Best Glamping near Duluth, MN

Located just a short drive from Duluth, MN, this state park has something to offer anyone: hiking, camping, cycling, and gnarly whitewater kayaking. The campground is nestled tightly into the woods, a little crowded, but the sites feel spacious and nearly private.  The campsites offer the usual amenities, picnic table, campfire ring, but they really excel in their full-scale recycling program and self-service bike tune up stations.  

The bathrooms and showers were very clean -- I even found a park ranger cleaning and working on the toilet at 10 pm!  After a week-long paddle in Voyageurs National Park, we pulled into this campground late in the evening simply in search of a hot shower and place to stay for the night...and found a whole lot more when we awoke in the morning!

The visitors center, just a short walk away, offers interpretive programs, miles of hiking trails, and a swinging bridge over the beautiful St. Louis River gorge. 

Reservations are required year round, and the website is easy to use https://reservations1.usedirect.com/MinnesotaWebHome/. Campground was amazingly busy in early May, so I would recommend reservations for the high season.

We have camped here multiple times in a tent and also in our RV. Grounds have a nice mix of RV spots out in the open as well as some RV and tent spots back in the trees with water and electric only sites. Full hookup sites are only out in the in the open spaces.

Sites are mostly level and are some are a bit tight and close to your neighbors. They have recently added some additional RV spots and some other upgrades as well. Staff is friendly and bathrooms, store, activity room, pool are all seemed to be well maintained.

Make reservations early in the session because things fill up quickly. Great family campground with a lot of young kids running around, riding bikes, and playing and dogs in most campsites. Pool is also available but we haven’t used.

Easy access to Jay Cook State Park. Jay Cook has a lot to offer; a suspended cable walking bridge, great moderate hikes, waterfalls, climbing on rocks, and amazing river views. Great place to stop in for a couple hours or spend the whole day hiking.

Not to far from Duluth and other amazing North Shore locations.

Dump station is conveniently located on your way out of the grounds but can get backed up at the end of a busy weekend and can make it difficult to exit the campground.

Like so many RV / campgrounds this one is also located near to railroad tracks that has several trains that come through day and night.

This campground has it all: sites for families to reserve by one another, campsites with more privacy, RV specific loops. With newly updated facilities, it can feel like glamping. Good proximity to bridge and nearby hikes. I highly recommend finding the cedar forest near the CCC Trail on the north side of campground.

The campground at Jay Cooke State Park is really nice. The sites are well maintained and private (for the most part. More on that later), and the shower and bathroom facilities are really top notch. Plus, lots of great hikes nearby and only 25min from Duluth.

Sites: Most sites are very private. There are lots of trees and foliage in between, so you really can't see your neighbor - at least this was true of the loop I was in (site 18). We didn't walk around all the loops, but the one we noticed had less privacy is the loop with sites 24-37. The center sites (27, 29, 34, 36) are all pretty open and didn't seem like there was much definition between spots. So, good as a group, but maybe less desirable if you're looking for some privacy.

My site, 18, was nice. They're all a little tight, so multiple large tents isn't advisable. The only downside to 18 is it is right next to a pit toilet. They're well maintained, but if the wind blows a certain way, you may have a faint scent. I'd probably opt for site 19 or 21 next time.

Pros:

> Really nice facilities. The separate shower rooms are fantastic. Water is hot!

> Easy access to lots of great hikes

> Sites are well maintained. There are tent pads at every site that I saw. They're flat and level. 

Cons:

> There are active trains in the nearby town. I was having trouble sleeping one night and heard the horns well into the night (1 and 3am). They're not super loud so I'm not sure if they would have woken me if I was already asleep, but if you're a light sleeper I'd bring earplugs just in case.

All in all, I really enjoyed Jay Cooke and would be happy to stay here again!

Duluth has great outdoor spaces, craft breweries, and an excellent marathon to run.

I would recommend visiting this park and potentially camping with the hopes of visiting Duluth one of the nights you are there!

Jay Cooke is one of the better state park campgrounds with beautiful scenery and is close to Duluth. I would recommend checking out the fire museums in Hinckley and Moose Lake on your way up from the Twin Cities.

Friend of mine and I couldnt sleep one night...had the next day off work and we just said lets drive up to duluth right now lol. We got there at 530am to jay cook and hiked around!!! The suspension bridge was SO COOL the raging water underneath all the exposed rock and trees! It was awesome def want to come explore this park more!!!

We were coming back from a camp trip up north and wanted to spend another night out near Duluth. We needed to find somewhere fast before sunset and this was an easy find. Lots of sites to pick from. Very large and clean bathrooms, and private shower stalls. Sites a pretty close together so not much privacy, however. Beautiful trails and river just a couple minute walk away.

This is one of my favorite campgrounds! The sites are gorgeous and well-spaced. There is running water & vault toilets - they are currently renovating their running toilets & shower as of 2018, but that should be back up for the 2019 season. The hiking trails are BEAUTIFUL, including parts of the Superior Hiking Trail! The park staff are courteous and well-informed. You can purchase firewood, ice, and souvenirs at the park headquarters during open hours. The sites are reserve-only, so check online and book before you go. I also love that it's only a 20-30 minute drive to Duluth!

We stopped here on our way to north Minnesota. Originally we planned 2 days but really needed to rest so extended it to 4 days. It was a little hairy getting to, the 2 lane winding road with the raging river on one side did slow us down a bit.  The Rangers were friendly and accommodating. The park had taken quite a beating with the winter storm that had been there the previous week, a lot of sites were closed due to trees down and snow.  While we were there they were actively cleaning up, but left in the afternoon so we had no disturbances from saws or equipment noise. The water was not turned on yet for the season, so the bathroom/showers and dump station were not available.  There was a potable water source at the front of our loop to fill our fresh tank and our water storage cubes.  The sites were shaded well, and easy to back into.  We had to work a bit to get our camper level but that may have been due to the snow and water that was on the site so we figured it was par for the course.  We walked to the Welcome Center and the swinging bridge, there were multiple hiking trails accessible by the camping area.  It was relatively busy on the weekend but cleared out during the week.  We had lots of wildlife visitors.  The park is pet friendly.  We found affordable propane and a dump site closer to Duluth.

We had so much fun staying here overall.  The downhill mountain biking is awesome (the kids still want to go back) and the Adventure Park was a lot of fun too - and a short walk from camp.  First, the weird thing; our site was setup backwards so we ended up pulling in so we we had space outside our camper, but water/electric was in front of us.  If we backed in the site was so narrow we were walking right into the woods.  We made it work though and not the end of the world.  In addition to the activities onsite, this is a great spot to be able to explore Duluth and the Canal Park area.

This park is right before Duluth and is a perfect getaway spot if you don’t want to travel all the way up the shore! The campground has tent, hook-up, and cabin sites. The facilities, while somewhat dated, have always been in good condition and clean on my visits. This seems more like a family campground and is quiet pretty early. The trails are just across the street and are beautiful in all seasons. The bridge history is pretty cool too; go see it! One thing I would note for this park is that it definitely blends with the nearby city, which isn’t a bad thing as long as you’re aware. The town has some great breakfast spots too!