Best Glamping near Bigelow, MN

Blue Mounds State Park Campground in Luverne features glamping options with tipi accommodations that sleep 4-6 people for $30-35 per night. These spacious tipis provide an immersive prairie experience while offering more comfort than traditional tent camping. The campground maintains well-kept facilities including modern bathrooms with private showers and electrical hookups for climate control options. "Amazing remnant of Minnesota prairie set among the farm country. The tipis are set to the side and offer some privacy," noted one visitor. Additional glamping opportunities can be found at Jackson KOA and Palisades State Park Campground, which offer unique accommodations with comfortable amenities like picnic tables, fire rings, and easy access to drinking water.

The prairie landscape surrounding these glamping sites creates exceptional stargazing opportunities, with minimal light pollution revealing spectacular night skies. Hiking trails wind through grasslands where visitors can spot native prairie plants, birds, and potentially glimpse the park's bison herd during daylight hours. A camper mentioned, "We didn't see the buffalo herd, but were only there for one night. Good birdwatching and I've never seen so many fireflies!" Rock climbing on Sioux quartzite formations provides another popular activity, while the nearby towns of Luverne and Magnolia offer dining options and basic supplies. Most glamping accommodations remain open from early April through October, with some sites requiring reservations well in advance during peak summer weekends.

Best Glamping Sites Near Bigelow, Minnesota (10)

    1. Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    52 Reviews
    Hardwick, MN
    29 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 283-1307

    $20 - $35 / night

    "The bathroom facility at the drive-in campground is much nicer than the one for the tipis and cart-in sites."

    "Amazing remnant of Minnesota prairie set among the farm country."

    2. Magnolia City Campground

    6 Reviews
    Luverne, MN
    22 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 227-9278

    "I did notice that the power boxes are set up is only few spots with multiple power boxes on the post. So you could need a power cord extention. If all spots by the power boxes are taken up."

    "The electrical and water are a little spaced out. We took the end spot and count quite reach our two water hoses. There two long-term campers who were hooked up to the water spigot closest to us."

    3. Island Park - Rock Rapids

    8 Reviews
    Larchwood, IA
    24 miles
    Website
    +1 (712) 472-3456

    $5 - $45 / night

    "A good place to camp for the night with gas and groceries nearby. All sites have electricity but only 20/30/60 amps. Water spigots are spread throughout the campground."

    "Very cheap , 15$ a night for rv with electric and water, 5$ for tents. Huge swimming area with slides for kids, and river with a lot of fish!!! Brand New shower houses ."

    4. Big Sioux Recreation Area — Big Sioux

    36 Reviews
    Brandon, SD
    46 miles
    Website
    +1 (605) 582-7243

    "Just another overnight stop on my drive to Iowa. I spent the night in a non-electric tent site so I can't really comment on the other parts of the campground."

    "They sell campfire wood for 6$ a bundle on site so we had some great campfires going. They have nice long paved trails for walking and biking."

    5. Palisades State Park Campground

    30 Reviews
    Garretson, SD
    43 miles
    Website
    +1 (605) 594-3824

    "Some have electric hook up, others are just for tent camping. All of them provide a picnic table and a fire pit. They also have little log cabins. We stayed at campsite 6 which was a very good spot."

    "The campsite was easy to find and close to the town of Garretson. There was a small grocery store there."

    6. Robertson Park

    11 Reviews
    Spirit Lake, IA
    30 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 847-2525

    7. Jackson KOA

    9 Reviews
    Jackson, MN
    36 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 847-3825

    "Arrived after office was closed. Still greeted by the owner very welcomingly. Test site is flat, dry and grassy. Could’ve ask for a better site. Mosquitoes where not an issue at this site."

    "Great KOA, owners were very friendly and welcoming. They invited us to their “end of season” party and came and talked to us the next morning."

    8. Oak Woods Campground — Lake Shetek State Park

    11 Reviews
    Currie, MN
    41 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 763-3256

    $23 - $33 / night

    "We spent three nights at the Oak Woods campground at Lake Shetek State Park in May 2022."

    "Tons of walking trails and pet friendly!! You’ll see lots of birds and deer... Second time here and love it!!"

    9. Island View

    2 Reviews
    Mountain Lake, MN
    48 miles
    Website
    +1 (507) 427-2999

    "Frisbee Golf, playground, and a 5mile trail around lake. As good as you get for a Municipal Campground."

    10. Martin Area County Park

    1 Review
    Sutherland, IA
    47 miles
    Website
    +1 (712) 225-6709
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Glamping Reviews near Bigelow, MN

161 Reviews of 10 Bigelow Campgrounds


  • Carolyn M.
    Oct. 23, 2019

    Big Sioux Recreation Area — Big Sioux

    Ok place to spend the night, but could have been better

    I spent the night here and had to pay the entrance fee to the park as well as the camping fee for my tentsite. They had only a few tentsites available amid all the RV sites, but they were right on the edge of the playground, so the families had to walk right through my campsite to get to the play area. Not too big a deal as no one wanted to use the play area at night while I was sleeping, but still.  I also looked over at the power lines. There was a flush toilet facility close by but there was a very bright light on all night. Good for families needing to navigate in the dark but not wonderful if you like sleeping in darkness. And though I was told that quiet hours began at 10PM, the site next to me was quite loud through the trees until at least midnight so the quiet hours are not enforced. Meh. I don't think I'll be going back.

  • Katrin M.
    Jul. 7, 2019

    Palisades State Park Campground

    A very nice getaway!

    We camped here over the weekend with our dogs. The campground is within 10 miles off of I90.

    The park is not very big so there are not many campsites. Some have electric hook up, others are just for tent camping. All of them provide a picnic table and a fire pit. They also have little log cabins. We stayed at campsite 6 which was a very good spot. Some of the other sites seemed very close together without much privacy or shade.

    The park staff (rangers, camp host and volunteers) was extremely friendly. They always made sure that we had everything we needed. The rangers also offer different programs on the weekend like learning about geocaching or how to make campfire desserts.

    There is one bathhouse for the entire campground. It seemed a little old but got cleaned daily. There are also several vault toilets around the area. From the campground you have access to the water. There are also several short hiking trails from where you can see the rock formations.

    It was just a very short ride to the Devils Gulch (Jesse James historical site) or Split Rock Park. There is also a Dollar General close by. We would definitely recommend the campground.

  • L
    Jun. 28, 2018

    Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    No water and biting flies

    This campground is still charging $17 for a camp site, $7 transaction fee and $7/day entrance fee despite the fact they have no running water. The toilets still flush. In the morning our car filled up with flies that bit us for hours before we were able to eliminate all of them. It is a 5 mile drive back to Luverne if you need supplies, and I was unable to locate a grocery store.

    Two good things; they have a Free Little Library and at night the lawn was covered with fireflies

    The campground was so miserable that the campground host had abandoned their trailer and was never present. We did have several locals drive through the campground to spy on us, presumably to see who was stupid enough to camp there. You are entirely responsible for knowing what site you reserved because there was no attempt to label reserves sites.

    There is no privacy between sites. This is just a big lawn with driveways, picnic tables and fire pits. The landscaping is nicely done with blackberries popping out of some hedges and providing eye-level interest at the base of trees.

    .

  • Tara S.
    Jul. 26, 2019

    Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    Quiet little oasis in the middle of the Minnesota prairie

    This was a drive-by site for us and not a destination, so our review is based on only one night. We found the park to be very quiet and only had a few camping neighbors during our stay. It seems like it might be a destination for retired RVers, as everyone seemed to know each other well, which was fun. 

    Highlights include nice, easy trails through the prairie, lots of wildflowers, and a herd of bison. We only saw the bison from a distance, but apparently, there are tours. We experienced lots of bugs in early July - biting flies and mosquitoes, and there was a constant humming noise from a nearby farm that really detracted from our experience. 

    Otherwise, the campground was really peaceful and the bathhouse was clean. We arrived around 4:30 pm and the office was closed. We didn't see a single park employee or campground host during our visit. 

    We checked out the tipis, which looked really fun, but with all the flies, we opted for setting up our tents to keep them out. We'd totally stay here again, but we probably wouldn't go out of the way to visit.

  • Krista T.
    Jul. 17, 2018

    Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    Unexpectedly amazing

    Last August we headed to Blue Mounds to investigate out the SW corner of our state for the first time. We swung through New Ulm on the way there to check out the Schell's brewing company and we also stopped at Laura Ingalls Wilder's Plum Creek to break up the drive from the twin cities. The drive itself got pretty boring on the last half- lots of flat fields and cows. As you get closer to Luverne things start to become more interesting and the town of Luverne itself was an unexpected delight.

    Yes, the water currently has e.coli in it. There is a huge alert on the park's page explaining how you can go about accessing water and showers nearby. The $17 rate is the discounted price to reflect the e. coli discount. The main campground is pretty open, some sites have shade, it is a prairie after all. The cart-in campsite offers much more privacy with the grove of trees there. The bathroom facility at the drive-in campground is much nicer than the one for the tipis and cart-in sites.

    We spent one night in the tipi (cool experience for $30-$35 a night) and two nights at a cart-in site w-09. Some of the paths to the cart-in sites are not flat and rather long, but ours wasn't bad at all. I would definitely consider staying at that campsite again. I don't think I would necessarily stay in a tipi again unless I could book it on short notice if I knew that the weather was going to be dry and cool. The day before we got there it had rained quit a bit and when we arrived it was HOT. This meant that we got to enjoy our tipi experience with the aroma of hot wet tipi. The tipi floor is a platform made out of manufactured deck boards that keep you off the ground. The tipi itself isn't nearly as critter-proof as a tent. We wound up packing up our belongings and putting them in our car between leaving the tipi and moving into our campsite since we wanted to go check out the local area before we could check into our next site and somehow a garter snake got transported out of the tipi in our belongings and into our car- awesome haha.

    The park was flooded a few years back which washed out a quite a bit- the lake that used to be there is now gone and just overgrown with plants. Most of the park is dedicated to the bison, so hiking opportunities are kind of limited. There are a ton of bison, but you either get to see them or you don't unless you go on one of their bison tours. They were present by the fence twice while we were there. There is pretty much a large trail loop with another large loop that swings off of that. Bring a wide-brimmed hat and tons of sun screen, not much tree cover on the trails. The one visitor center located in the southern portion of the park appeared to be permanently closed.

    Luverne was cool. There are tons of historic houses and next time I'm out there I'll spend some time driving through neighborhoods to check them out. There is a basic grocery store off of Main Street for anything that you may need to pick up. I kind of wish that we had gone out to eat in town more because of how great the food was. Sterling's was delicious and much more upscale than anything I expected to find out there, the local Buffalo Sweat beer was great enough that I tried to find it at the local liquor store before I left. Showers are available at the Luverne aquatic center for free.

    Overall I really enjoyed my experience and I look forward to my next trip out there, whenever that may be. If you are coming from the Twin Cities make sure to hit up Schells and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Plum Creek homestead like I mentioned above. Nearby side trips are Pipestone, Touch the Sky prairie, and Jeffers Petroglyphs

  • Derek S.
    Jul. 24, 2019

    Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    Tipi on the prairie

    Amazing remnant of Minnesota prairie set among the farm country. With the prairie in Minnesota gone except for a handful of small conservation areas, Blue Mounds State Park is an oasis of prairie in a sea of corn and soybean. Bison roam a small area of a few hundred acres where prairie smoke and other native plants make a last stand in a landscape of Sioux quartzite rock outcroppings, cliffs, streams, rivers and waterfalls. Hike the park or drive over to touch the Sky prairie, there’s plenty to do. The campsites are high and dry with some set overlooking mound creek or nestled amongst the shade trees. In cooler months the park has a stone shelter with a wood burning stove to escape the rain or chill. There are three spacious tipis for rent. $30-35 a night that can sleep 4-6 people. Those sites are set to the side and offer some privacy.

  • TThe Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 26, 2025

    Big Sioux Recreation Area — Big Sioux

    Another overnight stop.

    Just another overnight stop on my drive to Iowa. I spent the night in a non-electric tent site so I can't really comment on the other parts of the campground. It does have nice bathrooms with running water and showers. The non-e tent sites are in a forested section, all shaded. Sites include picnic tables and fire rings. Sites are located a very short walk from the designated parking. I had a great night's sleep as it was relatively quiet. I didn't partake but they do have a Frisbee golf course. Took a short walk on their trail system to the suspension walking bridge. My complaint would be the fees. I thought i was paying one fee for the non-e tent site but then there was an additional fee for non-res and another fee for park day use fee or permit. This fee was confusing whether I was supposed to pay this or not. So what looked like a small fee to spend the night turned into much more.

  • E
    Aug. 26, 2021

    Palisades State Park Campground

    Beautiful but loud

    The campsite was easy to find and close to the town of Garretson. There was a small grocery store there. We only stayed one night on our way West, the sites were nice and grassy with mixed sun and shade. It’s been a dry year so the mosquitos were minimal. We explored split rock creek which is a5 minute walk from the campsite- very beautiful rock formations and an old walking bridge built in 1908. Pictures don’t do the rocks justice, they are beautiful! However, the water was very brown and murky, smelled suspiciously like manure. We saw some people swimming but opted not to because of the color and smell of the water. We did see many large fish in the creek. There were also nice picnic areas on the creek with tables and fire pits. Last issue with the campsite was the noise. The night started out quiet with lots of insect sounds, which are loud but so great when you are camping! The unexpected noises were trains passing by (sounded super close in the middle of the night), planes flying overhead, and cars driving by. This is of course not the fault of the park but the surrounding area…still wouldn’t recommend a long quiet camping trip here if you want to escape the everyday sounds of humans. Overall a very sweet campground, good bathrooms and showers. Staff was very friendly and helpful.

  • Stephanie B.
    Jun. 28, 2020

    Blue Mounds State Park Campground

    Very well maintained park

    The campground is smaller but it is very well maintained. New bath house. They have done a lot to make this park accessible. Grassy sites, some better positioned than others. Very good shade. Some random placement for trash bins but I’d rather have too many than not enough.

    There are lots of hiking trails with options for lots of distances. It was cool to see the Bison (from the west loop). The dam is pretty as well.


Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Bigelow, MN?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Bigelow, MN is Blue Mounds State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 52 reviews.

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TheDyrt.com has all 10 glamping camping locations near Bigelow, MN, with real photos and reviews from campers.