Best Campgrounds near Ely, MN

You must have a BWCA permit to canoe in and camp here.

Paddle in is only about 10 min from the entry point. The portage is FIRST from the parking lot- not even a half mile on a very well maintained trail/path that's fairly flat to a very nice landing on Slim Lake.

Great flat tent pads!! Under pines, more than enough room for a 6 person, 4 person and a 2 person with room for a few more small tents. Very flat pads (most of them) and all are on pine needles. Soft!

Camp kitchen (ie:  flat rocks/stumps for cooking) don't really exist making it a bit of a challenge, but totally do-able.  There are wooden benches around the firepit that worked. 

Toilet is up in the woods - normal pit style toilet with no walls, but hidden from camp by trees in the summer.  In the fall/early spring you might be able to see camp. Take the easy to find trail out of the camp and follow to the LEFT. Straight up will take you up the ridge to another short trail to the top.

Fire pit looks out at the lake, canoe landing isn't the best, but not bad. Easy to grab water from the same spot. Most other areas around camp are steeper rock. But it's good fishing for small bass in the area. We did catch/release since they were small. 

Plenty of hammock trees and wild blueberries everywhere in July!

A beautiful, remote, and rugged park that is close to the North Shore, but isolated from the busy tourist areas. Trails were rugged but well maintained and marked. With a combination of permethrin-treated long sleeve shirt and pants, and deet bug spray, bugs did not bother me at all although they were certainly out and about. Site BP4 is beautiful set right on the river, and had access to a few big rocks in the river to sit on and enjoy the views. The site is relatively big and level, with a few different spots available to pitch your tent or have multiple tents. Being able to fall asleep to the sound of the river was lovely. The site is directly on the trail, but this did not bother me as the trail is not busy (I saw 2 or 3 people hiking past during my two days there). Site BP3 also looked like a prime spot, as it is also right on the river but off the trail a bit. There was some sort of latrine pretty close up the trail, but I did not use it.

It's been a few years since I camped at Little Isabella, and they've been kind to the campground. The trees are taller, the river is wider, and visitation is back to pre-pandemic levels. (Light) My pastor-wife had church duties for Trinity Sunday, so she let me take a solo trip to LIRCG. Pouring rain everywhere south of Duluth, clear and sunny at Isabella, which made for unseasonably cold (mid-30°s) nights for mid-June. That made the bugs almost non-existent. Aurora Borealis lit up the night sky, which made it a little more tolerable. Campground was immaculate despite Forest Service staffing cuts, vault latrines were clean and odor free. Only one other site of 11 occupied all weekend. Little Isabella River itself is much wider than some other reviews have posted. All in all, it was a great weekend and I plan on coming back later this summer.

Camped in site 14 as part of our visit to all MN state parks. Very familiar with the area due to the BWCA but not this state park. Our site had a great combination of open area for wind flow and sun and shade to put our tent in. Again faced with great bathrooms a short walk and showers/larger rest room a short distance away. The site itself offered some of the more sheltered/remote camping locations of our trip (found those on the North Shore to be stacked on top one another) which is becoming nicer and nicer with the increase in RVs and generators in state parks. Lovely park, friendly staff, would love to visit again!

We stayed in site L for one night and had a great time! We could see lake superior and part of Palisade head from our campsite, which was awesome. Sites were fully hidden from each other, spacious, and comfortable. We were able to hike to the high falls and shovel point directly from our campsite.

I gave it a 4 not a 5 because we could hear traffic from highway 61 all night. Ground was rocky, and the walk to these cart in campsites was wayyyy longer than other cart in sites we had stayed at! There was also no water easily accessible from the site without a filter.

Still, the views were beautiful, the privacy from other sites was fantastic, and being able to hike out to some of the best hikes in the park was a huge perk. We will definitely be going back! Sites G and I seem to be the best views

I loved being able to scramble down to the rocks (definitely have to be pretty able bodied) and watch the sun come up over the lake. Definitely worth staying multiple days if you book a cart in site!