Enjoy!

Destination Gooseberry Falls

This is a gorgeous location for walking and taking photographs. The park is busy because many tourists will stop to enjoy the view. If you don't like crowds, this might not be for you. Once when I was there someone working at the park taught lessons to children about minerals/rocks. The gift shop is large, and the bathrooms are decent.

Tourist Stop 

Campsite #26

This is the best camping!

Comfy Campsites for the tent. Friendly Park Rangers. Good Fire Wood. I love the Shower House!

Also its Quiet after Dark, and all you can hear is the waterfalls and the waves of Lake Superior crashing on the shore.

It does have alot of Tourism - but its a must visit! The Falls are Amazing and the Agate beach is pretty cool. Also its a prime location to see the rest of the North Shore of Minnesota. Lots to Offer! 

Always A Favorite

Wonderful campground! Well-spaced, secluded sites with convenient access to restrooms, water access, and hiking trails  Steps away from the magnificent lake.

Prime location!

Beautiful park with clean facilities. I would definitely stay there again.

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Tent camp sites not too close. The view of Lake Superior was stunning. If you want to get to the Lake it is a hike down and then only a view and not up close. The hike to the falls was a short walk with fantastic views. The North Shore has so many places to visit. 

a must go to 

-if you are concerned about the number of people at the falls, go on the trails instead! There’s a beautiful secluded beach much safer for swimming. There are picnic tables set up as well!

Hidden Wonders

Absolutely incredible sights! Three huge waterfalls that were breath taking. Great trails/hikes. Very clean and well kept. Easy access and friendly people!

3 Huge Waterfalls

Minnesotans are a hardy lot. Hence, winter camping at state park campsites is still possible at most state parks for those who choose to do it. Unlike many state, winter camping starts in October and goes through April and sometimes into May! If you are willing to forgo amenities like hot running water (the shower houses and campground bathrooms have the water shut off in winter) and if you dont mind using outhouses or trekking to the park Visitor Center, then camping here is do-able, and you will get to experience the winter mood of the Gooseberry River and environs at a special quiet time if the year. When we were here there were no tent campers, but a handful of RV campers and car campers. Its worth doing if you know how to stay warm and dont mind the limited park services!

Winter Camping is possible here!

Stopped at Gooseberry on our way up the coast of Lake Superior on a long weekend. The state park is easy to access right off the highway, but with the amount of nature at your fingertips there you easily forget that you're on the roadside when you't in the campground!

There are 3 waterfalls in the park and plenty of hiking options. We were there in the late spring and the summer trails were open. Hardy hikers can find winter trail maps here as well. The Gitichi Gami state trail passes through the park if you camp with your bike.

The waterfalls are very busy since they are a roadside attraction, but most visitors don't stay long or make it past the first parking lot.

Easy Access for Lake Superior Road Trip Adventures

We stayed at drive-in 49 and loved it! Private trail directly to the showers, restrooms and water. Would stay there again in a heartbeat. 49 is close to the Gitchi Gami trail so that was also nice considering we were rollerblading. Highly recommended campground and park!

Spacious and Spectacular!

Gooseberry Falls State Park is absolutely delightful. The campsites are easy to pull in and there are trees though some sites are very close together on the inner track on the inside. The pit toilets are clean, appreciated the dump water station, and the pathways are excellent to go hiking and to go to Lake Superior as well as the falls. The falls were very busy when we visited and there was no room in the parking lot. My son did walk to the falls from our campsite and enjoyed it. There were lots of people there however. My verizon showed two bars while at the site. 

Beautiful clean park

Gooseberry is a great campground. It's got multiple waterfalls, a lava flow, and great views of Lake Superior. Campground is nice as well and has some great trails as well. Gift shop is pretty cool too. This is the one park my wife and I have to go camping at every year

Super awesome campground

We’ve camped multiple times at gooseberry falls at different times of the year and it never disappoints. We also love hiking the park in winter. This is one of my favorite places to camp and spend time outside. The water is fun to walk thru and the hike is easy and enjoyable. 

Always Great

Lots of great camp sites available and awesome hiking. Bathrooms were clean so that was a plus. It’s a little annoying that you can only park one vehicle at your site when there was room for 3 or more. The other parking lot isn’t close or safe to walk to in the dark. I really wish you would have just charged us for 2 cars. 

Kicking Tires

Beautiful and well maintained park.  Super busy in the summer months but worth the trip.  Easy hike to the best of the Falls.

Incredible but busy

5/3/19-5/5/19.  I’ve hiked Gooseberry Falls MANY times over the years (including trips to the lesser known Fifth Falls, which is a must-see, by the way) but this was my first time camping here. 

The snow had melted and the ground was dry. The park was empty for the most part. None of the sites are right on the lake, there is a road in between, but a few had nicer lake views.  Those sites were taken so we landed in site 50, in the center of the campground.  Our campsite had many pines and was somewhat secluded.  A few sites were close by and privacy may be an issue in the busier season, but it worked just fine in early May.  The indoor bathrooms were open, which was a plus and a short walk from our site. There were several paths that led to the lake and views were gorgeous, sunrise views with a morning coffee were beautiful. These were trails I had never explored and are only accessible if you park nearby or are camping.  

Besides being less crowded, the best part about camping in early May is spring runoff and the waterfalls are massive and flowing with lots of power. We coined it waterfall weekend and took full advantage of many waterfalls up and down 61. 

Overall I would recommend camping at Gooseberry - semi-private, quiet and near Lake Superior. Hiking is fabulous here in all seasons . I do wish they maintained a few campsites in the winter. 

Gooseberry never disappounts  campsite 50

Gooseberry falls is THE spot on the north shore to visit if you don’t want to go too far past Duluth and you or your possible children enjoy splish splashing in waterfalls. This also means that you might have issues finding parking on a nice weekend, so you might as well have your own campsite to stash your car and explore the park from your home base! My reservation was cancelled because of COVID-19. We still swung by the campground to check it out since some of our other reservations were still maintained up north, and an empty campground is actually perfect for assessing campsite quality!

  

One of the first things that I noticed was that most of the campground was HOT in early June. This is pretty unusual for a north shore campground, only the sites closest to the lake had any sort of cool breeze. A lot of the sites were kind of cramped, but I’m not surprised since they probably tried to cram as many sites in here as possible since it is so popular.  

  

Sites that I liked: 1, 8, 19, 20 and 22 are good sites if you are camping next to another couple, 23, 25, 31, 32, 38, 47, 56, 59, 69 and 70. If you are handicapped then sites 19, 21, and 42 are spacious and flat. See pictures/videos to check out these sites!

Probably the most popular North Shore state park for families

We spent an afternoon at the falls it was warm out so the falls were busy. People having a great time in the water and walking over the falls. The parking lot to walk to the falls &amp; gift store can be full we had to wait for a spot. It's a very busy park and the campground had a lot of campers mostly tents the day we were there. No hook ups yet some nice sites. The trail to the falls is mostly paved and level. There's a store/gift shop it looked nice but was closed due to Covid-19.

  

My favorites were #57, 17, 36, 44, 47, 51 (no shade), 52, 62 (private site) and 64. Site 6 is a pull thru. There is drinking water and a dump station.

We stayed at Tettegouche State Park yet all these parks are close &amp; along the shore.

Nice park falls you can walk in & around. Primitive camping

Gooseberry was very quiet on the camping front but maybe that’s due to the high temp being 35°. Though it was cold, we enjoyed the campsite and used a lot of state park approved firewood!

Gooseberry is a beautiful park with some great hikes and even better views. The great thing about camping at Gooseberry is that you have easy access to Split Rock State Park and Tettegouche State Park just to name a few. These are so accessible if you’re camping at Gooseberry. 

The site included: 

• Long parking spot for a truck w/ a trailer, Winnebago, or sprinter van. 

• Large mulch tent pad

• Wooden picnic table

• Tall fire ring (probably 18" tall) with a swiveling grill for cooking


Note: Bathrooms did have toilet paper and were cleaned daily but our’s did not have hand sanitizer. 


Great Campsite

Sites here can be pretty close so your neighbors are hopefully quiet or people you know. We had to change sites because of some snow and water and the park staff was great at accommodating. We ended up at site 17 and it was perfect. Had a faucet hear us and the bathroom was close. We were out on the perimeter so it was a little bigger site and we had a hill behind us with a creek/bog area. This campground has some good tree coverage. The hiking was pretty amazing. Got up early so we avoided the big lines, but as we were finishing our hiking we ran into more people. It was very peaceful. I was able to get into a site that was pretty quiet and we were able to hear wolves or coyotes come through about 1 am. It was pretty awesome! We did have some great hikes while we stayed! I would highly encourage people to stay here bc it is a little less crowded.

Perfect...Lots to do in the area.

This was a nice campground near the Gooseberry Falls, with easy access to the trails and waterfalls right from camp (also, Lake Superior!).

No electricity or water for filling RVs, but fresh water is available and there is an RV dump station. Nice bathroom facilities overall but be ready for water-conserving showers that turn off quite quickly. At least the water stayed hot. 

Mix of sites in terms of size, shape and layout so we saw a lot of different tent and RV combos. Dirt roads and dirt campsites did make for a dusty time during dry conditions. 

Be sure to ask for the CCC map at the visitors center and then go find all the remaining structures. It's a fun hunt to go on.

Nice campground near waterfalls and Lake Superior

You need to get reservations ahead of time! We stayed Sunday through Tuesday. Space and vegetation between sites. A short walk to Lake Superior to star watch or have morning coffee. CCC building bathhouse. Awesome hiking to falls. Worth planning ahead.

Great hiking with a busy campground

I have camped at Gooseberry many times. There are some nice sites near Lake Superior. All the facilities are kept up. There is a great visitor center and gift shop.  

  

Miles of trails to explore. The waterfalls are fabulous, especially in spring when the snow melt makes them roar. One year beavers were colonizing the river so you could watch them gnawing at trees! Visiting in winter, there are ski trails and ice on the rocks creating lovely sculptures.  

  

it is a very popular park, so reservations are recommended.

A North Shore favorite

Site 34 - medium size, not a lot of tree cover, parking for 2 cars. Normal state camping fees. Ranger office has permitted firewood and full service bathrooms. Great access to the rest of the park!

Drive in Camping

**General:** Located on Lake Superior (with access to the lake from the campground). The main draw to this campground is the five waterfalls that are accessible via a paved bike path, riverfront trail, or you can drive to the Visitor Center parking lot and explore from there. During the summer of 2021, drought conditions made the falls less spectacular but still worth seeing.

  

**Site Quality/Facilities:** The sites are all heavily wooded which provides more than sufficient privacy; although you can hear your neighbors, you won’t see them (at least during months with full foliage). The sites all have gravel drives and are very generous in size. Site 54 is just slightly sloped sideways, a small challenge for sleeping in our van. Each site has a very generous-sized picnic table and fire grate (although there was a strict fire ban due to severe drought in Minnesota in the summer of 2021). There is a large Visitor Center and store, and you can park here for two hours without a pass which is required for all other activities (including camping) in the park. The pass is $7 daily or $35 for an annual pass. Good cell service throughout the park. 

**Bathhouse:** The bathhouse closest to our site is a CCC marvel. Very clean with three stalls, two sinks, and two showers. There was a bench by the sinks which was very handy for holding toiletries. The shower had good water pressure (almost too hard) and although it took a few minutes to warm up, the water was warm. You have to repeatedly push the button (every three minutes or so) but there is no extra charge for the shower. Although the campground was full our entire stay, I often had the bathhouse to myself.  

  

**Activities:** Hiking and biking! The Gitchi Gami paved bike path winds through the park and if you want to go further, it continues all along MN 61. You can hike to the falls from the campground (approximately a three-mile roundtrip to see the Upper and Middle Falls (the Lower Falls were completely dry due to the drought conditions when we were there). Access to the lake for water activities.

  

This is a nice state park on the North Shore. We drove two hours north to Grand Portage State Park and back with a stop at another state park for a full-day trip, making Gooseberry Falls a good jumping-off point. Make reservations as soon as you can as this is a popular park!

Nice state park along the North Shore

This is a state park with lots of amenities.  We loved the hiking and visitor center.  Our campsite had nice play areas too

Lovely park with nice campsites

Camped here for a few nights, was busy but still felt like true wilderness. Lots of great hikes nearby. 

Great spot!! 

nice campground, pretty quiet with lots of trees. bathrooms were clean. site wasn’t very level but wasn’t a huge deal. would come back but stay in the other loop as it seemed a little less muddy. but overall, very close to superior with great views