Trail's End Campground

The boundary waters is one of my favorite places on earth. But the mosquito hatch at the end of the summer was truly awful. See video for running around trying to keep them off.

The atmosphere here is great. Secluded campgrounds but some sites are close together. Feels like you’re at the edge of the world. Enjoyed exploring and chilling by the lakeside. Went for a day during late October when the campground was closed for the season—open to the public still but no utilities available. Very dead!

This is one of the best campsites anyone could get too! It is a jumping off point for people to explore the Boundary waters, but it is also one of the best locations to just get away from everything. The campground has several loops and different amenities and locations to choose from. Some of the sites have water hook ups, but all the sites are rustic. They do have a variety of privacy as some are out in the open and some are private. Depending on what you want I would recommend taking a look at the sites. It does have a good size boat ramp that is well used by explorers. This is campground is in an ideal location to explore the area around northern Minnesota. It's about an hour north of Grand Marias on one of the best drives in the state. If you can get here in the fall that is the ideal time!

We stayed in campsite 10. It was fantastic! We had a great view of Gull Lake, with a trail to lake access and also had a spigot with potable water. There were nice, clean vault toilets up the hill too.

The staff at the concessionaire were friendly, knowledgeable, and helped us with renting a canoe and kayak to access the BWCAW.

For anyone wanting to TRULY experience the BWCA and BWCAW, but not accessing a backcountry site, I highly recommend Trail’s End.

We love it here. We return year after year for the sites and solitude. Water at every site. Campsites spaced far apart. Outhouses well-cleaned and maintained.

Stayed at campsite #1. Like some other sites in this campground, it had its own well water faucet. The nearby vault toilet was oksy, but no toilet paper. The view from the campsite was fantastic. There's an un-maintained trail near the boat ramp. It was a little difficult for my old legs. The campground was very quiet. No T-Mobile cell service. I would love to camp here again.

We went for a trip to the boundary waters and it was absolutely amazing! Trails end had a great outfitters right within the campground - absolutely wonderful, very helpful staff. The scenery was out of this world! We got a canoe and took it out on the waters, it was the most beautiful, relaxing experience ever. I highly recommend for anyone who wants to just get away from it all. There are other camps within the grounds but most are spaced pretty well apart.

The camp sites here are truly very special and if you are just wanting to camp this is a amazing place to do it! This is a great place to Roof Top Tent camp, Ground Tent camp, or RV at especially for the low cost!

CampGround Review:

Most the campsites are extremely private, space far apart, with fantastic views and access to the nearby lakes.  It is a truly beautiful campground.  The camp caretaker is a very generous and nice individual especially considering the difficulties of the COVID season shutting down their showers and restaurant.  In the non-COVID season, or post mass vaccination, this campground is almost glamping level compared to most regular national park campgrounds!

Campsite 003 Review:

This is possibly one of the best sites at the entire campgrounds as it is VERY private, VERY well protected from any storms that come in, gets plenty of sun and shade as well as having easy access to the nearby lake.  The campsite also has lots of open space to pitch two large tents (6 person tents) or three medium sized tents (3-4 person tent).  

It is also near two easy to walk to bathrooms and a short walk from the trash dumpster as well.

Next time I will remember to take pictures!

Drive in site with a designated parking spot. Same parking area and walk in trail as site 15 and 16. Last site of three on the small path. Very unique and very large. You can hear your neighbors but there is more coverage between them than the rest. There are a few steep built in steps to get up to this site, but the main area is very flat. Cliff front might not be small kid friendly, but there is a path down to the water. Stunning view. There is good tree coverage to put a tarp up, but also to see the stars. It can get windy, so bring the good tent stakes. The site has plenty of rocks to pound them in place. There is more than one space to put a tent.

We had a bear visit us about 8:30 after we had put the fire out in a very windy night. He has walked up from the water using the area between site 17 and 16. These three sites are near a dumpster, you can hear the lid close occasionally and I assume this was the bears motivation. Keep you food, trash, and grey water taken care of. You will have visitors.

. Drinking water is next to the bathrooms, which is about 300 feet away. This site has a waterfront view of one of the Saganaga Lake coves. You can walk your way down to the water. Might not be little kid friendly, but the water and view are beautiful. This site has a ground inset fire pit with grate and picnic table, but no bear box. You will need a bear bag or put your food in your vehicle. There are bears.

Drive in site with a designated parking spot. Same parking area and walk in trail as site 15 and 17. Second of three on the small path. Very small and no privacy. You can see straight to the main path and hear everyone. There is Medium coverage between site 17 and 15.

Drinking water is next to the bathrooms, which is about 300 feet away. This site has a waterfront view of one of the Saganaga Lake coves. You can walk your way down to the water. Might not be little kid friendly, but the water and view are beautiful. This site has a ground inset fire pit with grate and picnic table, but no bear box. You will need a bear bag or put your food in your vehicle. There are bears.

Drive in site with a designated parking spot. Same parking area and walk in trail as site 16 and 17. First site of three on the small path. Good size, but very little privacy. The neighboring site 14, has a few trees between, but you can see through and hear everything.

Drinking water is next to the bathrooms, which is about 300 feet away. This site has a waterfront view of one of the Saganaga Lake coves. You can walk your way down to the water. Might not be little kid friendly, but the water and view are beautiful. This site has a ground inset fire pit with grate and picnic table, but no bear box. You will need a bear bag or put your food in your vehicle. There are bears.

September 15-18. Campsite 23 & 22. The leaves have started to change and it dips down so freezing at night. Campsite 23 requires you to park along the road. You can block the entrance to your site with the car for more privacy. A few steps lead to the site. There are some trees that block the road, but not many. The site has a lot of tree coverage on the lake side, but is also on a cliff. Warning for small children and dogs. You can take a small path with in the site to a cliff top to see the view of the lake. There is also a somewhat steep path down to the water front. There is a flat water front at the bottom. A lot of wildlife and beautiful views. There is a table, in-ground fire pit and grate, and there is plenty of space. Multiple options for tent placement. The ground is even and the bathroom is a very short walk along the same road. The water spigot is directly across from this site.

Camped over Labor Day weekend September 2020. Campsite #27. Dog-friendly. No cell service. Can't drive your car right into the campsite but there is a dedicated parking spot about 30' up small incline from campsite. Campsite was very spacious; we had a large 6-person tent and could easily have fit another 1-2 small tents. Picnic table and fire pit with grate at site. Not too close but close enough to potable water, dumpsters, and toilets. Right on the lake with walk-in access. Only drawback was that it wasn't super private - we could hear and sort of see our neighbors in site #28. Would be fun to book sites #27 and #28 for a family or group of friends though. Plenty of shade, beautiful views, easy access to canoeing, fishing, and hiking.

Scoped out rest of campground and with exception of a couple kind of small or sparse-looking sites, all sites looked really nice. Overall a wonderful camping experience in the Boundary Waters area.

The views are wonderful. Campsite 22. September 2-5, 2020. This particular campsite has zero privacy. A very tall cliff with no guard. No child friendly. You can see every part of your site from the parking culdasac. You can hear your neighbors and see through the trees towards campsite 21. Very very little tree coverage as far as exposure to win and sun. Uneven ground and It is extremely small. It is directly next the latrine. The water access is across the parking lot, about 50feet. The parking lot is for campsite 21&22, but very very frequently people use it as a turnaround for the end of the Gunflint Trail. A lot of people! A lot of people stop and use it as a public bathroom. It has a picnic table. It has a fire pit with grate. If you are feeling up for it, there is a steep drop down to put your canoe or kayak into the water. This site overlooks a bay of Seagull Lake. You can hear waterfalls and see a lot of wildlife. No cell service. The view of the stars is unobstructed at night. I do not hear any highway traffic.

It’s the perfect place to escape (no cell service and very quiet). Spent summer maintaining the campsites and the Trails End Cafe. Campsites are kept cleared of previous camper’s trash, it’s mowed, &bathrooms are cleaned and restocked every morning! Just please don’t steal the TP! If you didn’t bring any (biodegradable) soap with you there’s showers you can buy at the Cafe ($2 or $3 if I can remember) also there’s usually a ton of gear you can buy in case you forgot something or damaged your own. Rent a kayak or a canoe and do some exploring in the beautiful BWCA! Bring a growler and go fishing, swimming, cliff jumping, gunnel pumping, canoe racing, or anything you can think of. Just down the road at the Voyager’s outfitters they have a lot of younger people working there and they are very friendly & love new people to interact with (gets lonely up that far lol) ask if there’s anything going on during your visit! Just keep it wild out there & leave no trace!

There are many campsites at this location with some having a nice view of the water. There is a boat launch.  Also hiking into the boundary waters area.  The lake is clean.  A nice little shop and cafe.  We stayed at one of the few hike in sites which was about a 50 yard hike from the park spot.  Some sites are right on top of each other for ease of car camping.  Fresh blueberries to pick in late July.

There is multiple sites at the Trails End campground. There is a small cafe close with small store, firewood available as well. No cell service. Trash bins, bathrooms near by, lake access.

Trail's End Campground is another one our favorite campgrounds. At the end of the Gunflint Trail it is secluded and very peaceful. We've stayed here a number of times. This time we were in Site #14 for the third time. The site is up a slight incline. Up the path from the road there is a nice level area where we put the picnic table but others may use as the tent pad. Up a little more and you have another level area with the fire pit on one edge. The site looks out over the lake and usually gets the breeze quite nicely. There are two slight issues with this site however ....if there are people in site #15 you can see and hear them and it is at the very start of the second loop of the campground so you can hear the traffic coming and going to all the other sites on the loop. These things do tend to take away a bit of the secluded feel. We have gone to this campground with no reservation and always found a spot. And as we have explored the campground over the years we have never found a "bad" spot. However as more people learn about this treasure of a campground and it gains in popularity it is a must to make a reservation if you are hoping for one of the more popular sites during the busy times.

This campground has an outfitters on site for any of your Boundary Waters needs. We have never used them but we have gone to a number of outfitters just a few miles down the trail and they have all been wonderful. There are also a number of hiking options available relatively close by. I would highly recommend hiking to the Magnetic Rock!

Beautiful rustic campground at the very end of the Gunflint Trail surrounded by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Prestige lakes, tent camping only, hiking, fishing, kayaking and canoing. Moose, black bear, wolves, otters, and other countless critters. Photographers haven with all the rugged beauty. Chik Wauk museum nearby a wonderful place to visit.

We have stayed here one time before entering the BWCA, but it was a great, easy place to stay the night before starting our trip early the next day for entry into Seagull Lake. Nice lake views, the campground was nice (not sure about showers...we didn't even look for them). We used the tent pads (there was room for 2 tents, but we only had one). There were picnic tables and fire pits. Perfect way to start the trip!

This is one of our go to camp spots. It is a 45 minute drive up from Grand Marais, but worth every mile to get there.
Most sites have a unique layout, and almost all are private! Site #17 is my favorite, by far. It is large, picturesque, and has a path to the water.
Wilderness Way outfitters is at the entrance to the park, and they have a small cafe, shower house, and store. They also offer everything you need to get out in the BWCA and explore. I recommend finding all the hiking trails along the gunflint and making day trip hikes. Trails are of varying challenge, and you'll often find moose.

Great views, as long as you can find one of the flat spots, overlooking Gull Lake.