Wild River State Park Campground

I was looking for a secluded backpack in site where I could have a peaceful 48 hours of prayer and solitude, and this site was perfect! I also wanted one that wasn't too far remote, since I hadn't been on a proper backpacking trip since the pandemic hit. And as a solo female camper, I wanted a reserved site so that there would be a record of my location for safety reasons. I'm so glad I chose the Deer Creek site, and will almost definitely stay here again at some point!

This site is accessible by either hiking or canoe. It took me about 30 minutes to hike in from the visitor center parking lot. There is easy access to river water to boil or filter from the canoe landing.

This site was incredibly spacious. It includes a fire ring and picnic table overlooking the creek and river. It also includes 2 large tent pads (look out for widow makers, one of the tent pads is under a dead tree!). It also has a spot nestled in some pine trees that could fit a smaller tent, canoe storage, or I found it to be the perfect spot to hang my hammock! (This would be a great site for hammock camping.) So if you're camping with a small group of people this would be a great site. It also includes a trail to a fairly private latrine, and a bear box (the park ranger warned me that there are bears in the park although I did not see any.) I also found plenty of dead down and dry wood and birch bark on the ground for building fires.

This site is great for a one nigjt stay on a longer backpacking or canoeing trip, but also great for camping out at for a couple of nights. I stayed for two, and it connects to all the major trails in the park, so I was able to use it as a great base for hiking and seeing the beautiful changing leaves. In the morning I hiked North to do the Riverside trail and looped back through the woods. Then in the afternoon I did the Deer Creek loop, which is a shared horse and hiking trail. It was so nice to he able to hike out to some of the best trails in the park directly from my site.

This site felt remarkably remote for being only an hour from the twin cities and a mile from the parking lot! I stayed there Thursday -Saturday, and after leaving the parking lot on Thursday did not see another human being for the rest of the day, and Friday not until I hit the main trails! There was no one else staying within at least a mile of me. I was even able to see fantastic stars Friday night. There was amazing wildlife - a blue heron frequented the site, and I heard all types of owls. Two bald eagles had a nest across the river so I got to see and hear them the whole trip, too- it was absolutely magical!

This site has a great view of both sunrise and sunset. Thursday night there was a gorgeous sunset over the woods reflected in deer Creek. Both mornings I woke up to watch the sunrise while drinking my coffee next to the fire (it was freezing!!!). Watching the sun rise over the river and fog roll over th water and evaporate while eagles soared was truly magical. Having an easy backpack in site surrounded by water on two sides and with views of the sunrise and sunset like this was so incredible!!!

I’ll say, one of the best parts of this park is all the interpretative kiosks. Love learning about the forestry and history of state parks!  Also many options for trails which is great. A lot of wildlife here, I heard a ton of coyotes and geese, a woodpecker, and a beaver under the bridge in the evening chomping away at peeling logs... totally scared me at first but he was just doing his job and I tried not to bother him! 

I stayed at the backpacking site: SPRING. It’s just a short hike (bout 400 meters)  from the river access where there is a vaulted toilet snd water year-round. The site had a bench overlooking the river and a rugged stair for water access. Also had a little personal rustic toilet just a trail behind the site. Nice and wooded campsite, soft dirt, and fairly spacious! In wet months, I bet it's pretty muddy. The only drawback is that the trail it’s situated on is the hiking club trail and heavily trafficked. I stayed in winter, where you could see through the trees and all that tho. Maybe in summer, it’s more secluded? But still, something to keep in mind.

Took a peek at the campground- some of the most spaced out and wooded sites I’ve seen yet. I like that they made it in separated loops, to avoid through traffic distracting your stay. Love the visitors center, great overlook, and interesting information. By the trail center, which is also very cozy and rents, skis and snowshoes and has a great inside fireplace, there is an interpretative walk about white pines- great for kids to imagine those huge trees! They do a great job aiding the imagination as you walk along the short trail.

Camper cabins here are up on a bluff- didn’t stay there but totes want to! Nicely situated.

Everything that I checked out here was very well managed and they clearly put a lot of time and care into making this park functional, interesting, and accessible. I loved my little backpack site but can’t wait to come back to camp in the summer or rent a cabin! The river is gorgeous, even as it was frozen in winter!

This was my first time camping EVER, and I wanted a balance of car camping ease with quiet wilderness. I stayed in the E loop. No electric sites, which cut down the number of big rig RVs, but there were plenty of small campers and trailers. To me, this means louder guests than tent campers. That said, people tended to quiet down by 9-10p. There was occasional noise during the day from crop dusters and motorized boat traffic on the St. Croix.

Site 87 had nice privacy — less between sites 87 and 89 and much more between 87 and 85 (see photos). Site 89 is a double site, so be prepared for a little more activity if someone books there. If I went again, I'd try to snag site 85. Large trees and vegetation between sites, especially on the outside loop. Plenty of space for hammocks. The site itself was level and very spacious. We had a five person tent and could have put up a bug house easily. The fire pit was clean and had a grate on top. Pit toilets were clean and had plenty of toilet paper, especially for the end of a holiday weekend. Bugs were minimal, but could have been because the weather was on the cooler side (50s-60s).

A couple random notes:

• Firewood is $6/bundle. Self-pay available if the ranger station is closed. Bring exact change since you'll be paying by envelope.

• The ranger station was open for window service, and they sold fire starters, soda, t-shirts, etc. Not sure when hours are exactly. They were open when I went around 3-4p Sunday and Monday to buy wood.

• Cell reception for T-Mobile was minimal to non-existent.

We stayed in campsite 29 in the drive in campsite over Labor Day weekend. The park was great - lots of hiking options, very clean (including the bathrooms), available water, right along the river. #29 definitely wouldn't be my first pick, but we booked late and it was one of the two left. No pad, which was fine (some of the sites do have pads, though). You could easily fit two tents in the site - it was a nice big area and looked kind of empty with just our one tent! The site isn't particularly private, since it was in the center of the loop, and if anyone ends up in the campsite behind you (#33), you're really pretty close - we lucked out and no one showed up until we were leaving. On the other hand, if people wanted to double camp, those two sites would be great together! It was a busy weekend, but people seemed to be pretty quiet after 10 pm. #30 looked like an awesome site and probably had the most privacy of the B lane. The restrooms were between A and B lanes (walkway between #24 & #26, #26 was pretty exposed to people walking back and forth) and was pretty busy - and not many people following the mask rule for the park. The campsites in general were pretty busy (Labor Day weekend probably contributed to that), there are a lot of sites, and it's close-ish to the cities, so if you're really looking to get away from people this probably isn't the ideal park. Lots of dogs, too. But, the sites were right next to the hiking paths and the park has a ton to see. We had a good time! We hiked past the Spring Creek campsite area and it looked really great, if you want to carry your stuff in.

Backpack site Buck Hill is right on the river, beautiful view to the east. Circled by flowers (goldenrod in the late summer), brush and trees. End of the path so zero foot traffic / passersby. Fine size for us but if you had two tents maybe tight. Fire ring and picnic table of course. No drinking water (we brought a bladder). It’s a great place to star gaze. There’s a teeny somewhat treacherous path to the river- no beach or anything (water was super low when we went) - Just can get your feet wet.

Down the path a little bit is an unenclosed toilet - not the best. The other direction down the path (only about 20 ft) is a smallish bear box.

You can harvest your own wood (at this time) and that was really great - bring a backpacking saw!

Only downside to the site— you can hear cars on both sides (river and opposite side of forest).

It was a 2.37 mile walk from the parking lot, mostly shaded.

Side note: we checked out Deer Creek site which is much closer to the car. It is a hike in / canoe site. It’s wayyy more spacious, and even has two separate clearings. Also has cool stairs down the to water, and a much more expansive view of the river. We will be staying there next time! We want to take a few days to canoe the whole length of the park, camping along the different sites. Next year! :)