Scenic State Park Campground

Came across this park while looking to put together a four-day trip in our travel trailer. This is a great park with great facilities and a great lake. No big boats allowed no more than 10 mph. No no waterskiing. Makes it ideal for paddling, kayaking, and calm water.

Lots to do and see

Better for Rvs but a few sites that are good for tent camping. Very clean facilities, super helpful & friendly staff. Swimming beach was small but the water was the perfect temperature. Really cool walking path around the fishing docks. Ventured into town (bigfork) so cute. Ate at both the pizza parlor and parks & rec. Got a giant ice cream at the local gas station.

Was hear earlier in summer—not in October as review date states.

Easy 1.5-2 mile hike in. Bring bug spray as mosquitos can be bad

There is a bear locker, pit toilet, and a shelter on site. This site is very private.

There is no real way to get down to the pond at the bottom of the camp site.

The trails here are nice for hiking but they aren’t extensive and won’t keep you entertained long. The real reason to come here is for water sports on the main lake. Unfortunately during Covid the rentals weren’t available.

Bring a saw to get firewood—you don’t want to lug the wood on with ya.

First time here and will definitely be back, everything is beautiful

The park has two backpack campsites along small pine lake.  It's an easy 1.5 mile hike to the camp site along flat trails.  The campsite is set back from the trail a good ways so you have complete privacy. There is a "shelter" for rain or snow as well as a fire pit, picnic table, bear locker, and a pit toilet.  The lake is easily accessible to filter water. 

We were two of the first groups allowed to camp once the MN DNR resumed camping during Covid-19, so many of the "perks" or the park, such as canoe renting, were not available. Also, the old fire tower is locked up and should not be climbed. 

We were there in late May and the mosquitos were HORRIBLE, despite it being colder and windier than average.

After walking around and kayaking around I’ve come to realize this place is always full for a reason. The hiking and lake provide something to do for everyone.

The water: boating, kayaking, canoe, and beach to swim. Everyone has something to do here. I kayaking all of the two lakes and there are some good fishing to be had if you can find the right spots. The families were all along the shoreline having a blast! Lots of people out in canoes and very few in boats. Sure there isn’t a lot around the park itself but you don’t need a lot to be around if you are going to nature!

The campground: two campgrounds here. You have the lodge which is smaller and fewer electrics and a little quieter. Sites are a little bigger. I stayed in 78 and it’s right next to the water and where people put in their canoes/kayaks. I had no problem as it’s a deep sore so you can get away from them. Around me it was easy to see everyone which was ok as people were friendly. Sites are bigger which was nice. There is a small loop of electric sites here and non electric mixed in. Chase point is the busy place! Sites are smaller and more on top of one another. Louder when I walked through and less privacy. Hike in sites: these are the place to be! Yea it takes some work to get too but you are never gonna be disappointed as you are isolated form people which is really nice. They are directly on the water and for sure have the best views. Shower houses were very clean and nice so I was very happy to see that with as many people as we have.

The hiking: the trails are not long and not demanding so they are perfect for families. I’d say it was a good time away from the water which was perfect. Some great views of the water but mostly wooded. Of course hike out to chase point for sunrise bc that’s totally worth it.

Overall: yes!!! This place is perfect! It’s up there for a reason! It takes a while to get here and that’s ok. It is very much worth the drive! Highly recommend it.

Scenic State Park has a variety of camping options, including a small lodge, standard RV campsites with hookups, and standard campground tent sites. But, best of all, they also offer numerous remote backcountry campsites that require you to either backpack in for a few miles, or paddle or boat in a mile or two, and a few where you can access the site via either backpacking or boating in. The backpack in only sites are on trails a few miles north of the lodge campground, and the boat-in only site is on Coon Lake about a half mile from the Lodge campground boat landing, and then there are 4 sites on Sandwick Lake to which you can backpack in or boat in. Sandwick Lake is located to the south and east of Coon Lake and is reached by boat or canoe by launching from the main boat landing, passing through Coon Lake , and then down a channel into Sandwick Lake. To me, the regular campgrounds seemed pleasant but pretty busy; the remote campsites, however, are absolutely exquisite and peaceful and quiet and off by themselves.  we camped at campsite #6 on Sandwick, you would have to backpack into it by hiking about 3 miles, or you have the option to boat in which we did. The boat-in campsites do each have a small dock, perfect for accomodating canoes, kayaks, and very small fishing boats like ours; larger boats would have trouble I think, because the docks are firly shor and there isnt much room to pull in alongside them. From the dock at our campsite there was a sloped path to walk up from the dock to the campsite, but the three others on the lake have a small set of stairs. Our site had a three sided log lean-to as well as a bear box, picnic table, and fire ring with grate. Our site had room for one tent, maybe another small one, but we visited site 4 and it had space for maybe 4 or 5 tents so you could had a scout troup or large family at that site. There is a pit toilet off in the woods, "al fresco"  because the site is isolated on its own. The campsite we had was up on a hill with a beautiful view, and faced north for catching wonderful breeezes that kept the bugs away! The lean-to was great for doing food prep, and would be a good shelter if a storm came up. The grill on the fire ring was sturdy, and the bear box looked to be brand new and indestructible. The shoreline had a pretty dense cover of cedar trees, but you can swim by your dock, and the water is crystal clear! If you boat in to this site, then you will be off on your own in a peaceful quiet spot, but you can hike either north or south on the hiking trail that passes nearby, you can paddle or boat acrros the lake to the unique esker where there is an educational geology trail, or you can go fishing, or bird watching, or get back to the main part of the park for nature programs or accees the many miles of trails that have trailheads near Coon Lake. If you dont have a watercraft of your own, the park rents canoes and kayaks that you can use. The state park is in the middle of the Big Fork State Forest, and the Big Fork River Water Trail runs through the area with many access point nearby. if you need supplies, the park's camp store is currently closed due to covid, but the town of Bigfork is about 7 miles from the state park entrance, so you have access to groceries, gas, hardware etc there, as well as a small hospital if needed. All the campsites are currently reservable online, and you must use that system because the main park office is closed to visitors at this time due to covid, though park staff are out and about in the park for cleaning and maintainence and campground supervision. I highly recommend this park, and especially the remote sites, but they are taken quickly on weekends so you need to reserve ahead!

The spots are nice very dog friendly and lots of family's. Nice big fire pits. Just an over all nice place might come back it's a 4.5 hour drive for us.

Beautiful trail on the peninsula, had canoeing and paddle-board rentals, and the mosquitos weren’t too bad. Definitely enjoyed this trip. Caught my first largemouth bass here too!

Stayed at campsite #9 in Chase Point Campground and had good tree coverage and space from other campers with potable water right next to the site. We hiked backcountry the following day to BC #1 and it was a moderate hike with a descent view atop a hill looking out at Pine Lake. The site was beautiful with big pines and a shelter. Highly recommended!

Camping isn't bad. It has everything you expect of a state park, it is the hiking that makes it worth the 5.

Hiking out to chase point is a nice easy hike that is great for a family hike with kids of all ages.

I stayed here in mid May and the lake was still halfway frozen... was looking forward to fishing so that was out. The hiking trails were awesome!

Very nice campgrounds and sites. Our site was roomy and had decent privacy due to the trees and bushes along the road. We enjoyed the swimming area, boat retail, fishing, hiking, and the gift shop. The fire tower is currently closed for repairs but we would have enjoyed climbing it! It was worth the 3 night stay because of the distance from the twin cities. We wouldn’t have been able to do everything we wanted with only 2 nights. Great place for families!