If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent near Crane Lake, look no further. The Dyrt helps you find campsites with tent camping near Crane Lake. Each tent site offers quick access to one or more of Crane Lake, Minnesota's most popular destinations.
BACKCOUNTRY CAMPSITES are located on the park's interior lakes and offer a more remote and secluded camping experience. They have fewer amenities, consisting of fire rings, an outdoor privy, and some have a bear pole for safe food storage. These sites first require travel by private watercraft or local water taxi service to a trailhead and then hiking up to several miles to the backcountry lakes. Some campsites can be hiked to directly while others require the use of a canoe after hiking which is provided by the park and remains stationed at these remote lakes.
$25 - $35 / night
Crane Lake is a large body of water and is a popular area for fishing and boating. There are 3 backcountry campsites located on the lake. Crane Lake also connects to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness through Little Vermilion Lake and Voyageurs National Park through Sand Point Lake.
All Frontcountry and Backcountry campsites are water-based, require a permit, and can only be accessed by boat. Most campsites in the park are Frontcountry sites, meaning they are directly accessible by boat. 15 of our campsites are in the Backcountry, meaning the trail head is only accessible by water before you start your hike in.
$20 / night
Crane Lake is a large body of water and is a popular area for fishing and boating. There are 3 backcountry campsites located on the lake. Crane Lake also connects to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness through Little Vermilion Lake and Voyageurs National Park through Sand Point Lake.
Meander Lake is a remote, clear lake with 2 backcountry campsites. The picnic area and barrier-free fishing pier are located on the southern shore of the lake. Downloadable information and map
$16 - $32 / night
This is one of our Backcountry sites which is a near- wilderness single party site and is accessible only by foot or boat. These sites are first come, first served. There are 2 sites on this lake, each have a fire grate, a latrine and may have a picnic table. A few reminders: Hang food packs, put your fire out each time you leave your campsite, treat or boil all water, wash yourself and dishes at least 150ft from any body of water, pack out all garbage and Leave No Trace. Use a Forest Map to locate campsites and accesses. (You can purchase a map on line at http://www.nationalforeststore.com/ or at any of the District offices or by mail.) This lake may be a part of or has portage or waterway access into the BWCAW. When portaging or paddling out of this lake and into another you’ll want to check to see if you’ll be entering into the BWCAW. Permits are always required while traveling in the BWCAW. If traveling for the day by paddle or foot you can use a self issued permit found at any Ranger District office or at the kiosk at the official entry point. Motor powered watercraft is permitted only on designated lakes. When traveling over night or using a motor please look at the BWCAW portion of this web site or take a look at the reservation site at www.recreation.gov for more information. Remember to Leave No Trace.
Legend
no showers. Outhouses and potable water spickets throughout the campground. All sites are offered on a first come first served basis and the entrance has envelopes to pay by check or you can pay online at your arrival. Sites that are occupied will have a small white card clipped to the site number marker sign, just pick an open one, pay, and fill our your place holder card. Fire ring and picnic table at each site. Most were flat, but some were a little hilly. Might be harder to navigate the roads in the campground and back in if you have a larger rig.
ScoutStayed here for 2 nights after season in early October. There were plenty of spots and the vault toilets are clean and accessible. There are multiple trails and some beautiful vistas. The water was turned off for the season but there were multiple access points for the time of year when it is turned on. It’s quite close to the southern visitor centers of voyageurs, about 1 hour from rainy lake visitor center. Very easily accessible. As a solo female traveler I felt very safe. Definitely would recommend. No other facilities available other than vault toilets though so come prepared to not shower!
Scout
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ScoutMaybe 3 sites. Right off main road. Close to Ash River Visitor Center.
Scout
Quiet Campground with plenty of wooded area between campsites for privacy. Mix of RV/Travel Trailers and Tent campers. Vault toilets and drinking water available. Our site did not have direct clear access to the water, but we walked past other sites that did. Boat launch available right at the entrance to the campground. Our site fit our 30’ travel trailer with left slide just fine and plenty of room for the truck. Overflow parking available near the campground entrance for a small fee. Clean and well kept! Would definitely recommend
Scout
Camp ground right on a large lake, family owned and well maintained.
ScoutGreat primitive campsite to hit on the way to Voyaguers National Park. Everyone says stay at Woodenfrog or Ash because it’s close to the park but those parks are very primitive. If you do not have a portable shower or don’t mind using a “hole-on-the-ground” toilet then Pine Acres is a great primitive campsite. There are portable potty’s around the campsite, out houses but they also have full functioning bathrooms and showers. There is a train that goes through across the lake but it stops around 10pm so horns aren’t going off while you’re sleeping. Wonderful staff very friendly. My go-to-place when I come back up here.
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TravelerThere was no public potable water source, the bathrooms were dingy and ill stocked, the showers were so moldy and stinky and clearly hadn’t been cleaned in ages. Campsites close together and no privacy. Small and fellow campers were quiet and it felt safe. Also we checked in online and it was called Voyageurs campground and RV park yet the address took us to Arnold’s and they are the same place.
Legend
**NOTE: To the best of what I can find, this appears to be a free site. I can't, at this time, find any indication that's it's paid or reserve-able**
This is a great little free campsite right on Crane Lake before you go into the Boundary Waters Canoe area.
The site has a fire ring with grate, picnic table, plenty of trees for hammocks, and a small tent pad that would be good for a three or four person tent. There's also a primitive toilet so you don't have to dig a cat hole!
This is a motorized lake so there is boat noise, but the water lapping on the rocks at the island makes it very tolerable. Fairly easy access to grab drinking water for filtering, and some decent pine branches for hanging a bear bag. (even on an island - it's advisable to hang a bear bag. Also helps with other critters like squirrels and mice)
The campsite faces the West so if the weather is good, you're in for a great sunset!
Traveler
This is a grass surface campground. Suited for car camping, smaller trailers & 25’ RV’s. Sites have picnic table & fire pit and an outhouse on site.
Guide
Friendly staff. Mostly empty campground. One neighbor was loud all night. ATV noises super loud partying. Not nice. Lake side Campspots have amazing view. The staff was friendly. We Ware a family of 4
TravelerDespite advertising sites as “tent site” this campground, it is definitely not suitable for tents. We booked a tent site that was in a block of other tent sites. When we arrived, we saw a HUGE RV in the site next to ours that took up our space. We decided to not stay. Maybe great for vans and RVs, but not for tent camping.
Traveler
We arrived late and set up in the dark, but were pleasantly surprised in the morning. Quiet except for the nature sounds - fronts, owls, loons at night. Hiking trails right out of the campsite.
Ranger
This will now be one of our new favorite campgrounds. It’s the perfect mix of modern (lots of nicely spaced electric sites, well maintained shower/bathrooms, on-site store, canoe rentals and more) and rustic. (Wildlife, birds, a stones throw from the BWCA, and gorgeous sunsets.) Be mindful of your camping equipment and the size of the sites - it varies widely. There’s no dump station (closest is in Ely), but there’s a spigot to fill your RV’s water tank. AT&T service was good (2 bars, fast internet and streaming), T-Mobile not so good. (1 bar, slow internet and no streaming) Thanks to the great campground hosts for tips and info too!
LegendCamped here Oct 18-19, 2023 at site 43. Large primitive state forest campground. There were very few campers here during our stay. Our site, as well as others, was large and wooded. Spacing and privacy between sites were quite good. The site was level with a dirt/gravel surface. Site had metal fire ring and table. A nice patch of woods behind our site. Clean vault toilet a short walk away. Short trail to lake and boat dock nearby. Did not see a camp host. Hiking trail along lake was really nice. Really loved camping here.
TravelerWe loved how private the campsites are! The people who run the campground were also super nice!
LegendThis campground is a forest campground so while there is a vault toilet and solar powered water, it is just that. Not fancy, not frilly. If you are used to camping this way it's perfectly fine. But if you are not, this might not be the right spot for your family.
That said - we are used to it and it's exactly what we expected and wanted.
Sites have plenty of privacy between them - this campground was established a long time ago and actually, many many years ago this are was used as a CCC camp! Little bits of evidence are around if you look for them. That said - lots of space, lots of mature trees and bushes (even this time of year post autumn)
We were in site 5 which had a parking space and then a short walk (lightly downhill) about 20 feet to our picnic table and fire ring in a large area under a giant pine tree with a gorgeous view of the lake! Nice little path to the next site over where our buddy was staying with his dogs.
We had our teardrop to sleep in, but there was no problem getting it backed in (larger RVs might have issues since space is more limited than at giant RV campgrounds). It's $20 to stay with an honor system pay box and that helps keep the sites maintained - I think it's totally worth it.
We had a fire ring with plenty of space for chairs, lots of space for dogs, a lake if we needed to filter water (easy to get to if it's not frozen) and was very quiet. There were definitely spaces that were better for "wind blocks" than others so check em out when you arrive. For this time of year ours was good. There was a HUGE boulder the size of a small house in our buddy's site that blocked the wind so it was great.
Guide
Campsite was good size and relatively private in the non electric area. Beautiful park overall and love the proximity from Ely and Lake Vermillion. I did find bear scat near our site so be sure to practice proper bear safety precautions.
Legend
There were no problems getting to this state park. We pulled into the dump station just before entering the campground(CG) area to get fresh water. While we were there, a park ranger stopped to check us in, including processing us for a free annual MN state park pass for disabled veterans. We followed the site signage to electric(50/30/20 AMP) only site 110, which was an easy back-in. The site was long enough for our 40’ toy hauler to include putting our back patio down and parking our F-450. We especially liked how ample trees and bushes were separating the sites, and you are well away from your neighbors. The site gave us plenty of space to set up our chairs around a nice fire pit and one fine picnic table. Get water as you come into the CG, as the spigots throughout the park do not have threads. The 300 loop has pull-throughs that will handle large rigs, with 312 being the best. We got 5 bars 4G. on Verizon. We put Starlink on the roof and got a decent signal. There was a nice shower house/restrooms where the park also sold firewood. Formal trail systems are throughout the CG and park, and we enjoyed walking our dogs. We really like the variety of RV sites for all sizes of RVs, but it's too bad the CG area has no water views.
Guide
I personally liked the Campground, close to the lake and clean bathrooms.
Guide
Campground is small with 3 free campsites, all of which can fit a small Rv or travel trailer. There is a boat landing with a vault toilet that was clean. Verizon cell reception of 2 bars. I was able to stream YouTube video.
Legend
Fenske Lake Campground, MN:
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer)
Overall Rating: 4 - Great place for a canoe trip, I am told. Also access close by to the boundary waters
Price 2023: $10 / night w lifetime senior pass.
Usage during visit: During mid week it was pretty busy.
Site Privacy: pretty nice
Site Spacing: pretty nice
Site surface: Gravel
Reservations: Yes
Campground Noise: Quiet
Road Noise: There may be occasional road noise in the few sites closer to the entry.
Through Traffic in campground: None
Electric Hookup: No
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: No
Potable Water Available: Yes
Generators: Allowed
Bathroom: Pit Toilets
Showers: No
Pull Throughs: There are ‘some pullovers’, no separation from cg road. Those in use only had a van or used as tent sites
Cell Service (AT&T). We didn’t check at the campground. But, down the road we accessed via a new AT&T tower.
Setting: In the woods
Weather: 70’s with a storm in the forecast
Bugs: Mosquitoes are moderate.
Solar: Not great for fixed panels
Rig size: Some sites take large rigs. Check rec.gov for each site before making your reservation.
Sites:
TravelerService was great, Arnold helped me Book a spot for a family gathering nearby. The campsite was clean and hook ups worked great!
TravelerThis is a small campground but so beautiful. We stayed at site 7. It consisted of "two areas" which was super cool. The "lower level" was where we parked with a decent driveway. It also had the picnic table and fire pit with a gravel area for a tent pad. The "upper area" was up a small hill and there was the amazing view overlooking Jeanette lake. There was a huge rock outcropping overlooking the lake and an area for our 8 woman tent. We had views of the lake from bed. So beautiful! The mosquitoes weren't too bad except right at dusk. The vault toilets were not the best and the sites were rather close but with the right site you wouldn't even know it. Sites 6 and 7 both have the "two areas" with more secluded areas you could tent. Site 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 all have some level of water access. The people at sites 8 and 9 had kayaks/canoes pulled right into their site. Site 7 has the best overview of the lake but no direct water access. The best part...the loons and ducks at dusk and dawn. One of my favorite things.
LegendWoodenfrog MN State Forest:
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer)
Overall Rating: 4.5
Price 2023: $17
Usage during visit: 50 - 70%
Site Privacy: Very private sites are offered
Site Spacing: Most are very good
Site surface: lightly graveled
Reservations: No. First come, first serve
Campground Noise: Some inconsiderate groups here during part of our time. I think the hosts were on top of this.
Road Noise: None
Through Traffic in campground: No
Electric Hookup: No
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: No
Potable Water Available: Yes, scattered spigots .
Generators: Allowed
Bathroom: Pit toilet, moderately maintained.
Showers: Out of luck here .
Pull Throughs: Most, if not all are back ins.
Cell Service (AT&T): Good
Setting: Densely wooded
Weather: Hot and humid, bearable Dfor with screened shelter
Bugs: Mosquitoes.
Solar: No, forest is too dense.
Host: Yes, but never saw them.
Rig size: 25, is about the largest I saw. The sites are large enough for a large RV, but driving through the campground may be the issue. If you have a large rig, check the website. No problem with our 17’ trailer.
Sites: 30 to 41 contain sites with a lake view. They are less private than others. A short trail between sites 39 and 41 lead to the boat dock pictured below.
Ranger
Spent 3 nights at Lost Bay campground on Kab Lake. We took a boat taxi in, which allowed us to pack pretty luxuriously. Spent the days bumming around, swimming and exploring the bay with our paddleboard (took a day trip to Ek lake, too). Our site was on a point which gave great views of the surrounding lake and kept the bugs at bay with the breeze. I loved the water access, however I think the site would be a bit treacherous for small christen as there were a lot of steep grades and dangerous fall potential near the lake.
The wildlife was great. Lions could be heard calling at all hours. We saw plenty of turtles, deer, otter, grouse, leaping fish, and even some howling wolves.
My biggest annoyance was the motorized boat traffic. Not bad in the bay but there were a decent amount of fishermen out or people getting taxied through the bay to one of the two backcountry trailheads. The drone of motors could be heard off in the distance. If you are looking for BWCA solitude, you won’t quite get it here (albeit close and the backcountry would be a different story). I’d rate this experience as a less rigorous (logistically and physically) version of the BWCA, but also a less immersive/rich experience as well. Overall, great trip for what me and my friends were looking for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Crane Lake, MN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Crane Lake, MN is Voyageurs National Park Backcountry Camping — Voyageurs National Park with a 4.9-star rating from 18 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Crane Lake, MN?
TheDyrt.com has all 25 tent camping locations near Crane Lake, MN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
