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Best Tent Camping near Hinckley, MN

393 Reviews

Tent campers seeking wilderness experiences near Hinckley, Minnesota can choose from several primitive camping options along rivers and in forested areas. Robinson Park Camping offers tent sites along the Kettle River with access to hiking trails connecting to Banning State Park, while Grace Lake Road Dispersed in nearby Nemadji State Forest provides more secluded tent camping with fewer amenities but greater privacy.

Most tent campsites in the Hinckley area are rustic with minimal facilities. Robinson Park provides picnic tables, fire rings, and tent pads at each site, though each location typically accommodates only one tent. Campers at Grace Lake Road Dispersed must be self-sufficient as no facilities are available. Payment for Robinson Park camping operates on an honor system with fees delivered to an office in Sandstone. Access roads to some tent camping areas may require high clearance vehicles, with one review noting "the gate is very narrow had to fold the mirrors on my Tacoma to squeeze through."

The tent camping experience varies seasonally around Hinckley. Spring brings higher bug activity, with ticks being particularly problematic in some areas. Summer offers fuller foliage between campsites, providing more privacy when campgrounds are busier. Sites along waterways provide opportunities for fishing and paddling. One camper described Grace Lake as "super nice and peaceful with lots of different dispersed spots." Robinson Park receives mixed reviews, with some praising its riverside location while others note maintenance issues with unofficial campsites that have developed due to high demand. Several tent campers appreciate the seclusion of these areas, with one noting they "enjoyed this little spot in early April" when they were "the only ones there," adding that summer vegetation would provide good coverage between sites.

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Best Tent Sites Near Hinckley, Minnesota (43)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Hinckley, MN

8 Photos of 43 Hinckley Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Hinckley, MN

393 Reviews of 43 Hinckley Campgrounds

  • Amy G.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 8, 2018

    Father Hennepin State Park Campground

    Ranger Review of Alki Twilight Thermal Mattress Topper at Father Hennepin State Park, MN

    I've been to campgrounds in MN and other places that were nicer, but there isn't anything wrong with this campground at all. And at this time of year, the ice on the lake was breaking up, so it made for a beautiful sunset! Since it is still that time of year when it's warm during the day and cool at night, it was the perfect chance to test out the Twilight Thermal Mattress Topper by Alki while staying at Father Hennepin State Park in MN.

    CAMPGROUND REVIEW:

    We've been to this campground before, but not during this season or time of year. The campground is nice, but not terribly fancy. What it does have going for it is that it's a decent bit off the road, so there isn't much road noise. And although all the sites are fairly close together, there are tons of trees that (if it were summer) offer a buffer between them. It's possible to car camp at these sites or tent camp. They also have RV sites. Unfortunately, the RV sites are pretty close to the others, so if there are parties going on or radios playing, everyone can hear them, but that is to be expected at a campground where sites are close together. It wasn't terribly bothersome, though, and the scenery outweighed the mild disturbance.

    They do have showers and flush toilets (during warmer seasons) and vault toilets the rest of the time. There is also a dump station for RVs.

    Many of the sites are lakeside, for no additional cost. Benches dot the lakeside, and you get a gorgeous site of the sunset from here. There is also a paved path that runs near the water, so it's a pretty stroll late in the eve. This leads to a floating dock (not floating this time of year, though, because of the ice). Pretty space to chill and take in the breeze.

    PRODUCT REVIEW:

    As a Ranger for They Dyrt, I have the amazing opportunity to review incredible products in exchange for an honest review. This time, I received a Twilight Thermal Mattress Topper by Alki in a queen size. This is the first time I've ever tried something like this, so when I found it on Kickstarter, I was intrigued. The idea of a thermal layer built into a quilt-like blanket (think about the silver reflective stuff that everyone who camps talks about). But this isn't your typical mylar-type foil sheet. It's quiet. It's soft. It makes absolutely no noise at all. Now, this isn't something you are going to put in a backpack because it's big and it's not going to fit the bill of the ultralight hiker, but that's not what it's meant for. I emailed with the owners of the company and they intended it to be an addition to a car camping excursion or used on a bed as extra insurance from the night air. So I was intrigued. We are getting a teardrop trailer soon and I thought it might be a great way to stay warm without adding a heater to the mix.

    The owners, Saul and Carolyn, have created this super soft blanket-type mattress topper that can be used several ways. You can put it on the mattress directly and sleep on top of it. You can use it as a blanket, you could wrap up in it and make a mock sleeping bag. It's a microsuede type of fabric on top and feels amazing, but has a brushed polyester bottom that helps to keep it from slipping off your pad. I'm a cold sleeper, so I really wanted to give it a good test. Normally, I use a sleeping pad with an R Value of 4.4 or better so that I don't chill out in the night. This time, I decided to use a pad with an R Value of 1.9 (thank you to my husband for sacrificing his pad). Normally, I'd be frozen from the backside, even in temps that are in the 40's. So I put down my pad in the van, laid the topper over the pad, and then my bag on top of that. And then I was off to la-la land.

    The verdict…a toasty back side. It was truly wonderful to sleep in cooler weather without the typical CBS (cold butt syndrome) that campers talk about. Normally, with a pad that was only 1.9, I'd be frozen from the pad side. And that means tossing and turning all night to figure out how to stay warm. But I didn't have any cold spots from the pad side while sleeping on this topper. I just wish I'd thought to wrap it over my bag as well to insulate from the top as well. Then, I would have had the perfect night of sleep! It reflects back your own body heat to help keep you toasty.

    PROS:

    1. Super soft fabric! It has a great feel against your skin.
    2. No noise! Even though it has similar thermal properties as the crinkly mylar-type blankets, this is absolutely not the same. It feels just like a blanket.
    3. It works! Coming from me (a cold sleeper), I feel like this would be a great addition to your camping arsenal so that you can have a better night of sleep without needing a ton of expensive gear to stay warm.
    4. Machine washable!

    There really isn't anything negative to say about this blanket. Now, it does weigh more than a regular thermal blanket (queen is 4.5 pounds, and twin is 3 pounds), but they don't advertise it as ultra light or for backpacking. Carolyn said that it was designed with car camping in mind, as mentioned before. That said, it works beautifully for that purpose! It would be lovely if they'd consider making a skinny version that would fit in a hammock or under a sleeping bag/pad. As a cold sleeper, I'd seriously consider adding it to my cold weather backpack supplies, even if it meant an extra pound of weight.

    Bottom line, if you want to enjoy a good night sleep in the chilly night air while car camping with your family or friends, take this topper for a spin. It's perfect under a sleeping bag, over a sleeping bag or to snuggle while watching the autumn sunset.

  • Katherine T.
    Oct. 11, 2024

    Wild River State Park Campground

    Solid option with star gazing

    This is a solid state park offering. The sites are decently spaced with good tree cover. Noise seemed to travel between sites, I had some loud neighbors during the day but they settled down before quiet hours. The grass was easy to get tent stakes into. Bathrooms were your basic state park situation. Clean with warm showers so no complaints from me. The star gazing area was great! Intermittently had 1-2 bars of T-Mobile with LTE Internet. Wi-Fi is available at the park entrance.

  • Annie V.
    Sep. 30, 2020

    Moose Lake State Park Campground

    Nice Stop Along the Way

    I came out of the BWCA near Grand Marais late in the day and so wanted to stop somewhere to camp as I headed south before dark. There were plenty of spots available online at this little park. It was clean and the campsites were fine—could see my neighbors without much tree cover though.

    If the weather had been better when I woke up I would have hiked some trails or paddled the lake. Next time!

  • Amy G.The Dyrt PRO User
    Dec. 17, 2024

    Mille Lacs Kathio Petaga Campground — Mille Lacs Kathio State Park

    Winter camping- very quiet with the electric hookups

    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.

  • D
    Sep. 19, 2020

    Wild River State Park Campground

    Great spot for first time camping

    This was my first time camping EVER, and I wanted a balance of car camping ease with quiet wilderness. I stayed in the E loop. No electric sites, which cut down the number of big rig RVs, but there were plenty of small campers and trailers. To me, this means louder guests than tent campers. That said, people tended to quiet down by 9-10p. There was occasional noise during the day from crop dusters and motorized boat traffic on the St. Croix.

    Site 87 had nice privacy — less between sites 87 and 89 and much more between 87 and 85 (see photos). Site 89 is a double site, so be prepared for a little more activity if someone books there. If I went again, I'd try to snag site 85. Large trees and vegetation between sites, especially on the outside loop. Plenty of space for hammocks. The site itself was level and very spacious. We had a five person tent and could have put up a bug house easily. The fire pit was clean and had a grate on top. Pit toilets were clean and had plenty of toilet paper, especially for the end of a holiday weekend. Bugs were minimal, but could have been because the weather was on the cooler side (50s-60s).

    A couple random notes:

    • Firewood is $6/bundle. Self-pay available if the ranger station is closed. Bring exact change since you'll be paying by envelope.

    • The ranger station was open for window service, and they sold fire starters, soda, t-shirts, etc. Not sure when hours are exactly. They were open when I went around 3-4p Sunday and Monday to buy wood.

    • Cell reception for T-Mobile was minimal to non-existent.

  • amber N.
    Sep. 1, 2019

    Wild River State Park Campground

    Secluded, River Front Buck Hill Site

    Backpack site Buck Hill is right on the river, beautiful view to the east. Circled by flowers (goldenrod in the late summer), brush and trees. End of the path so zero foot traffic / passersby. Fine size for us but if you had two tents maybe tight. Fire ring and picnic table of course. No drinking water (we brought a bladder). It’s a great place to star gaze. There’s a teeny somewhat treacherous path to the river- no beach or anything (water was super low when we went) - Just can get your feet wet.

    Down the path a little bit is an unenclosed toilet - not the best. The other direction down the path (only about 20 ft) is a smallish bear box.

    You can harvest your own wood (at this time) and that was really great - bring a backpacking saw!

    Only downside to the site— you can hear cars on both sides (river and opposite side of forest).

    It was a 2.37 mile walk from the parking lot, mostly shaded.

    Side note: we checked out Deer Creek site which is much closer to the car. It is a hike in / canoe site. It’s wayyy more spacious, and even has two separate clearings. Also has cool stairs down the to water, and a much more expansive view of the river. We will be staying there next time! We want to take a few days to canoe the whole length of the park, camping along the different sites. Next year! :)

  • Sarah D.
    Oct. 17, 2025

    Wild River State Park Campground

    Secluded Backpack/Canoe Site with Sunrise Views

    I was looking for a secluded backpack in site where I could have a peaceful 48 hours of prayer and solitude, and this site was perfect! I also wanted one that wasn't too far remote, since I hadn't been on a proper backpacking trip since the pandemic hit. And as a solo female camper, I wanted a reserved site so that there would be a record of my location for safety reasons. I'm so glad I chose the Deer Creek site, and will almost definitely stay here again at some point!

    This site is accessible by either hiking or canoe. It took me about 30 minutes to hike in from the visitor center parking lot. There is easy access to river water to boil or filter from the canoe landing.

    This site was incredibly spacious. It includes a fire ring and picnic table overlooking the creek and river. It also includes 2 large tent pads (look out for widow makers, one of the tent pads is under a dead tree!). It also has a spot nestled in some pine trees that could fit a smaller tent, canoe storage, or I found it to be the perfect spot to hang my hammock! (This would be a great site for hammock camping.) So if you're camping with a small group of people this would be a great site. It also includes a trail to a fairly private latrine, and a bear box (the park ranger warned me that there are bears in the park although I did not see any.) I also found plenty of dead down and dry wood and birch bark on the ground for building fires.

    This site is great for a one nigjt stay on a longer backpacking or canoeing trip, but also great for camping out at for a couple of nights. I stayed for two, and it connects to all the major trails in the park, so I was able to use it as a great base for hiking and seeing the beautiful changing leaves. In the morning I hiked North to do the Riverside trail and looped back through the woods. Then in the afternoon I did the Deer Creek loop, which is a shared horse and hiking trail. It was so nice to he able to hike out to some of the best trails in the park directly from my site.

    This site felt remarkably remote for being only an hour from the twin cities and a mile from the parking lot! I stayed there Thursday -Saturday, and after leaving the parking lot on Thursday did not see another human being for the rest of the day, and Friday not until I hit the main trails! There was no one else staying within at least a mile of me. I was even able to see fantastic stars Friday night. There was amazing wildlife - a blue heron frequented the site, and I heard all types of owls. Two bald eagles had a nest across the river so I got to see and hear them the whole trip, too- it was absolutely magical!

    This site has a great view of both sunrise and sunset. Thursday night there was a gorgeous sunset over the woods reflected in deer Creek. Both mornings I woke up to watch the sunrise while drinking my coffee next to the fire (it was freezing!!!). Watching the sun rise over the river and fog roll over th water and evaporate while eagles soared was truly magical. Having an easy backpack in site surrounded by water on two sides and with views of the sunrise and sunset like this was so incredible!!!

  • Steph H.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 1, 2018

    Interstate State Park — Interstate State Park

    Group site with a view

    Group campsite one is a lovely open site right on the St Croix River. This is a walk in site but fairly close to the parking area. Plenty of grassy space to play and set up several tents. If the 5 group sites it is probably the farthest from the vault toilets but still not that far away. The sites are all right next to each other so there is no privacy and no guarantees another group won’t disturb your group at night or vice versa. The park is not very large but what it offers is lovely. In the river side you’ll enjoy rocky trails and the famous potholes and in the hill side you’ll enjoy views from way up high.

  • Tori K.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 12, 2024

    Paint Rock Springs Campground — St. Croix State Park

    No service

    Felt nice to spend a weekend without cell service about an hour away from home. Forgot to take my usual photos and video of the site all set up but had a few random to share. Nice campground. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. There are flush toilets and showers and the office has a store for any last minute needs.

Guide to Hinckley

Tent campsites near Hinckley, Minnesota offer primitive experiences in pine forests and river valleys. The region sits at the transition zone between northern coniferous and southern deciduous forests, creating diverse wildlife habitats around tent camping areas. Both state and county managed sites experience significant temperature fluctuations, with summer highs reaching 80°F and evening temperatures dropping into the 50s even during warm months.

What to do

Fishing spots: Grace Lake provides direct water access for anglers. Michael S. notes, "Stayed a night here on our way up to the boundary waters... You're about 20 foot from the water and fishing is good."

Rock climbing: Robinson Park Camping attracts climbers from throughout the Midwest. According to Les R., "Rock climbing including the state's best 12a/b!!! Sigma lives up to the hype."

Historic exploration: The former sandstone quarry at Robinson Park offers educational opportunities. Merrill W. describes it as "a historic walk through time with year around activities... the rock structures on both sides of the river are breath taking."

Hiking trails: Trails connect to nearby state parks with various difficulty levels. Les R. mentions Robinson Park's "hiking trails to Wolf Creek Falls" among the activities available to campers.

What campers like

Solitude: Many tent campsites near Hinckley offer quieter camping experiences during off-peak times. Lindsey H. reported, "I was a little nervous that I wouldn't get my peace and quiet with the campground being so close to town but it did not disappoint!"

Water proximity: Riverside tent sites provide both scenic views and recreational access. Michael S. appreciates that at Grace Lake Road Dispersed, "You're about 20 foot from the water and fishing is good."

Multiple site options: The area provides a range of dispersed camping spots. Julia D. found that Grace Lake Road was "super nice and peaceful! Lots of different dispersed spots. Go down Tamarack Forest Road, which is a little further than the location on here."

Natural coverage: Vegetation provides privacy between campsites during summer months. Lindsey H. noted about Robinson Park, "Early spring in Minnesota left us little cover between sites... It would be difficult to see fellow campers in full blown summer."

What you should know

Narrow access points: Some camping areas have restricted entry roads. Michael S. warns about Grace Lake Road, "gate is very narrow had to fold the mirrors on my Tacoma to squeeze through but if you park at the entrance it's a short walk."

Seasonal variations: Campsite experiences change dramatically with the seasons. Lindsey H. explains, "I enjoyed this little spot in early April... We camped at spot 4 right along the river."

Navigation challenges: Finding the official camping areas can be confusing at some locations. Janet R. notes about Robinson Park, "as you enter the park, the signage is not real clear with regard to where the campsites are located... you actually have to make a U-turn and go to the far east end of the parking lot to see the campsite sign."

Location accuracy: Online maps may not always provide precise directions. Julia D. found that for Grace Lake Road, "This spot was super nice and peaceful! Lots of different dispersed spots. Go down Tamarack Forest Road, which is a little further than the location on here."

Tips for camping with families

Site capacity awareness: Most tent sites have limited space for multiple tents. Lindsey H. observes about Robinson Park, "Picnic tables, fire rings, and a tent pad at every spot. Realistically, each site was only big enough for one tent."

Group site options: For families needing more space, consider group sites where available. Janet R. recommends, "There are two group campsites that are very nice, very well maintained, and very conveniently located to both rock climbing areas and water access, and are reasonably priced at $30 a night."

Insect preparation: Be prepared for seasonal insect activity. Grace Lake Road camper Lizzy K. mentions it's "a lot of ATV traffic but super friendly people, really buggy but a few nice spots to pull into for the night."

Activity planning: The area offers family-friendly recreation options. Merrill W. notes that Robinson Park has "year around activities your bound to find something to interest you from hiking and rock climbing to fishing and boating."

Tips from RVers

Vehicle clearance concerns: Access roads to some primitive camping areas require appropriate vehicles. For tent campers arriving in RVs, Janet R. cautions at Robinson Park Camping about "the road back to the sites was a small two track with giant pot holes and lots of overgrowth."

Limited RV amenities: Most tent camping areas near Hinckley lack RV hookups or dump stations. Les R. notes that at Robinson Park, "in order to pay the fee you have to drive to City Hall which is about 2 miles away."

Alternative campgrounds: Some RVers may prefer established campgrounds with more services. Janet R. suggests, "If I were there for rock climbing or boating, I would either camp with a group, or camp in the nearby Banning state park or private Banning RV Campground nearby."

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Hinckley, MN?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Hinckley, MN is Robinson Park Camping with a 3.4-star rating from 5 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Hinckley, MN?

TheDyrt.com has all 43 tent camping locations near Hinckley, MN, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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