Best Glamping near Circle Pines, MN

Glamping Reviews near Circle Pines, MN

276 Reviews of 24 Circle Pines Campgrounds

• B

  Blair

  Guide

  Jun. 7, 2021

  Whitetail Woods Camper Cabins

  Great camper cabins for spring and fall

  Each cabin has four sleeping spots: 2 bunk beds, and the 2 couches convert to beds. There's a heater inside, but no AC, which makes these the most suitable during the spring and fall.

  There is a fire ring outside of each cabin, along with a table. No cooking is allowed inside the cabins, which can make things rough if the weather isn't cooperating. 

  We enjoy hiking around the trails, but we primarily go to decompress, lounge around, and play games, read, etc. There's WiFi available, but depending on which cabin you reserve signal will be took weak for real usage. Same for mobile data -- don't plan on cell service here.

  The bathroom facilities are nice. Outside water is shut off during some parts of the year, so bring your own drinking water if you are camping close to/during winter.

  Cabins are accessible for those who need special assistance, which is nice. The only caveat is I don't recall there being an automatic door opener to the cabins.

  While the cabins are close together, noise is not a factor once you're inside. 

  It's difficult to get reservations, so I recommend trying to start booking 120 days in advance, which is the farthest out you can reserve. For example, as of this review (early June), all weekends are booked for all cabins.

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• 

  kristin C.

  Guide

  Aug. 9, 2018

  Ham Lake Resort

  Well Rounded RV Park and Campground

  My partner and I scheduled a 3 day / 2 night stay in a new Vintage Cruiser RV for $39.99, in exchange for attending a presentation on private membership.

  We checked in Wednesday evening, and the nicest staff I've ever met helped us acclimate to RV living. We are new to this game. They patiently described how to utilize the grey and black water tanks, as well as encouraged us to check-out the canoes, row boats, bikes, horseshoes, ladder golf and many other entertainment items - for FREE!

  The map provided was accurate which made locating the cruiser a breeze. There were further instructions inside as well. The RV was immaculate. Provided for our use were all linens (a public very clean bath and shower was just across the road), dish soap, dish towels, paper towels, flat wear, plates, bowls, mugs and pans.

  The campground has a couple of ponds, as well as access to Ham Lake where the watercraft is launched. There is a petting arena with goats, ponies, and a llama who gave my partner the stink eye, but fell in love with me rubbing the fence and giving me all googly eyes!

  The clubhouse sells bundled wood, ice, snacks, cold drinks, ice cream and provides 24-hour fresh coffee. There is also a small resupply area, and gift shop.

  There are pull-through sites, back ups, 50 and 30 amp hook ups, and tent sites, covered pavilions, picnic tables and fire pits.

  The campground itself seems remote, secluded and peaceful, however, you are conveniently located to two well-stocked convenience stores, as well as Wal-Mart about 15 minutes away. It's also only about 45 minutes from the Minnesota Twin Cities.

  One note: We visited in August and needed gallons of bug spray.

  We very much enjoyed our get away!

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• 

  Scott M.

  Legend

  Dec. 22, 2022

  Whitetail Woods Camper Cabins

  Great Cold Weather Option

  Super simple camping cabins. They each have 4 spots and have contactless entry as you get sent a code to use. There is no cooking inside the cabin so you have to use the fire ring outside. Shower facilities are really nice and match the cabins. Plan ahead as these are hard to come by.

• 

  kristin C.

  Guide

  Jun. 13, 2018

  Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Regional Park

  convenient get away

  We took a 30 minute drive north of the cities for a quick get away, and were rewarded with a very nice campground!

  The check in staff was friendly, helpful and efficient. She gave us the info we needed for wood and other campgrounds in the area.

  Our site was clear, flat and grassy, and had an established fire pit. Other loops had grills and hook ups for pop-up campers and RVs.

  There is a gorgeous beach area with tables, a pavilion, changing rooms and a well equipped playground.

  We walked a portion of the trails towards the golf course, on a paved path under a green canopy.

  Plenty of bugs, so bring your spray!

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• 

  Joe S.

  Guide

  Oct. 29, 2021

  A J Acres Campground

  Good Enough for our Needs

  We stayed here for a weekend in May. The campsites are a little bit on top of each other. There aren't many campsites that you're able to reserve. The majority of the campsites are seasonal campsites. There are a lot of mature trees that help with the shade! The beach area is nice, but the only problem is that boaters and kayaks are in the same general area so you have to be careful so you don't get hit. There is a dock for fishing as well. You can also rent boats, kayaks and paddleboards for a small fee. If you want to walk the whole campground having a golf cart would be nice. Also there is NO petting zoo as stated on the website or on the campground maps. There hasn't been one for a few years but they have yet to edit the website or the campground maps. We went there partly because there was a petting zoo for the little kids. Seems lazy to me that they can't update the website or the campground maps.

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• 

  Katherine T.

  Guide

  Oct. 11, 2024

  Wild River State Park Campground

  Solid option with star gazing

  This is a solid state park offering. The sites are decently spaced with good tree cover. Noise seemed to travel between sites, I had some loud neighbors during the day but they settled down before quiet hours. The grass was easy to get tent stakes into. Bathrooms were your basic state park situation. Clean with warm showers so no complaints from me. The star gazing area was great! Intermittently had 1-2 bars of T-Mobile with LTE Internet. Wi-Fi is available at the park entrance.

• T

  Tina H.

  Scout

  Jun. 18, 2018

  Afton State Park Campground

  Hiking and Yurting

  I have stayed multiple times in the hike in camp sites and also in the yurt! The hike in sites were beautiful with a view looking over the St. Croix River. It was a shaded site perfect for our hammocks, it was quiet and very secluded. The Yurt was very cool! Very comfortable beds and plenty of space for the 6 of us to stay and sleep. The fire pit and picnic table wasn't far from the yurt which made it nice to not have to walk too far since we camped in the winter. I highly suggest the expeeience of the yurt!

• 

  Steph H.

  Legend

  Jul. 18, 2017

  Lake Maria State Park Campground

  Run or be eaten

  To be fair I'd like to preface this review with a word of caution. We went in the middle of Summer. High bug season. Take a look at other reviews as they come in and see what time of year they visited. Maybe they'll have a similar experience, maybe not. The fun thing about this state park is that all the sites are hike in. No drive up camping. It has a couple camper cabins as well. But everyone is spread out along a few trails so it's a little quieter than your typical campground.

  When we pulled up to the parking lot we knew we were in trouble. The black flies were dive bombing the car like a scene from Armageddon. We prepared the kiddos for a quick grab and run and jumped out of the car. Our campsite was about a mile from the car so we started at a quick walk onto the trail. First step onto the grassy trail exploded in a cloud of mosquitos. Walking along the kids all looked like Pig-Pen from Peanuts. Even though we'd sprayed everyone down the bugs must have felt safety in numbers because we were covered in welts in no time flat. That's when the jogging began. Soon we were running and also planning out how to set up camp the quickest. Little tent first, throw the kids in, big tent second and then everyone in there while dinner was being made. Luckily at our actual campsite the bugs weren't quite as horrendous so we were able to get out a bit after applying a few more layers of repellant. Our site was on a short private trail off the main loop and opened up to a decent space. We had a picnic table and fire pit and plenty of space for our two tents and an area to play. We were all entertained by the plethora of mushroom varieties that surrounded the camp. We spent a bit of time outside and then played in the tent the rest of the night. Unfortunately the bugs were bad enough that the next morning we just packed up and headed back to the car. I would like to come back to this park in late fall and try out a camper cabin. There are three of them all on lakes so if you can get past buggy season it has the potential to be a great experience. Have you ever been to Lake Maria? Stayed in one of their camper cabins? Let me know, I'd love to hear how it went!

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• 

  Alicia A.

  Scout

  Oct. 13, 2020

  Afton State Park Campground

  A Nice Secluded Overnight Trip

  Great state park with lots of amenities. This was only my second camping trip, my first being the superior trail with an 8 mile hike in and no amenities. More fun in my opinion to search for your own firewood and really rough it, but it was to have water and wood available close to the site we were at (site 22) because we got in later and lost some daylight. The hike in was shorter and far less strenuous than my first trip, but note that it is uphill. If you’re carrying a heavy pack, expect to sweat a bit. Paved sidewalks into the park, wide dirt and rocky paths into the camp site which was nice given the amount of other day hikers (space to spread out). My boyfriend and I loved that our site was so secluded. There is also a lot of variety to the sites. The sites 1 through about 10 (if my memory doesn’t fail me) are fairly wooded. Our site had a nice balance of wooded area and open terrain/sky. We were lucky to get to see some beautiful fall colors.

  A few notes: the wood provided is THICK. They must haul the logs in with a truck. Saws are provided at the wood site, but be prepared to take some time on it. We had a hand saw so we were able to pack our packs with some large pieces and do some sawing at our campsite as the sawing station was busy with families and other campers. Lots of bark available to get a good fire started. The wood is not covered so if it rains the night before you come in, be ready to deal with some damp wood.

  Water station takes about 30 seconds to start up. There are also two bathrooms within the camp site that are what you expect them to be. Hand sanitizer and TP stocked.

  Never saw a ranger while we were there. We loved the privacy. Lots of spiders. Comes with the terrain.

  The site was perfect for our hammocks. They are super kind if you want to call ahead to get an idea of what your site looks like. It was also great to be able to see what other sites were occupied on the day we decided to make a reservation. There is a grill top on your fire pit (we packed our own grill top, could’ve left it at home).

  Overall it was a great overnight trip. Close to our home so I’m sure we’ll be back for a quick trip next year.

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