Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Bovey, MN

At a rate of$40 a night for camping here with all the amenities of a resort, this is a pretty good deal! Campers have access to the heated pool, free use of canoes and kayaks, there is a camp store and bait shop, showers and bathrooms and indoor recreation facilities in the lodge, and a boat launch(though you do have to pay extra to reserve docking space). The campsites are pet friendly too. However, the campsites are a bit close together and would not be my favorite way to camp. For paddlers crossing Lake Winnie on the Mississippi Headwaters Water Trail, this is a convenient place to camp, with easy pull out to the southwest side of the Winnie dam, and more amenities than the Forest Service campground or COE campground on the other side of the dam. From here, paddlers just have a short portage on the paved road across the dam to the downstream boat launch below it.

This is a full service fishing resort with a lodge and cabin rental, but RV and tent camping is also available. The campsites are very nice and wooded, the tenting sites include some very secluded spots back in the woods which is nice for solitude but precludes a view of the lake. There are daily rates as well as weekly rates for camping or cabin stays. This is a top notch place to stay for a fishing vacation, off the beaten path but with full amenities. It can be a destination vacation spot, or can be a great stop-over  for through-paddlers crossing Lake Winnie on the Mississippi River Headwaters Water Trail. Although near the National Forest campground on Tamarack Point, this has many more amenities which is nice when you are so far from the nearest town, especially if you are paddling through and have no vehicle for travel. Amenities include groceries, ice cream shop, full service boat launch and fishing supplies, and more. You might not be into winter camping in a tent, but there are ice houses to rent that you could camp in if you come in winter. More expensive than usual campgrounds, but with more amenities provided and with a stellar location. Pets welcome at no extra charge! Seasonal campsite rental can also be arranged.

I'm pretty sure this campground would be beautiful any time of year, but we visited on our anniversary in the fall and it was gorgeous! Most of the trees were yellow, and even in the overcast morning, gave the campground a wonderful warm glow!

The campground is a good size, and all the sites seem private. This is a state forest campground, and in MN, they are all very well maintained and the price is far better than a state park campground. In my opinion, they are far superior. Usually less crowded, lesser known, but better kept. Normally they are about $14 (bonus!), and sometimes free, depending on the time of year. Drop the money in the box at the entrance (honesty is appreciated) and take a site. No reservations accepted.

They have pit toilets, pets are accepted, there is drinking water available at a well pump, each site has a picnic table, plenty of space for a tent, lots of trees if you want to try a hammock, and a fire ring. It was very quiet at night (there was only one other site being used), and we heard a beautiful owl chanting in the night.

The lake was very nearby, and some sites have access via stairs, if you like. There seemed to be plenty of firewood, if you care to collect it, and it was the best option for a wonderful camping experience!

Nothing says Minnesota like the call of the Loon and that’s what greeted me upon arrival at my site! This site is lovely—water and easy to access to water sports on either Sturgeon or Side Lake. Some road noise but not too bad. I am imagine it’s much more hectic in the summer with the big beach across the road. Great for kids! Easy trails for walking and dog friendly. Can be buggy but that’s MN. For more rustic, head further up to Beatrice Lake Campground.

I would highly recommend this campground,it’s clean,great fishing,swimming,walking. We stayed for a week with our dogs,and our girls had a blast. Thank you

We first went to Scenic State Park in 1970. Have tent camped stayed in the Managers House, the cabin, in a pop up camper, and last I stayed in Chase Point .Campground. That time on my RV. Scenic is second to none and we have traveled the world. Lost my love in 2020, so now it is me and my dog.

This site has better private camp sites compared to the East. IT also have more sites located with water access. Very deep sites so you get lots of privacy as well. Very wooded and secluded so you have to watch out for the ticks as we pulled several off of our dog. Mostly tent and small pop ups at this campground...hard to get a big rig in here or anything really over 20 feet. Some of the sites don't look like they get used much and they were not overly maintained, but it was full!

We really enjoyed this park. Electric loop was tight and some sites had minimal privacy. The non electric sites were much more private. All sites had nice shady trees. It's a very forested park. We really appreciated the new restroom facilities. 

We had easy water access for our kayak off the campground loop. And it was easy enough to carry the kayak across to the other lake to explore out there. The beach on the big lake was very nice, clean and there were easily accessible "ends" of the beach to have a dog. The sandbar was expansive! 

This was a great park for campers of all styles; very family friend - it was very busy with lots of kids. Trails can be reached from the campground but the hike to the trails would be a hike in itself for some. Trail heads seemed remote compared to other parks. 

There were temporary problems with the drinking water on the whole campground - couldn't brush teeth with sink water, and had to go to the dump station to fill up from the one safe water spigot, but it wasn't anything that would keep us from coming back.

First off, and most appealing to me is the fact that there is no cell service. All 12 campsites are first come first serve and you can’t jump a line by going on a website to reserve a spot.  there are no water or electric hook ups but there are hand pumps for pumping water and you could bring a generator or not.
Located north of Grand Rapids Minnesota about 60 miles or 35 miles from Nashwauk Minnesota which is the closest gas station, grocery store or post office. All the sites are back in no pull through sites, generally level however there’s a few that are on an angle

We celebrated the 2017 Minnesota Walleye Fishing Season opener at one of our favorite campgrounds. North Star campground has 38 sites between north and south loops. The sites are not reservable, and are available on a first come, first served basis. Camping is $14.00 for a single site, and $28.00 for groups. Each site has a fire ring and an oversized picnic table. There are also outhouses and a well water pump on each loop. This year we were greeted by a new campground host who was very friendly. There are many smaller sorounding lakes within a few miles to fish from, and if you like hiking and historic sites, don't miss the Suomi Hills hiking trail. Listening to the loons tonight reminds me of how very lucky we are to call Minnesota home.

After a few days at state parks my dog and I needed so time with less distractions. We drove over to the Chippewa National Forest and found a few campgrounds close together. We picked this one and found wooded sites adjoining a serene lake. 

Campground review:

Registration is self-service but there is also a camp host. We drove around the two loops and found many reserved. This is a popular place for those with boats looking to catch some fish. There were still plenty open so we picked one that was nestled among the trees and brush. After parking, I was surprised at how much room was still here. Some of the other sites are smaller but our was plenty big. The vault toilets are clean and the area was well kept. Most sites have electric hookups. A few tent only sites were non-electric. There was a very short walk up from your car at these sites. 

We walked around the quiet campground and found a park right by the lake. It opens onto the small dock where several boats awaited fishing excursions. 

Intermittent cars can be heard along the main road but it’s not that busy. The plentiful birds sing away the motors. 

This was a nice stopover for the night.

We camped for Minnesota Grouse Hunting Season. The sites are roomy (boat in, drive in, or backpack available) The Chase Point Trail is gorgeous for hiking!! You are not allowed to bring in your own firewood, but the campground host has bundles of split wood for purchase.

Was here last year also. Great place for older people that have a national parks card. $13.00 a night is unbeatable. Park is always clean and well maintained. And free laundry too. Yes, there are skeeters, but this is summer in Minnesota. You learn to deal. Quiet and not packed at all. Site is large and flat and trees galore.

This location is actually a duplicate of The Dyrts Plug Hat Point listing which is here and should be merged: https://thedyrt.com/camping/minnesota/plug-hat-point

Also, note that the location needs to be corrected, Plug Hat Point Campground is at Latitude 47.439 N Longitude-94.055 W .

This is a small National Forest camping area with picnicking, fishing, and a boat landing. At present time, there is full boat access, picnicking and parking  available at this location, but the  adjacent drive-in  campsites are closed to vehicle camping during the pandemic due to reduced Forest Service staffing. However, paddlers on the Mississippi Headwaters water trail are allowed to tent here as dispersed campers adjacent to the picnic area while through-paddling. There are outhouses and water avaialble in the picnic area, as well as use of the boat launch which has a nice dock and cement ramp for easy access. From here, paddlers with a canoe or kayak cart can easily portage around the Winnie Dam about 1/2 mile to river launch site below the dam, thus avoiding the  very steep, rocky and difficult portage that is located right at the dam. You do need a good portage cart, however, as the access road from Plug Hat Point is not paved.

This is a paddle-in only campsite within the Chippewa National Forest, and is an official campsite on the Mississippi River State Water Trail in Minnesota. It is located downstream from the Lake Winnie Dam, and is a good place to stay after portaging the dam if you dont want to stay at the Winnie Dam Campground. It is located near upper River mile 1225, on the left side of the river. The access point appears very overgrown from the river, but look for the brown watercraft campsite sign with the yellow canoe, and if you land at that point you will see a mall trail that leads to wooden timbered steps up to the campsite. There is a nice view over the river here, and a bit of a breeze, which is especially good in early summer when bugs are bad. This is a typical water access only campsite for paddlers on the water trail, and includes the basic such as picnic table, fire ring, and pit toilet. There is no potable water water avaialble here, so be prepared. There is room for several tents, so a small group could camp here. 

The next watercraft campsite is downs stream quite a few miles, so if you are passing mid in the afternoon it might be good to stop here. The next recommended campsite is at Gambler's Point, the previous campsites on Lake Winnie include Lake Winnie Dam and Tamarack Point.

If you are a through paddler on an extended trip you may already have maps and water trail info, but if not, check out these links: 

Info for camping at watercraft campsites: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/watercraft-campsites.html info and maps for all of Minnesota state water trails: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/index.html map for Mississippi River State Water Trail: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/watertrails/mississippiriver/index.html section map on which Crazy James landing is located, just upstream from River Mile 1225: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/canoe\_routes/mississippi2.pdf

Our family just returned from a 9 day stay at Leech Lake Receeation Area, and wish we could have stayed 9 more!! The Campground is located in north central Minnesota (Federal Dam) about 30 minutes southeast of Bemidji or a 3 & 1/2 hour drive from Minnneapolis/St. Paul, MN area, and is run by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Volunteers. The park is located in the Leech Lake Reservation and Chippewa National Forest.

The park has 77 sites available that you can make reservations online at: https://www.recreation.gov/camping/leech-lake-rec-area/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=73246

**Note: We reserved our spot 6 months in advance as they book up super fast in the short Minnesota summer months.

There are 73 sites with electric hook ups (5 are full hook ups) or if you want to tent in a private setting, they have 4 primitive walk to sites. Each site has a large picnic table and fire ring with adjustable grill.

When you check in they give you a code that allows you access to the comfort building (flush toilets, showers, and laundry facilities) We took advantage of the boat mooring area (just a few steps down from the campground) that includes a plug in area to recharge our boat batteries, and we really appreciated the fish cleaning station building!! (Super clean!!!)**See pics of the awesome fish we caught-Note all Walleye in the 20-26 inch slot size must be released.

We spent the majority of the time enjoying Leech Lake, but we also spent time hiking the trails (Check out the 400 year old Cedar Tree!!), we played horseshoes, and shuffle board (a new game to us!!), and relaxing by the campfire. **NOTE Only certified & approved firewood can be used in the park. There is a general store just outside the park that sells it for $20.00 a wheelbarrow full.

We would give this campground 6 stars if we could, and know you would too!! Enjoy the pics!!

Following the winding pathway you will come to the campground. It’s situated near four lakes and loads of biking/hiking. There is a lot to do in the area from fishing, hiking, biking, and nature watching. Loon lake has a nice little “park” with a beach so that is great for families.

The campground itself sits next to the lake which is nice and while no site has true waterfront claim several can see the water. I stayed in 22E which was next to a trail head but close to the water spigot and showers. Sites 62/3/4 would be great for a large family as they have loads of space. Showers and restrooms were super clean!

Yes it is buggy but it’s minnesota so you deal with it. There is lots of nature. We saw a bear while hiking the continental divide trail so nature is out there.

Scenic State Park is a one of the best State Parks I have visited so far. The area is gorgeous - the campsite is on Coon Lake, which is one of the thousands lakes in the state. Chase Point is one of the main sites of interest in the vicinity - a couple of miles long narrow peninsula that projects into the lake. The short trail that goes on its ridge provides great views and peaceful surroundings and we ended up hiking to the tip of the peninsula every day of our stay. Other places worth seeing around are the International Wolf Center where one gets face to face (literally) with the great Timber Wolf (Minnesota has the biggest population of wolfs if we don't count Alaska). Voyagers National Park is also a stone's throw away - but bring a boat if you want to see more. The staff is very nice and helpful; the campsite clean. I strongly recommend visiting this place.

Nice, remote Campground in the woods of northern Minnesota. We spent 5 days there where we enjoyed plenty of hikes and time on the water. The sites are close together and more suited to RVs than tents. Even over a busy weekend, it was quiet overnight except for the loons calling across the water. The boat in sites are just a short distance across the lake from the main Campground, making it an easy paddle for those in non-motorized boats. We were on the water with two kayaks and the highest number of boats was never more than 8 at any time with only two of those boats being motorized. There are a few hike-in sites, only 1.2 miles from the park. A few additional hiking trails around the park as well. A family friendly beach and some cleared picnic areas. The showers and flush toilets are clean and backed up by pit toilets dispersed around the campground.

To date, this is the best campsite I've ever seen. No joke.

My husband and I like to canoe, and this time, we were on the Mississippi for another adventure. That said, this one is a canoe campsite, so in order to get to this one, you have to be on the Mississippi River in Minnesota. The DNR in Minnesota has river maps (kind of like hiking maps of the major trails) that mark river miles and show where the boat ramps and access points are. It also shows the campsites that are available (most of them for FREE!) to those that choose to camp along the river. This was one of those.

Most of the time, there will be a picnic table (not always), a fire ring and a place to put a tent or hammock and usually a latrine. Sometimes a nice bench around a fire ring, and sometimes not. This one, however, in addition to other lovely amenities, had a pile of firewood in a useful "shelter" with a little roof to help keep it from the rain. There was also a peg hook with a saw! A note near the saw said "please replace what you can". I have never seen that before, but what a refreshing thing at the end of a long day of paddling! They asked that you use what you need, but also put back what you can. How lovely! This site also had a bear box...incredibly rare! It had a donation sign on the front that told who had donated it. So, in addition to an immediate fire upon arrival (which was appreciated this time because it rained very quickly after we got there), you didn't have to hang your food!

The latrine wasn't anything special, but they never really are, are they? Nothing wrong with it though. It served it's purpose and that is all I have to say about that.

There were a couple of lovely hammock trees and two good areas for tents. Except for the mosquitoes (which are to be expected in the summertime), this was the perfect site.

The only thing that was a little difficult was docking your canoe/watercraft and getting on shore. The water levels on this trip were very low (about a foot lower than normal) so it was a steep climb and we had to pull the canoe to a landing, but when you are on the water, this kind of obstacle is something that you come to expect and prepare for. So no complaints...merely and observation.

Definitely would use this site again!

Our RV GPS and Google Maps took us right to the gate of this campground(CG) and it was easy to find. We arrived with no issues and went straight to back-in site 12 with FHUs. There is not a check-in office/gate shack. We stayed here two years ago and got online to reserve this great site as soon as the reservation window opened(6 months prior). As stated on the info board, a camp host came by as we were setting up, and checked us in. There is a handful(5) of reservable FHU sites(50/30/20 AMP) as camp hosts are in the others. There are also many great 50/30 AMP electric-only sites in this CG. We also noticed that there were not many water spigots in the CG and so suggest getting your potable water at the dump station at the back of the CG upon arrival. The shower houses/restrooms were open and very clean. There is a laundry room in the shower house building with 2 washers and 2 dryers but only 1 dryer was working. There was a sign limiting the days of use during our September 2-week stay due to only having 1 dryer, but we noticed someone was doing their laundry on a'closed' day. We got 2 bars on both Verizon and T-Mobile. The number of mature trees in this CG would make satellite iffy. This CG is very popular with fishermen with their boats as there is a public boat launch adjacent to the CG. Our site bumped up to the fence that separates the CG from the boat launch and parking area so we did get some noise. In addition, the CG has its own boat launch and there is shore mooring for your boat. There’s a mile-and-a-half channel that runs from the boat launch to the main lake where the big-engined fishing boats transit back and forth. You cannot swim, fish, or hang out between channel buoys plus there’s a dam so this COE is not a good area for kayaking. This COE is one of the most modern and well-kept CGs we’ve stayed in. There’s a COE associated marina near the public boat ramp where you can rent boats plus purchase bait and firewood. There are short trails within the park plus plenty of areas to walk the dogs. The nearest amenities are in Longville about 20 minutes away. We enjoyed our 2-week stay.

This is a relatively new (2016?) campground built right next to the Minnesota National Golf Course clubhouse, and in the corner surrounded by Savannah holes 8 and 9. It’s literally inside the golf course.

Gravel pads, some a bit out of level. All 50 amp water and sewer. Some great options in here for group camping as there are several loops you could be placed in the have sites near one another.

Our site (33) was tucked way back in the woods, had a nice bit of privacy.

No bath house.

The golf course is amazing - one of the nicer public courses in the state. I can see a lot of folks choosing this RV park as a golf vacation - we were here because we were spending two weeks with family on Big Sandy Lake, just ten minutes away.

Don’t miss breakfast at the Palisade Cafe and dinner/beers at the Craft House - both are legit culinary experiences, not Sysco reheaters.

With 50+ sites, park was full for the three days around July 4, but was under 50% the rest of the time. An under appreciated gem.

The Beatrice Lake Campground is a rustic campground within the George Washington State Forest. It has 30 campsites, 3 of which are hike-in sites on a pretty peninsula on Beatrice Lake. Although this campground is officially "managed" by the staff at nearby McCarthy Beach State Park, it is separate from the park and about six miles drive away from it into the state forest. You access it by a backwwods dirt road west of the state park, or via the Taconite Trail which is for hiking, mountain biking or horseback riding. So, while you are not really too far from the spectacular beach at Sturgeon Lake, and other amenities of McCarthy Beach Sate Park, you will have much much more secluded and rustic camping experience at this campground. There is room for an rv to park at many of the sites, but no hookups. The camspites are more spacious (especially the hike-in sites!) and I think the whole campground is more scenic. If you are interested in a vacation in the Sturgeon Lake area, and have older children or adults in your group, you might find this more remote campground preferable to the one right at McCarthy Beach State Park. There is a boat landing here, hiking opportunities, boating and fishing and peace and quiet.

The campsites at Beatrice Lake are not reservable, and are avaialble only on a first come first served basis. However, it seems that even in the height of summer camping season, this campground is lightly used and you wont have any trouble finding a spot. If you want to get a sense of the camspites availalble, you can go to the MN camping reservations page, https://reservemn.usedirect.com/MinnesotaWeb/Facilities/AdvanceSearch.aspx

then select McCarthy Lake State Park, then select Beatrice Lake campground. Even if the sites aren’t reservable, you can see the campground map and see which ones are currently occupied.

Additional info can be found at these links:

McCarthy Beach State Park, which administers the Beatrice Lake Campground: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00226#homepage

Boat landing on Beatrice lake: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/compass/pwa.html?map=COMPASS_MAPFILE&mode=indexquery&shapeindex=2323&qlayer=shor_waspt3_query

Fishing info for Beatrice Lake: http://www.lake-link.com/minnesota-lakes/itasca-county/beatrice-lake/7817/

DNR homepage for the George Washington State Forest: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_forests/forest.html?id=sft00021#homepage

Info and map of George Washington State Forest:

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_forests/sft00021.pdf

Taconite Trail, which connects Beatrice lake and Mc Carhty Bech state park: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_trails/taconite/index.html