Best Glamping near Elk River, MN

Minnesota State Parks have just started to build Yurts for 3 campgrounds around the state; Afton, Cuyuna and Glendalough State Parks. These have some great amenities and are perfect for family camping, especially in Fall, Winter and Spring.

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!

Interesting place, you can read about it here

https://www.hipcamp.com/discover/minnesota/stone-creek-farm

This is my all-time favorite park to bring my horse to, and it's her favorite trail too. Seriously, when we head back to our trailer she will stop and refuse to proceed. Do a 180 on the trail and she is happy to trot away from the trailer. Horse camping is available in two locations in the park, even though once when I was there a family was camping in the parking with their horses. Apparently they got the cops called on them by some other park patrons who didn't believe that this was an option. At the time it was marked as a camping location on the map, but that may have changed.

The best place to be bug-free happens to be the sandy prairie trails, the wooded areas are nice but you may want to hustle out of there if you don't have enough bug protection. For non-horse riders some parts of the trail out in the open prairie might be a bit sandy. Also important to note- bikes are NOT allowed on the trails. Absolutely gorgeous in the fall. Pit toilets are available and there is water available at the entrance off of Park drive, not sure about the other locations.

During these COVID times everyone wants to get out and about more, which means that the main parking lot for the park that used to be mostly designated for horse trailer parking is now overrun with family vehicles. So as a result the Riverbend group equestrian campground is now the parking lot for day visitors through at least August. 

In normal times you can rent this group campsite for$70-$80 a night, which is ridiculously cheap considering that you can fit quite a bit of horse trailers on here. The information for this site states you can put 10 horse trailers on this lot, but I have definitely seen groups camp here with more. The barn stalls are available for use (unlike the Blue Stem horse site), otherwise there are overhead horse hitch lines. 

This campground is nicely maintained and has nice mature trees that a lot of people set up hammocks in. The vault toilet near the barn is nice, there are no showers. Be aware that the road into this group site only is wide enough for one vehicle at a time, so far I’ve been lucky to not encounter another vehicle as I’m entering or leaving.

The KOA was nice and clean but your packed in on top of each other like sardines in a can

This is the closest campground to our home, so it has the distinction of being the place where my kids had their love of camping kindled! The sites are stacked on top of each other, but there is a pool (unheated) and a cute little camp store.

We have stayed here several times and found it a great place to cut your teeth on camping and gather with friends if you'd like.

My husband and I picked this spot to try out our new camper (and puppy) for camping and it’s been a lovely place to stay. It’s a normal KOA setup but the staff is wonderfully sweet and the amenities are clean and reliable. Close to lots of state parks and hiking opportunities.

Not especially welcoming and a little run down. Our site was nice because we had an end site, otherwise sites are on the small side. The playground could use some revamping and the pool area was closed and looked sketchy. The location was perfect for us, but I doubt we will ever go back.

Nice hosts. Nice sites. Trees and level sites. Bigger than i thought.

We tent camped here for a night while passing through. It’s a basic KOA with a few amenities. The lots were really big and we had no one near us, so it was nice and private. Most of the lots near the front were occupied but the back was almost empty, which is where the more wooded lots are. Only 1 bath house and it’s not close to most of the tent sites.

Staff was nice and helpful. It has a small pool and game room but not much else for kids. The bugs are aggressive here, especially near the tent sites which are located near a swampy area. Definitely more of a place to stay as you are passing through, not really a destination campground.

The hosts at this campground were very nice. We had a tent site with no hook ups. The site was spacious and private-surrounded on 3 sides by trees. The bathrooms were clean. The pool area was clean and without issue. There were no extra walk ways or special features in those regards but the roads had enough of a country feel that they were fun for walking around with my kids and dog

This is an ok spot for a stop on the way somewhere else. It is a KOA, which is all you need to know. Basic campground with level sites. More space than many other KOA locations. Clean showers and bathroom.

This was a great park and close to everything. This campground was big with privacy between the camp spots. There were nice trails to help explorer the regional park. The bathrooms were nice and clean. The only down fall was there was no trash cans in the campground only with you were leaving the campground.

I was very happy with the trails and accommodations available to me, during my stay. There are park pavilions and a water park connected to the campsite, a gold course nearby, and shops, too - - but the actual campsite, bike/walking/horse trails make you forget all of that. The temperature was COLD the first night, but perfect the rest of the week. Absolutely loved the experience, and I will go again.

I went to this park for the first time last weekend, and I spent the entire time just saying“wow”. I had never been here before, despite it only being 20 minutes away, because I always prioritize going to state parks. It would never even occur to me to camp somewhere if it was less than an hour away. That is no longer true, as I immediately made reservations for this park when I got home. You might want to as well.

If you simply look at the list of amenities this park has, nature lovers would be quick to turn their nose up at it as an overly-commercialized playground. It has a golf course, a restaurant is on the grounds, there is a stable with horses/ponies that you can take guided trail rides on, a water park(it is called The Beach, which was very confusing for us when we thought we were taking the trail to an actual beach), several playgrounds, archery, an event center, frisbee golf, and yes a campground. I’m probably forgetting something, check out their website for more. Basically, check this place out if you want to get out of the house for some outdoor pandemic family fun.

Despite many of these things not being anything that I have a slight interest in, this somehow works for the park and it feels like a hidden paradise. I was immediately enthralled by the scenery as we drove into the park. There is an automated self-service station that accepts cards, or you can put cash in the drop box, a daily pass in 2021 is$6 and an annual pass is$30. It truly felt like a state park, and it’s definitely bigger than some of them(for instance it is 8x larger than Carley State Park).

The lower loops are definitely better for tent campers, even though quite a few spots could support an RV. The campground map does a good job of providing visual indicators of what a site provides. The upper loop(sits 45-64) is definitely more geared towards RVs, so not what I would consider an ideal tent site. See picture of site 47 to get a feel for what this one is like. The bathrooms were locked up, so no feedback on those at this time. They looked relatively modern though. Also there are two camper cabins, they look more utilitarian than atmospheric though. Sites that I loved: 3, 8, 10.

Overall I had a great time walking the trails, it was always kind of exciting to see what random feature was tucked seamlessly into the next bend. Based on the lack of Dyrt reviews and the overabundance of weekend availability for this campground, it might be a nice option for you to get camping even if you are a state-park-loving metro dweller like me. My reservation for a rustic site wound up being$30 for one night.

Amazing campsites nice trails clean shower's and bathroom's. There's a water park down the road and friendly staff.

Campsites were nice, good tent pads too! Very clean. Respectful neighbors