Are you planning a camping trip to Fort Ripley with your dog? We've got you covered. Finding a place to camp with your dog in Minnesota has never been easier. You're sure to find the perfect pet-friendly campsite for your Minnesota camping excursion.
$21 / night
Family memories to be made just 2 hours from the Twin Cities! It is located just 10 miles south of Brainerd/Baxter, and 20 miles north of Little Falls on Highway 371. Crow Wing Lake Campground lies on 30 wooded acres of mature trees, on the shores of 400 acre - Crow Wing Lake. We have 80 full hook up sites (some seasonal) and 20 electric/water sites. Each site comes with its own picnic table and fire ring. Our full hook up and electrical sites also have a 7’ X 20’ cement patio for a more enjoyable camping adventure. Most of our sites offer shade for those hot summer days. The campground also offers full service restrooms, laundry facilities, fish cleaning house, boat launch, docks, slips and an on-site store. Our camp store has a variety of things that you might need, or forgot to pack! We have groceries and bait, a variety of beverages, snacks, pizzas, souvenirs, camping equipment and a whole slew of other things! You can also rent pontoons, canoes, funyaks, paddleboat, and paddleboards here.
Gull Lake Recreation Area offers something for everyone with boating, hiking, fishing and swimming at Minnesota's famous Gull Lake, the largest of the 10 lakes on the Gull Chain of Lakes. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an abundance of watchable wildlife like bald eagles, white-tailed deer, river otters, a variety of songbirds, and the legendary call of the loon.
Anglers will delight in the large population of fish including stocked walleye, northern pike, bass and a variety of panfish. Boaters can access crystal clear waters throughout the chain of lakes and enjoy the peaceful sunsets overlooking the woods. Hit the self-guided interpretive trail for a short hike with wildlife watching and scenic overlooks along the lake. Hop on your bike on the City of East Gull Lake's paved multi-use trail that starts by the dam, or head out to join up with the Paul Bunyan State Trail with trailheads located in Baxter and Nisswa. Got a kayak, canoe, or intertube? Try heading down the Gull River from the lower canoe launch. Ask the Park Rangers about river safety with current water flow and check-out a life jacket before you go.
The campground sits on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake. The area was formed by a receding glacier that moved southward from Canada and carved the landscape. Gull Lake is one of the six Mississippi Headwaters Projects of the Mississippi River Watershed operated by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Gull Lake is located minutes from 520 holes of golf, the 100-mile Paul Bunyan State Trail, amusement parks, a zoo, and numerous shopping opportunities in Brainerd, Baxter, and Nisswa.
$40 / night
$22 / night
$15 / night
$7 - $17 / night
Ogechie is the more rustic of the park’s two campgrounds. This scene showcases campsite #11, which is a double site with vehicle parking on two sides. This shaded site offers tent pads, fire rings, and picnic tables.
$23 - $46 / night
Legend
This is one campground in Minnesota that offers a handful of electric hookups for winter camping. The beauty of this campground, is that while the campsites available are in a row, there's plenty of space between sites and some of them are even pulled through. Making it easy for RVs to pull in and hook up.
The vault toilet is not easy to find from where the electric openings are in the winter. While these spaces are right next door to a shower house with toilets, this is closed in the winter. The vault toilet is several rows over and down, making it hard to find if you don't already know where it is. But it was clean, and it was available.
The campfire rings seemed clean, and each had a picnic table as well. We loved the pull-through site because then we were a little more protected from the road, although it's not busy this time of year at all. So it was very quiet except for our neighbors, and they didn't make much noise at all.
There are trails nearby that are easily accessible on foot from the campground, and you can make loops that come back to the campground as well.
There are two campgrounds at this park, but this is the one that has availability in the winter time. Ironically, they also have a couple of walk-in spots that are also open this time of year. If you're willing to brave the temps without an electric hookup. Not hard to find, not hard to access, but no electric hookups at these sites.
Legend
offers sites with no hookups and sites with electric (no water, but potable water station is provided to fill up prior to parking) bathrooms and showers in the campground. Fire ring and picnic table provide for each site. Firewood and sewage dump station also provided for free to registered campers. There is a dock, sand swimming beach, horse shoe pits, disc golf, basketball court, and softball field.
Legend
Amenities I remember when we had a seasonal spot here: cabins with beautiful lake view, boathouse lodge and game room, sunbathing dock on the water, large picnic grounds, sand-filled playground, paddleboard &kayak rentals, boat ramp and launching service, boat & pontoon rental, boatlifts, gas, oil, tackle and live bait, screened-in fish cleaning house, sand volleyball, mini golf, laundry.
The nearby town of Osakis has convenience stores, grocery, liquor stores, gas, bars and restaurants, etc. Lake osakis is usually pretty good for fishing.
Legend
Stayed here kind of last minute on my way home and wanted electric hook ups.
Still open in the winter! Convenient location right off I94 and HWY 23. Close to Waite Park for entertainment and food. Love's is open 24 hours and has most things you would need. There is also a Hardee's if you need dinner!
Legend
stayed here in the winter when the park was doing their lantern-lit snowshoe trail. They have 1 site available in the winter (125e I believe.. in the lower campground). We had room for a truck bed camper and a pop up clam ice fishing tent. Fire ring and picnic table at the site. The bathrooms and showers were closed for the season but cannot recall. Firewood is available at the office.
Legend
park features fishing in Whiskey Creek, (stocked with rainbow trout, crappies, and sunfish), picnic area, children's playground, semi-enclosed shelters, campground area with full hook-up and tent sites, two camping cabins, softball fields, frisbee golf, volleyball area and a children's zoo, which includes buffalo, whitetail deer, peacocks, and golden pheasants. Site had picnic table and fire ring.
We thoroughly enjoyed the frisbee golf and the zoo!
Legend
full hookup sites with picnic table and fire ring. Pool, playground, sand volleyball court, basketball court, shuffleboard, horseshoes. Showers and flush toilets in campground. Office has firewood, ice cream, candy, and other miscellaneous items for sale.
Dog friendly; Roscoe definitely enjoyed some lazy days here!!
Legend
We stay every year typically for the legion's annual beer run! Great lake views and close to town. Boat launch is close by, bathrooms, showers, fish cleaning house provided.
Traveler
Rolled up in the middle of the night. $10 cash in the box for a tent site. Clean bathroom with shower. Felt safe and fell asleep quickly with the sound of the creek next to our site. Would definitely stay again.
Guide
The campground was nicely maintained. Had a nice pool and friendly seasonal campers. The management and reservation process was less than desirable. Very difficult to get ahold of management and upon arrival they had given our reserved site away to someone else and moved us. Paid for a water/ electric site and were moved to an electric only site and no cost difference or refund offered.
Traveler
We got to the site and we had low branches asked them to cut them. They said they were at there standards so we had hold it up. Them the site next to us had to have rock concrete us and 4 others called several times nothing
Traveler
Came through on an evening in July to meet a buddy canoeing the misssissippi. This was easily the buggiest site we stayed in all summer. Mosquitos so thick we had to wear nets over our faces. Maybe we’re just sensitive about it, but it was hard to get anything done.
Guide
There are many different sites (most just pull offs) in this area! I did see one that was pull through further down game refuge road. The cell service with Verizon is good enough to stream videos and work on your laptop with ease. There aren't too many people in the area, even on a Sunday in July. The bugs are not great but that's just what you're going to get in an area like this one. Overall I would definitely stay here again.
GuideNice campground. We were dry camping in the RV since there was no water. Still a nice place for a winter getaway. Will go back in the fall!
Ranger
Nice trails along the Mississippi River, easy to walk, good signage on trails, and good information signs with history of each site along the trail.
Very Clean men’s bathroom. One shower needs a new shower head.
Sites 40 to 45 are very nice and secluded. Sites 58 and 59 are prime secluded sites.
TravelerWe arrived, checked it out and decided to leave. The grassy sites had recently been mowed, but were very muddy and right on top of each other. Lots of people fishing. We just felt exposed. Drive to Birch Lake State Forest instead.
ScoutThis is a great state park. Group camping comes with its own bathroom building and shelter building with wood stove. The water is quite clean. Also there's even hot water in the bathroom.
Legend
Smaller campsite with less spaces but right on the waters edge which provides a breeze and keeps the bugs down. Wet spring so Kathoy was terrible but works here. Trails, town which has a grocery store, place to wash cloths and a place to trade out the books I've ready for a new set. Good connectivity so easy to work from with decent bathrooms.
LegendI came in the spring it was a wet spring there were a lot of bugs. The trails are probably not maintained because it was so wet but they were almost impossible to hike on simply because of the amount of mosquitoes. The bathrooms are nice the camp spots were nice they had good signage for the archaeological stuff. It was just very hard to enjoy it because it was so overwhelmingly buggy.
GuideThe campsite was pretty wooded on most sides. I visited in the late spring so there were quite a few mosquitos since the campground is near the river. Bathrooms/showers were cleanish, water was mid from the outdoor taps but not horrible
LegendSmall, well spaced out camp spots and very quiet. This was a wet spring and under the trees, the bugs were overwhelming so keep that in mind. Few nice trails, several museums right across the street, really nice parks in little falls and neat views of the dam on the river
LegendThis is a more rustic State Park. There's lots of history here most of it is just a plaque not actually something to see. The river was really high and there was a fair amount of mosquitoes outside but a lot of trails and a lot of signs and a lot of history in the park.
ScoutHiking was great, we saw an albino deer on the hiking club trail! Site was a bit tight for our travel trailer and a tight fit to back up on the pad. Recent rain had the campsites pretty muddy but the paved spaces were well maintained.
RangerNice wooded campground. Gravel sites, fairly level. Water fill and firewood available at the registration building. The water was high in iron.
Canoe and kayak rentals available. Lots of trails for hiking and biking. Bring bug spray in the summer!
Historical sites along hiking path.
Bathrooms and showers were decent. Dump station on site.
LegendCamped here on Oct 9, 2023. Large wooded campground on the lakefront. Easy access to the beach. Hiking trail. Very clean restroom/shower house. Level gravel campsite with metal fire ring and table. Water spigot short walk from campsite. Campground can accomodate all sorts of camping rigs. Paved campground loop road. Nice hosts and park ranger. Need to reserve online. Quiet. peaceful evening.
LegendCamped at Site #21 on Oct 8, 2023. Nice city park. Clean campsites along Sauk Lake. Fishing pier nearby. The office was closed for the season with the water & electric turned off, and the campground restroom closed. I don't mind this except that the $25 camping fee was high for the shut-offs & closures. (The was an open restroom down by the boat ramp.) There was trash service. Close to town, the campground was well maintained. There was a table & hookups pedestal. Good place for an overnight stay.
ScoutThe linked website says this is a year round park. Called to make sure payment could be done after 5, which is when I found out that it’s in fact not open year round, even without hookups.
Discover the best spots for pets-allowed camping near Fort Ripley, Minnesota, where you and your furry friends can enjoy the great outdoors together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular dog-friendly campsite near Fort Ripley, MN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular dog-friendly campground near Fort Ripley, MN is Crow Wing State Park Campground with a 3.9-star rating from 25 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 112 dog-friendly camping locations near Fort Ripley, MN, with real photos and reviews from campers.
