Best Tent Camping near Erhard, MN

Delagoon Campground is located within Delagoon Park which is on the outskirts of Fergus Falls, the County seat of Ottertail County. The campground has 22 campsites with 14 being camper/tent sites with water & 20/30 electricity. The campsites are gravel back-in with no separation between sites so privacy is limited. The tent-only sites are against a line of trees but are still open to other campers. There are fire rings but no picnic tables so bring your camping chairs. The fishing pier is large and handicap accessible. There are non-plumbed but modern and clean restrooms within the park. The campground gets used a lot by local residents looking for a quick weekend getaway but there are usually several open spots available that are low in cost ($10 for tent-only & $20 for hookup sites). Registration is first come first serve via a self serve kiosk at the campground entrance. The noise level within the campground can be pretty high on weekends. There are no posted quiet times or on-site staff who manage the campground (it is managed by the Fergus Falls Park & Rec Dept) although the local police drive through frequently when the campground is inhabited.

End of October, Stopped for just one night, probably about a 20ish minute drive from 94. Was able to purchase firewood after closing, and the campsite were easy to find after (7$)entry to the park. Campsites are reserved through an online system. We found the top campsite completely empty and plenty of sites had good tree coverage for privacy/ way no protection. Nice level sites with soft ground. Each site had a fire ring and picnic table. The only bathroom in walking distance to the upper campsites was a vault toilet located amongst the cabins. Seems like a great place to stay any season.

Each site has a picnic table and some sites have a fire ring.  There are tent-only sites that have no hookups and there are semi-private sites for RVs with electric hookup only or sites that are closer together for RVs that have full hookups.

Call 218-747-2959 to book a site.  The campground has a lot of trees and most campsites are on grass.

There is also a motel and cabins on-site that you can book.  The motel rooms, cabins and new cabins (these are like smaller mobile homes) are all lakeside giving you nice views.  

The campground has paddle boards, paddle boats, kayaks and canoes that are available to guests at no extra charge, too.  You can rent a fishing boat or pontoon either by the day or the week.  There is a fish cleaning house on-site as well.  

This campground is in the heart of Minnesota's lake's country.

Leap Day 2/29/20-3/1/20 Frog Pond

We headed to Lake Carlos for their candlelight ski, this was our first visit to this state park. Tent camping wasn’t available and we were able to reserve a camper cabin - Frog Pond. It was a nice change and a warmer option, the cabin is gorgeous! Frog Pond sleeps 6 with heat and electricity. There are 4 cabins that share 2 vault toilets.

It was a beautiful 38 degree Leap Day and we took advantage of it. They offer a large number of ski trails so we xcountry skied before dark. The trails were icy, but still enjoyable. At dark we headed to the candlelight event. It was very busy and a huge turnout. We hiked 1.2 miles and then snowshoed 2.4 miles. There are ponds and bogs that they create snowshoe trails on, so there are even more trails to explore in the winter. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed the wooded trails and starry skies. We had a fire and enjoyed a normal outdoor cookout before bed.

We did more skiing on Sunday and checked out the 2 campgrounds as they were on the ski route. One campground is on Lake Carlos and very open. Sites have beautiful lake views. You can apparently drive your boat right into a sandy shore and dock it. They also have a swimming beach. The other campground is a bit more wooded and more suited for tents. This campground is near the camper cabins. The trails are very wooded and pretty. We enjoyed skiing the hiking club trail and ended up hitting almost every trail in our stay. I assume this park would be equally beautiful in the summer. What a beautiful state park!

Delagoon is the City Park & Camping area on the outskirt of Fergus Falls, the County seat of Ottertail County. The campground is comprised of about 20 campsites with several designated for tent or RV and includes 20/30 amp & water hookups. The other sites on the west side when you enter are tent-only sites with no electricity but there is running water supply outside the bathrooms located within the campground. The sites are spacious but there are no trees separating campsites so privacy is minimal, although the views are beautiful. The bathrooms within the campground and near the playground are modern but not plumbed. Hand sanitizer is refilled often but you may want to bring your own tp in case it has been used or taken. Pebble Lake, the lake adjacent to the campground is accessible by a road to a walking area for shoreline fishing or a road within the camping area leads to a fishing pier, usually installed by May 1. Softball and soccer teams play most days of the week in the summer. There are four softball fields and one soccer field.

I stayed here with a few friends in the winter when the park was doing their lantern-lit snowshoe trail. They have 1 site (electric) available in the winter. We had room for a truck bed camper and a pop-up clam ice fishing tent. A couple and their 2 dogs stayed in the truck camper and me and another friend stayed in the clam with an electric space heater going in addition to our 0 degree bags. It stayed pretty cozy! Fire ring and picnic table at the site. I believe the bathrooms and showers were closed for the season but cannot recall. Firewood is available at the office.

A glorious little site nested in the trees. So close to the parking area it's a breeze to get to, yet far enough away you'd never guess you were near your car (except for very occasional road noise). Great place to camp with kiddos to get them used to the woods!

Campsite Review:

My husband and I are lucky enough to live easy driving distance from one of the longest (yet little talked about) hiking trails in the country. The North Country Trail (NCT) runs from North Dakota to New York and all the states in between. It spans Minnesota, not far from our home, and so we love to take overnights and day trips to the trail, sometimes with the pooches!

This campsite doesn't really have an official name, but it's literally only about 100 yards, if that, from the parking area at the 400th Ave trailhead in the Laurentian Chapter. Close enough that you can leave non essentials in the car and run back for them if you need to. You could even haul your food back to the car instead of hanging it if you wanted to. Great little stop for thru hikers or section hikers, yet perfect for a quick overnight with the kids, if they were itching to camp somewhere other than your back yard.

It has a great little fire ring with a grate that swings out of the way. A tent pad that's sort of wonky, but you can find a bit of a flat spot if you move closer to the fire. A two sided latrine is just down the path and there is a great big beautiful bench! It looks very new, and it's carved (whittled?) out of a large log of some sort. Solid and gorgeous! There's a little road noise, but not much because it's a logging road, not a highway.

I highly recommend this spot to families and hikers alike!