Escape into nature and disconnect from daily life with glamping near Hay Creek. Glamping near Hay Creek is a great way to travel off the beaten path. Find the right glamping site for you with our user-submitted photos, reviews, and tips. Glamping offers quick access to one or more of Hay Creek's most popular destinations.
Located on the St. Croix River, just 20 miles east of Saint Paul, Afton State Park is great for those looking for camping near Minneapolis and is 1600 acres of rolling prairies, oak woodlands, and limestone river canyons amid an ancient glacial landscape. The land for the park was acquired in 1967, but it took almost 15 years of planning revisions and compromises with local residents before the park finally opened in 1982. Little development has gone into Afton State Park in an effort to maintain its natural characteristics, and former farmland atop the bluffs are continuously being restored to their original state. This makes Afton an ideal destination for campers looking to experience the outdoors in a wilder setting.
Load up your backpack with all you’ll need for your stay, as camping at Afton State Park requires a hearty, 0.75-mile hike in from the parking area. The year-round campground offers 27 rustic sites with picnic tables and fire pits, with options for pitching your tent in either open or wooded areas. There is drinking water, a vault toilet and firewood is supplied within the camp area. There is also three boat-in campsites, and two group campsites that can accommodate up to 60 people each. If you’d rather not rough it, the park also offers four camping cabins and two yurts, some of which are wheelchair accessible. There are also several picnic areas and restrooms within the park. Campsite rates range from $15–$23/night; cabins range from $55–$70/night, and yurts $50–$65/night.
When you’re ready to explore, start at the park’s Nature Store where you can pick up information about the park’s flora and fauna, or join a nature walk. Then choose from more than 20 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails, as well as a short barrier-free path. If you’re visiting in winter, many of these trails are open for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Bring your GPS and go on a geocaching treasure hunt, or bring your binoculars and go on safari for a variety of migratory birds, waterfowl, and wildlife, including deer, foxes and badgers. And little ones will love becoming Junior Park Naturalists and learning about bugs, birds, plants and other critters. If you’re looking for a real outdoor adventure, Afton State Park has what you’re looking for.
Schools of trout happily swim through the lazy Whitewater River and various spring fed creeks of Whitewater State Park. And while it’s known for its fantastic fishing opportunities, the park also boasts year-round interpretive programs, a modern Visitor Center, and an especially appreciated lack of mosquitos, unique for the region.
Whitewater is well seasoned, with a number of historical attractions within and nearby. In fact, 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the park. To commemorate the occasion, local conservationists and naturalists have teamed up to release a special Oral History Project from stories of campers and those native to the region.
Explorers and adventurers will love this park’s diverse selection of attractions and oddities. Home of the park office and interpretive services, the Whitewater Valley Visitor Center should be your first stop. The friendly Park staff are ready to help you plan your visit and load you up on information, and even loaner equipment such as GPS units, fishing kits, discovery kits for kids, and birding kits. Don’t skip the Discovery Room, which showcases nature displays, exhibits and a spotting area to observe the local bluebirds, cardinals, hawks and bald eagles flying about.
The vast expanse of outdoor wilderness is really what you’ll want to check out. If you only have time for a quick visit, check out the Chimney Rock Trail for an awesome view of the Whitewater River. Those searching for a more accessible hike can take the Meadow Trail, which drops off right into a grassy valley, surrounded by dramatic Minnesota bluffs. During the hot and humid summers, go unwind at the beach for a refreshing dip in the cold, spring-fed water. Those more interested in history lovers should visit the famous Elba Fire Tower. Built in 1933, this sturdy tower offers cozy 360 degree views of the entire wetland region below. You’ll be especially grateful for the chance to unwind, thanks to the arduous 500-step climb required to ascend to the top.
Finally, firmly planted atop the land sits Inspiration Point; a beautiful limestone rock outcrop that overlooks the entirety of the Whitewater valley. Known as the most popular attraction within Whitewater State Park, visitors can still discover solace from their troubles. In fact, this is the only overlook in the entire park where there are no signs of civilization anywhere in sight. With just a little imagination, standing atop Inspiration Point on a clear, calm day can make you feel as if you could step down into a deep forested paradise, unspoiled and far from the reach of society.
Whitewater campground here is plentiful, with every site having full electric hookups and full-through capabilities. The campground features a full range of amenities including regularly placed shower houses with laundry facilities, and a number of group camping areas as well. Furthermore, there are 5 cabins available with various sleeping capabilities.
Kruger Management Unit campground is adjacent to the Zumbro River Water Trail. The campsites are considered primitive, designed to furnish only the basic needs of the camper. Each has a cleared area, fire ring, and table. Vault toilets, garbage cans, and drinking water are available. All sites are on a first-come, first-served basis for a fee. Quiet hours are between 10:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. (this includes no generator use). Please be considerate of others around you.
$14 / night
$85 / night
Guide
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.
ScoutI 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!
ScoutAfton is a gorgeous park. There's beautiful trails that take you through dense woods and prairie, and then you take a pretty decline to get to the St Croix River. It was foggy when we were there but still gorgeous. We also managed to get a yurt and it was so much fun. Comfy beds, room for 7 and it was clean and well built. This is a great park!
Scout
GGreat campground! Awesome hiking, nice swimming beach. Big nature store with lots of great stuff. Lots of spots for great fishing.
Best part: very few mosquitoes!! (The cold, constantly moving water helps keep them away.)
One of my favorite parks in the state of Minnesota.
GuideWhitewater is by far one of the top state parks in Minnesota. Their camping facilities are clean with running water and free showers. The campsites are quite spacious but not too wooded. They have a few walk in sites but they go fast.
The best part about whitewater are the trails and views. It is located in a carved glacier valley and is surrounded by limestone. I recommend moderate to experienced hikers due to the intense climb to get to the popular views. It’s worth the visit!
LegendAbout the park Whitewater State Park is a much sought-after place to camp for those that know about this region’s#1 feature- MINIMAL MOSQUITOES. I won’t say zero mosquitoes because there might be one or two that wander in there, but we did not encounter a single one on our overnight stay there. We kept on exclaiming how weird to not hear and contribute to the camping soundtrack of bugs getting slapped. Basically what you need to know is that the last set of glaciers missed this region, which left behind limestone that absorbs rainwater quickly- and since mosquitoes breed in warm shallow water they don’t really have a lot of opportunities to do so in this region.
This region also has many more bluffs and valleys than the rest of Minnesota- this is also the result of a lack of glacier activity during the last glacial era that filled the flat parts of our state with“drift” sediment. What this means is that a lot of the hikes have a lot of elevation gain. We hiked to Inspiration Point from the Cedar Hill campground- if you do this I would not recommend taking the staircase that you encounter way before the picnic area parking lot UNLESS you really like having to climb over things.
The trail also comes across Chimney Rock- if you are hiking on a hot day you might as well give yourself a few minutes to cool down by climbing into the rock- it is much cooler and there is often a breeze that is funnelled through it. If you aren’t terribly afraid of heights you should definitely keep going to Inspiration Point! In order to get back down the trail quickly you can go down the staircase that is visible from the last part of the trail to the point- you can also completely bypass all the strenuous hiking if you would rather just take this(relatively strenuous) staircase up to the point, look around, then go back down.
A river runs through the park that plenty of people were wading in and there is a swimming hole that we didn’t participate in. I have Verizon cell service and I did not have reception- I think people who have AT&T did though. The visitor center does have free wifi and a free phone to use outside the building.
About the campground Much of Cedar Hill campground is for both tents and RVs, if you don’t need an electric site then the BEST spots are along the river. I specifically liked 66, 67, and 69. Some of them had foot paths down to the river, some didn’t, but either way you get to hear the water and the sites are quite spacious. We wound up staying in site 37 which has electricity(perk of this is being able to make macaroni and cheese in an instant pot!). One thing I hadn’t considered is that 74 cuts through the park, and we were pretty close to it so at a few times there was definite car noise. It wasn’t nearly as bad as camping along the north shore though when your site is squished between Lake Superior and Hwy 61 and you hear fast traffic all. day. long.
If you are camping on the weekend expect the campground to be quite full- we camped on a Sunday night and while the majority of the neighboring sites were occupied by RVs, the campground wasn’t even halfway occupied. Most of the sites had enough tree cover to be considered private. One weird thing is that a few of the sites are kind of like adjoining suites with tiny clearings between them- it was kind of startling to look up and see two people taking a shortcut(not really though!!) through our clearly occupied site to get to theirs. Weird.
One of the negative aspects about this park is that the bathroom facilities in cedar hill haven't been updated in ages, so they are finally getting updated in 2020 so this campground is closed for the season. The newer campground is open, but I don't like it as well since there isn't much privacy or shade.
Traveler
No showers, but bathrooms which were closed due to COVID. You need to fill up on water before arriving, there are electric hookups. There is a boat launch into the Mississippi used by all sizes of boats. Stockholm is a cute little town, very short walk. $24 nt with hookup
GuideRight on lake peppin. Cramped spots with no privacy Camp post cruised around constantly hassling us about everything and made us feel unwelcome. Trains come by every 15-30 minutes just feet away from camp site.
TravelerRight on Lake Pepin
Traveler
Great tent sites some along river lots of activities for children and adults tubing down the river, man-made lake with blowups, scooters, swimming poolAnd jumping pillow. Mini mart has many items from camping necessities, rain gear as well as groceries and ice cream. Bathrooms with showers are very clean.
Guide
We really liked this campground. The paved trail around the area is really nice for walking the pups. Very clean and well kept campground.
The campground gets booked up fast, so book early!
The sites on and close to the water are long, but not very wide. The sites further back have alot more room at each site.
ScoutI have organized car camping weekends with friends for years at this site. The staff is great, the grounds are well kept.
ScoutThe campgrounds were beautiful and well kept. The bathrooms were immaculate. I love it!!!! I will be back!!!!!
GuideThis is such a nice park. All spots have a lake view and the beach is within walking distance. We love it here. It’s not to easy to get spots on the holiday weekends, but somehow we managed it
GuideThis is a great family campground! Camping spots are rather close, but we have two little ones so they made friends quick with other children. We didn’t get to swim at the lake because it was shut down due to a chemical spill at the time, but we did walk over and check it out. The views are great! We stayed in a RV spot next to the lake which had water and electric hookups. The playground is a short walk to the tent area, which was a big hit with our kids. Our girls didn’t want to leave! We stayed for two nights during the 4th of July. We were able to see fireworks all around. Our site was also right next to the office which was also the location for bathrooms and showers. The girls loved going inside for ice cream treats when the weather was a little too hot to handle. We had fun going on a short hike and finding wild blackberries to eat. We had a great time and hope to be back soon!
TravelerIt’s a nice park, sometimes hard to get into on weekends. The lake is right next to the campground with RV sites right on the water. The only thing disappointing is the lake becomes green with algae as the summer goes on.
TravelerVery nice county park. Water and electric hookups. The lake is nice for fishing, boating or swimming. Has a small store.
ScoutThis campground is clean and well maintained. It has a boat landing; indoor and outdoor bathroom facilities; playground and large tent sites.
GuideVery nice water front sites, clean, clean restrooms and showers, dump station. Plan on coming back. They’re adding a bunch new sites. Should be ready for next season.
GuideNice showers and restrooms. Paved RV pads. Near lake and excellent bike path. Great brewery and winery close by.
TravelerWe had a fabulous experience at BJ's this weekend. Mark, Sheri and the staff are good people who work hard to make sure you have a great time. The food is excellent and comes out SO FAST; bravo to the kitchen staff! Bartenders are very attentive; Tasha took excellent care of us! The campsites are well kept and spacious. There are no picnic tables in the sites, but we got along just fine without. We can't wait to go back!
Scout
Very affordable, a lot of space between sites so you feel like you have some privacy. A beautiful hiking trail. Definitely bring some bug spray for the mosquitos 
GuideI love this place. Nice and tucked away. Sites are very private. Has beautiful trails. Next to the river great for exploring and fishing.
ScoutThis is a well maintained campground with private feeling sites. Some with firewood provided. Fire rings have attached grills. Lovely walking trails. Near Lake Pepin. One negative was orange/rusty water from hand pump well. $14 a night!!! We plan to camp there again.
TravelerGreat park with lots of elevation.
GuideCamper Cabin (Eastern Bluebird)🏡🐦
Perfect little cabin nestled in the southern half of the park! Screened in porch, heated with electricity, and two double bunk beds!
ScoutFirst, terrific park. Lots of trails with a wide variety of landscapes. Prairie, forest, river, it’s got it all.
My campsite was perfect. The woods made it very secluded. It was close enough to water and bathrooms so it wasn’t bad if you planned. They do have firewood available however it is long slab wood, so you do need to cut it yourself. Hand hacksaws are provided, but we’re not great quality which made cutting the wood difficult.
These sites do require a hike from parking. Would strongly discourage big coolers or lots of weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Hay Creek, MN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Hay Creek, MN is Afton State Park Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 36 reviews.
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