Best Tent Camping near Empire, MN

Recent Tent Reviews in Empire

585 Reviews of 16 Empire Campgrounds

• 

  Equity

  Scout

  

  Oct. 15, 2024

  Highland Ridge

  15% Profit Share in the Challenge Stage https://instantfundingnow.com/#

   15% Profit Share in the Challenge Stage https://instantfundingnow.com/#

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  Jeff F.

  Traveler

  

  Oct. 13, 2024

  Highland Ridge

  Beautiful in the fall

  This is a smaller Corps of Engineers park, lots of primitive sites and lots electric sites too. A smaller lake but no gas motors. Cell service with Verizon was ok.

• 

  Katherine T.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 1, 2024

  Nerstrand Big Woods State Park Campground

  Nice weekend get away

  Nice distance from the twin cities for a weekend away with some nice hiking trails. The tent pads have been upgraded to pea gravel by the friends association (which seems to be quite active based on signage around park improvements). Showers and bathrooms were clean. Wi-Fi near the park entrance and spotty T-Mobile service throughout. The outside of the loop is good for tent camping but could be a little noisy if the campground had been fully booked.

• 

  Travis A.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 28, 2024

  High Island Creek Park

  Free dispersed camping

  I stayed four nights. I would have stayed longer but ran out of water. There isn't any potable water on site. During a hot day, I took my two dogs and we hiked to a nearby river. We cooled off and enjoyed the peace and quite. The only downside is no potable water and lots of mesquites.

• 

  Stina M.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 26, 2024

  Float-Rite Park

  This park is closed permanently

  This campground is closed permanently

• 

  ron R.

  Ranger

  

  Aug. 14, 2024

  High Island Creek Park

  Virtually noises

  I'm spending three nights here. I'm writing my review after my second day. The campground is kept up very well. It has garbage cans and porta pottys. When I got here it was empty. Nice open spots and a good amount of tree cover.

• 

  Kim R.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 7, 2024

  River View Campground

  Great family campground

  Lots of activities for kids and teens. Teen social on Fridays to help them meet friends. Nice pool. The campground is on a hill if you have mobility issues. Many spots along the river.

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  wayne O.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 5, 2024

  Minneapolis Southwest KOA

  Older koa

  We stayed at this koa because it was our only way to watch softball tournament. We stayed 5 days and it was fairly nice. People that were working were very helpful and nice. Lost power a couple hours twice because of branches falling g from trees.

• 

  Molly M.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 4, 2024

  Willow River State Park Campground

  Very nice camping

  Lovely trails, the beach is a large area with a nice park and picnic area. The water itself is ok, lots of geese and algae. The falls are wonderful though. The bathrooms are fine. I could not find a garbage bin to save my life, not near the bathrooms or anywhere in campground 200 or by the park ranger post. If there were garbage cans dispersed throughout the campground, I would have given 5 stars. Especially along the trail to the waterfalls because there was garbage all along the trail unfortunately. Not the camps fault, but maybe people would be more responsible if garbage bins were placed along the route.

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  Sherry H.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 2, 2024

  High Island Creek Park

  Magical

  Good vibes it’s a magical place when u go hiking down the hill to the hidden creeks trails and absolute peace being one with nature..

• 

  Leslie P.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 31, 2024

  Lebanon Hills Regional Park

  Jewel near the cit

  Stayed here while visit our son. Picked it because it was close. We were very surprised at the privacy of our site. We were in the east loop with just electric.

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  Tim

  Guide

  

  Jul. 31, 2024

  William O'Brien State Park Campground

  OK but not great

  The east part of the park was all closed for construction. Everything on the east side of the highway was closed so we could not hike a lot of the trails or use the beach which was a challenge with kids. Constructing is scheduled to the end of 2025.

  We stayed in a group site but there was no way 35 people could have camped in W3. Vaulted toilets need help and a good cleaning.

  The shower house needed a cleaning as well. There is no adjusting the shower temperature. Push the button and you get what you get.

  Wood was $8 bundle. This was steep in my opinion. They do not all any gathering of firewood.

  If your vehicle permit is not properly displayed, you will receive a notice on your windshield and have to talk with the office.

  The dumpster was overflowing the whole time we were there.

  Raccoons will visit your site at night. We had everything secured but they still tried and plenty of racket until we chased them away.

  Lastly we had a battle with mosquitoes. We went through a lot of bug spray and coils. Deer flies were thick around the water filling station.

  Although we did not stay in the main campground the sites are very close in there and were small.

• p

  peter V.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 23, 2024

  Lake Elmo County Park Reserve

  Great camping

  This was a great experience overall. The sites are spacious and far enough away from others to feel like there was enough privacy.

  The one negative thing was that some neighbors watched a movie each night — starting just after quiet hours. We could hear their movie from across a road and through some trees (and tents).

  But overall it was great. Good hiking and geocaching.

  We would go back to this campground.

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  John B.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 20, 2024

  Highland Ridge

  Clean and relatively quiet

  Lots of RV campers, but none were obnoxious. T-mobile service is almost non-existent depending on location. The showers and bathrooms were spotless. Firewood is available at several roadside stands just outside the entrance.

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  Sharon

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 16, 2024

  Baker Campground - Baker Park Reserve

  Favorite spot

  This is just the best campground that is close to Minneapolis! Peaceful, quiet, with spacious sites that are situated in a staggered way, so you never feel like you’re on top of each other. The lake was a bit reedy and silty but overall a fantastic and easy option.

• 

  Jarrett G.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 15, 2024

  Willow River State Park Campground

  Awesome park!

  Plenty of sites and hiking to do. Very cool area. The falls are awesome!

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  Mia F.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 13, 2024

  Minneapolis Southwest KOA

  Unlevel sites, broken dump station

  About the only nice thing about this place is the lady who answered the phone, Valerie.

  She was extremely nice other than that it was gravel. Roads that were poorly maintained trucks were parked sticking out into the road making it difficult to get around. The site was very unlevel and the water Spicket didn’t really work very well.. we paid for two nights and bought a KOA review or rewards program to do it… We refused to stay the second night when we called to see if we could get our money back the gentleman who checked us in as a ground tender was rude and choppy he wasn’t very friendly when he brought us into the place.

  The place was packed like sardines… Very difficult to negotiate at night.

  Overall, the worst campground we’ve stayed in in the two RV trips we’ve taken from Florida to Minnesota. There are so many beautiful state parks don’t bother with this KOA not even for a one nighter.

  We were stuck on a back loop. There were a lot of mosquitoes bugs and mud… It just wasn’t a nice experience.

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  Pad F.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 27, 2024

  Nerstrand Big Woods State Park Campground

  Peaceful weekend camping

  Stayed on non electric site which looking at the whole campground are the better sites. Sites are wooded so you don’t have neighbor issues. All have large pea gravel tent pads - very nice. Good fire rings with lots of room for lounging. Many trails to hike but due to prior heavy rain the only trail open was down to Hidden Falls - they were roaring. No cell/ very patchy cell signal and could only get WiFi signal when standing next to Ranger station. Would definitely visit again, maybe in the fall as I’m told the colors are wonderful.

• 

  Joslyn H.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 27, 2024

  Bunker Hills Regional Park

  Love bunker!

  I have stayed at Bunker a few times in site 33 and one of the walk in sites. Site 33 is very large and also very wide open. The walk in sites are a lot more secluded but not totally private. Really enjoy camping here, just wish it wasn't so expensive. It costs more than staying at a state park.

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  Ralph K.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 5, 2024

  Bunker Hills Regional Park

  Same day booking

  Went early in the season in the afternoon and had no problems getting a good spot with electric hookups. Better for someone with an RV, and more seemingly a weekend spot for the family.

• 

  Jaime P.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 3, 2024

  Hidden Meadows RV Park

  Staff friendly, but the park is not so great

  Campsites are very closely spaced together. I was thankful no one was placed near our campsite to give us more room. The permanent campsites are practically on top of one another. If you’re bringing the kids there is literally nothing to do there. They do have a play-set but that’s where it ends. I think this campground may be under new ownership and it may be nice to see what they do with it in a year or two. For now the picnic tables are run down. The parking pads are very unlevel. WiFi signal is weak at best. If you have Verizon don’t count on service. Antenna strength is weak. Also oddly spaced power hook up with sewer and water placements. Overall not a horrible experience but not a great one. Mostly like will not return.

• 

  Vanessa B.

  Scout

  

  May. 27, 2024

  Kamp Dels

  Camp Dels

  Camp Dels Review

  Worth the read!

  Charges:

  They charged us half of what my cousin next to us got charged and we got the same thing but mine should have been more because I had 3 more adults. And it was 500$ for 3 nights. We should have just went and rented out a house. 

  On the last day we went up to get our bills fixed and it took 40 min for them to figure out the issue, wrote down the totals and said we'll charge the cards at 11 am when the other guy comes in. At 11am we went back up for our receipts and it took them another 20 min to figure it out. He wanted to send us away saying. I'll figure it out and email it to you. I said no that doesn't work for me I'll take it now. He said what would you like me to do. So I had to spell it out for him and said "I want you to take the full amount your charging me, subtract the deposit, then subtract the payment I made when I came on Friday, and now tell me what I owe today, run that amount on my card right now and give me the receipt and do the same for the other site we had too. It's not hard. However you have to do it in your computer you figure it out, I just want to go home. I'll wait" he said your right it's not hard. I said start over completely if you want I don't care. I just want my receipts. (They couldn't even figure out math and how simple it was. What are they going to do if there computers ever fail totally) it was painfully funny to endure both times I sat through Watching with my bill!

  Night time:

  So at night get ready to be harassed every 30 minutes to a hour by workers trying to bully you to bed every night if you choose to stay up past 11pm. And they pick out the 1 drunk guy in your group to try and cope with when the sober one is saying "hey I'm sober. I don't drink. Can you please answer and talk to me" but they are rude to you and refuse. They pick at the drunk guy. But that was every night. All 3 nights. 1st time they come it is 1guy. 2nd time 2guys. 3rd time 3guys come. 4th time 4guys. 5th time 4guys come. They start at 11pm telling people to turn off all music (even on the phone turned way down. Even watching a video outside. Even if your humming/singing together, lol he said no/off, now). Of course we complied though.

  At 12am they say time for bed and then start tying to reason with you about coming back for a time when it's going to be all over at. At 12:30/1am they will come back a 3rd time and start bullying again. And say put it out now and throw a fit when you don't completely comply. So they say "I'll be back in 15 min and we are done, fire goes out and you are all going to bed". So at 1:15 perfectly on time their gang comes to harass you adults to go to bed. He screams I'm not leaving until your fires out and your all in bed. I tell him to shhhhhh! And now the drunk guy who paid 500$ to be here gets his wood doused with water and is livid. And some of us drop off every time they come because they are so rude and don't want to deal with it but I'm sober and an adult and No one is going to put me to bed. All the adults there are waisted all day and not watching their kids. And now I know why. We talk to all our neighbors plus we are there with about 10 other scattered around sites and every neighbor couldn't believe what they were doing saying we weren't even loud. We had no music and a small fire with a few people. I kept walking 5 away to go pee and I couldn't hear our group any of the nights. And we weren't even all at 1 fire either.

  * And throughout every interaction the non-drinker asks respectively (me) where in your rules or on the website does it say adults have a bed time by 1am and you guys go around harassing repeatedly trying to cause problems starting at 11pm and bully them them to bed???? Maybe you should be more transparent or be more humble and kind with your discretion. No one is being loud and belligerent. But I was ignored. Because if it had sad that on line or had I been warned about the worker's behavior after 11pm we wouldn't have came. We ourselves had 2 spots. The guy we knew who invited us had like 8 spots with him and needless to say none of us and anyone we know will ever come to 

  Camp Hels. 

  The workers/people:

  Some shouldn't work with the public. But they are all family! All related just about! And they let you know it! Some of them also let you know that they aren't saposed to be working but that they are there working anyways! So I put money in for the batting cages. Nothing happened so i swiped the playing card again. A guy and lady walk out. I said excuse me. Im not sure im doing it right but i think it took my money. She yelled at me that "we are having problems, dont I see that, give us some time". So i waited. It looked like they were going to leave so i told the guy what happened to my card and he said sure we'll refund it. The last ones not working. (But they didnt put a sign on it) and he told the lady to deal with my refund. And she came and yelled at me again. I tried to explain myself but there's no talking to her. Pretty sure she was drunk. She said stay right here. Ill be back. I waited for 30 min for a refund at the batting cages. Come to find out no one works up there. She went to the office to get a refund. But I had to call the front desk to see if someone was even coming back. And he asked her while holding the phone "do you got people waiting on you up there? We'll get going there still waiting." When she got back she yelled "so who's waiting on me!" Like she didn't ask me to stay put like a dog. And was rude again. But I got a new card and 20 new mosquito bites.

  There was other little things that were observed and overhead from other guests like at the pool, concert, petting zoo and other places too. We couldn't mention them all. We are very social and people loved all the stuff to do but hated the way they were all treated. We talked to a few seasonal owners and they say they get treated the same and hate it. 

  The sites/cleanliness/activities:

  Lifeguards were nice. Business and all activities inside the campground ran smoothly and weren't awful at all. The kids enjoyed themselves using the amenities and activities. The bathrooms were ok and pretty clean. Some trash cans had overflowing garbage and a lot all over after events. I never saw anyone picking it up. But you could always see someone riding a golf cart being bossy. It was nice to see they gave their zoo animals long breaks from feeding and petting. Some of the birds looked like they had Veterinarian feather/skin illnesses. They call it a petting zoo but there's really no petting. 

  Recommendations:

  Don't ever go. Or camp next door or close or get a house then just pay for a day pass if you can.

  If CAMP DELS is reading this you should be more transparent on your site and train your family/workers to be more kind and just walk by reminding people to stay quit at night. Insted of being on a power trip demanding adults have a bed time, pretending you don't have discretion and choices yourselves on who and where you are actually creating the problem, bullying and then playing victim. Because the only thing your accomplishing every night is pissing people off. There is a better way. Weather your there or not trying to throw your authority around, people will go to bed. Example PD dont go into bars after 12am harassing people saying "times a coming guys! I'm going to close you down". You should only be keeping people from getting out of hand. Not causing it. Another fantastic idea is have an adult camping section where quiet time is 11pm and adults can go to bed when they choose! Instead of trying to take away people's freedom, especially on Memorial weekend! God bless and hope I never see any of you at Camp Dels ever again.

• 

  Andrew K.

  Guide

  

  May. 25, 2024

  High Island Creek Park

  Very close

  Very close to other campers, but no one bothered anyone. Dog didn’t go nuts, got a good spot. Would recommend. Tent camping on the way to Alaska and filled all needs. Has a Porta-shitter and trash. Decent spot, windy.

• 

  Tiffany K.

  Guide

  

  May. 13, 2024

  Willow River State Park Campground

  Nice state park close to the twin cities

  Stayed here for our first camping of the season. It's a great park that has hiking, mountain bike trails, water features and good mix of electric and non electric sites.

• 

  Jordan D.

  Traveler

  

  May. 11, 2024

  Afton State Park Campground

  Sites with privacy and great trails near!

  Good pricing, great trails for all different skill levels and nice staff. Our site was mighty large and for the most part secluded from those near and on the path. $22 for the site, $8 for reservation. $8 for wood (all you can chop) and $7 for the overnight and next day parking pass for one car. Beautiful surroundings and clean bathrooms and grills one mile mostly uphill hike from parking lot but not to difficult and some paved parts. Definitely coming back.

• 

  Ken

  Scout

  

  Apr. 18, 2024

  Willow River State Park Campground

  Great park for quick city getaway

  It’s a great park conveniently located near the twin cities making it a great spot for a quick getaway.

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  Skip H.

  Ranger

  

  Feb. 1, 2024

  High Island Creek Park

  Great park!

  As previously stated, you need to follow up with the sheriif. They just want to know the duration of stay, people in the group, and vehicle information. I'm winter camping during the warm spell here in MN, and it's pretty quiet. The area is muddy with the thaw, but that's to be expected. There's quite a number of spots that all have fire rings. A large 5th wheel might have a struggle with some of the spots depending on availability, but anything else should be fine.