This park has something for everyone. The trails take visitors around wet lowlands, oak savanna, and grasslands. Albert Lea Lake and park marshes draw hundreds of waterfowl during migration. Oak savanna and prairie landscape, including wetlands, dominate most of the park. One of the more unique aspects of the park is the 116-acre Big Island, covered with maple/basswood forest. Another is the glacial esker located in the northeast section of the park.

Big Island Campground — Myre-Big Island State Park

The car camping sites at this park are nice and well-shaded with a constant cool breeze to beat the heat.  The hiking trail on the island is cute as well.  One thing to be aware of, is there are a bunch of raccoons who have figured out this is the place to go for food so be sure to pack up all food before going to sleep at night.  

The near by town is also nice and fun to stop by for lunch.  

Camp on the Island for Shade and Trees

We loved the quietness of the campsite. We were able to hike the great trail system and buzz into town when we needed to. 

Quite and clean

Myre Big Island has two beautiful campgrounds with shady, private campsites and the lake is great for kayaking. The people who work there are incredibly kind and welcoming.

Love this campground!

Camped at a backpack site and it was pretty great. 2 mile hike to the site and the site was fantastic. On the water with lots of tree coverage.



Awesome campsite

This review is for the campground on Big Island, we stayed in spot 21.

The spots are very well maintained, but close to neighbors. The facilities are brand new, and very clean. Had a toilet, shower, and dish washing area. The park office does sell firewood and other things, so definitely take a look when you check in!

We dropped our kayak into the lake at the boat launch, which was a 2 minute drive to the other side of the island from the campsite. The lake was great, and calm.

We really enjoyed it here! Except for the mosquitoes, so pack repellent!

Great spots, new facilities, and easy access to lake.

We stayed in site 4e on Big Island. Incredible views of the lake and sunset. A beautiful new restroom &amp; shower facility. Water for filling tanks wasn’t available on the island but you could fill up at the adjacent campground. We’re not used to all of the bugs but if you are then it’s great! 

Beautiful lake & campground

You have to check-in at the camp office, which closes at 8pm. I didn’t realize this and arrived at 8:20pm and probably made the nice state park lady work late. Don’t be me. 

This remote site is about a mile hike in from the parking area. Easy/moderate hike in. Saw 6 or 7 deer hiking in.  At my site, BP1 or backpack 1 or R1, you have water access nearby so prep for the sounds of waterfowl. PELICANS! They flap loudly when entering or exiting the water. Very cool to watch. I wasn’t bothered by it, just a surprise. Other posts somewhere on the internet mentioned the interstate noise being an issue at this site-I did not have that experience. Occasionally, I’d hear the revving of someone’s extremely loud motorcycle or semi engine (maybe 5 times total) in the distance, but the nature sounds covered it for me. I woke up to so many bird sounds. The 2 crows were annoying but fortunately they took off and I got to hear the songbirds more clearly. 

The site itself was very nice. Partially shaded, but also allowed for sunshine during the day. The park provides firewood at the backpacking sites, which is nice since this park has a no firewood collecting rule. Flat, clear areas to pitch your tent. 

Bird Songs/Sounds Galore at BP1

We are camping here for one night. Site 14e. Nice large wooded site near the lake but with no lake view. Nice new shower building. Quiet tonight. We heard a Barred owl hooting. Campsites are spread out, with some trees separating and giving some privacy.

Camp on an island

I've always considered myself blessed to have this state park so close to home. This is a beautiful, well kept state park. Now days if you plan to camp on the weekends you basically have to make a reservation here as it is usually pretty busy but even than if you can get a spot most of the sites are pretty private, you'll hear the other campers but especially in big island there's a good amount of growth between camp sites. 
I've camped here many times throughout my life because it's close to home and is super convenient for a quick overnight or weekend trip, it's only a few miles from home but once I'm out there and camp is set up it's an escape and it wouldn't matter if it was a few miles or a few hundred miles, it's spending time in nature. There's really nice hiking trails here and access to the lake for fishing. Both white fox and big island have new bathrooms that are very nice and updated.

This one is close to home for me

There are two campgrounds in this state park. We snagged the last open site on the island. There are a mix of families, older folks and even a youth group. Our site is fully shaded as are most others. There is a central shower house and a couple vault toilets in the two loops. The trail heads out around the edge of the island. It’s a little over 1 mile long. There are a bunch of small trails leading to some spots to sit along the water. We headed down each offshoot and enjoyed our visit. A paved trail leads back and ends up right across from our campsite. The weather is cool so we stayed an extra day. The place cleared out on Sunday night. We are the only ones in this loop. We would stay here again but not in the middle sites. We feel too much in view of everyone which causes some distraction for the dog. 

Nice wooded area off the highway 

We stayed at the Big Island Campground in the beginning of August. The sites seemed pretty large to us. My kids loved skipping rocks at the little shore at the entrance to the big island. You cannot swim in the lake but there are canoes and kayaks to rent. We really enjoyed our time here. Rangers were super nice and helpful. We hiked about 5 miles, saw a few deer and other animals. Bathrooms were very nice and clean. All of us that remembered to reapply bug spray didn't have any bites.

Great spot in SE MN

We arrived after dark last night so we weren't able to see the gorgeous view until the sun rose! Luckily we woke up early and went for a walk right as the sun was coming up. It was quite cold, a little over 20°, but that meant the lake was frozen solid so we got to walk around on it! Tons of fun. Unfortunately the bathhouse, water spigots, and dump station were closed. That is not a super big deal since we have a camper. And it was publicized on their website about the dump stations being closed. The sites were spacious, the one we were in was non electric and a back-in site. But for $24 a night it was pretty nice! Especially would be worth it if more of the amenities had been open, but with how cold it is, it's very understandable that they would have them closed. There was still an outhouse with a vault toilet that was open. Unsure if there is a working sink because we did not use it. We had to call to make a same day reservation which was a tad bit annoying but the man on the phone was very helpful and nice so not bad at all. 