Best Glamping near Isle, MN

For someone who likes to do it all Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area is the place to be!!!

From Rv Camping and tent camping to amazing secluded Yurts on a trout pond there are more than enough options to camp and stay.

The campground itself isn’t anything to rave about, and is mostly open and pretty close together but the yurts, those are a different story!

The yurts are set on a beautiful only mine pit that is stocked with all kinds of trout. The have a wood burning stove, bunk beds, table, chairs, bear locker, fire ring and picnic table. There is a pergola style shelter with a full roof for outdoor cooking.

The view of the trout pond is absolutely stunning and fishing isn’t bad either if you know how to fish trout. There is a shop in town that will deliver kayaks and pick them up when you are done for a small fee, like 50$ for the day?

The old mine pits around and in the park are pristine and literally crystal clear! You can see hundreds of feet down through crystal clear water making it an amazing place to canoe and kayak.

If you are into mountain biking, this is definitely the park for you! Some of the best mountain biking red dirt trails are located in this recreation area! Shops in town rent bikes too! The views from the trails are breathtaking!

Overall, one of my favorite places to hike, bike, camp and, paddle!

This is Minnesota’s largest state park and has over 200 camp sites. But where we were, we were secluded from most people. Not from the mosquitos. You had to defend against them. But clean park. Would go back for sure.

Crow Wing State Park is a good choice if you are looking for something close to the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota. with this park being just under two hours away from the Twin Cities metro area it’s an easy choice for a nice weekend getaway. If you’re looking to stay for a long extended time it’s also a good choice as it offers electric and water. The electric sites are pretty open and close together so if you like to be secluded and not see other campers from your campsite I wouldn’t use this park. The electric sites are really on top of each other and don't feel like you are camping to me. The non-electric sites are pretty nice and secluded from each other which would make this park a park I would bring my tent to instead of my travel trailer. There is also a group camp That is separate from the main camping area.

The park office offers ice and firewood for sale. Firewood is 6$ a bundle at the park office. The only firewood you can use is the approved firewood in the local area or scrap lumber. See the Minnesota Firewood law.  Canoe rentals are offered at the park office for $15 for a half-day and $25 for a full day. There is also a water fill station and a dump station for your travel trailer or RV. This is a good park for hiking and exploring. 

If you wanna stay close to the Twin Cities metro area this is a good park for you!

This is a relatively new (2016?) campground built right next to the Minnesota National Golf Course clubhouse, and in the corner surrounded by Savannah holes 8 and 9. It’s literally inside the golf course.

Gravel pads, some a bit out of level. All 50 amp water and sewer. Some great options in here for group camping as there are several loops you could be placed in the have sites near one another.

Our site (33) was tucked way back in the woods, had a nice bit of privacy.

No bath house.

The golf course is amazing - one of the nicer public courses in the state. I can see a lot of folks choosing this RV park as a golf vacation - we were here because we were spending two weeks with family on Big Sandy Lake, just ten minutes away.

Don’t miss breakfast at the Palisade Cafe and dinner/beers at the Craft House - both are legit culinary experiences, not Sysco reheaters.

With 50+ sites, park was full for the three days around July 4, but was under 50% the rest of the time. An under appreciated gem.

I was looking to take a solo camping trip for the weekend and paddleboard on the Cuyuna Mine Lakes. I booked the trip pretty late because of a lot of different factors, but Crow Wing State park still had plenty of availability. The park is nothing spectacular, but it was nice, wooded, and the staff were great. It was my first time solo camping in awhile, so I opted to stay at a state park where there would be rangers. I noticed that the rangers stopped and talked to me night one, and remembered me- which made me feel very safe as a solo female camper. The campground was overall pretty quiet, and my site was wooded so that I normally could not see other campers from my site, which was great! It felt decently quiet . If you visit in the summertime, expect hellish mosquitoes and pack accordingly!

You can join the hiking club trail straight from the campground, which was nice- I went on a few beautiful sunset walks to watch the sunset over the river

The bathroom and shower were clean and easily accessible.

The park was a 20-30 minute drive from the Cuyuna Mines area, so I was able to easily drive over Saturday morning and spend the day paddleboarding.

This park is not one of the most spectacular in Minnesota, but I had a great stay and it was very relaxing. It was great for a weekend getaway for a solo female camper looking to do some paddle boarding in the area

This park has a ton of camping available, particularly if you don't need electricity and have a smaller rig because then you can get into more of the campground loops. (There is electricity here, but there are many more sites without.) 

The sites in the Old Logging Campground were close together but many had vegetation between them offering some privacy. Site 207 was especially tucked in but it's a tight spot, so probably best for a van or tent. 

The park itself has a lot to offer being right on the St. Croix River, plus there are hiking trails, a paved bike path, a fire tower you can climb, an old CCC camp area you can tour, and more. Also, canoe and kayak rentals are available. And this is all within the state park boundary since, at 34,000 acres, the park is the largest in the Minnesota state park system. 

Some of the loops have old bathhouses that desperately need to be replaced, but they are in the process of doing so, which means some loops have great new bathrooms and showers. (If you stay in the upper 200s, sites, you'll have one of these new bathrooms right away, but more are being built.) Cell service was incredibly spotty on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Depending on where you're at, you'll get a low signal, but often it was only enough for texting-- don't think about using the web or social media or getting any work done while you're here. 

Overall, we enjoyed our weekend at this park and would come back for another getaway if we had the chance and it wasn't a workday.

Postives- clean and well kept, seasonal campers were friendly, lady manager friendly

Negatives- Branches in way of taller campers and would be tough to back into nightly sites if not used to backing in trailers. Didn't even bother to use dump station on way out which was on an incline and in the way of a main intersection. Not worth the money with not having sewer at campsite. If you want to stay here because of the pool and hot tub and have kids, the kids can't even touch the deck around the hot tub without getting yelled at by a crabby, negative-vibe male manager. Can't enter or exit pool area without walking through lodge building invades privacy a bit. At midnight we heard people outside our camper talking and laughing, even though their quiet time started earlier. Feelings of being watched through the windows of lodge and on camera was creepy. Hard to idle and brake enough with a high powered vehicle to be slow enough to be under their speed limit. In which crazy male manager came biking after us to charge a$5 fine, and had no change to break a larger bill. No proof of speed on radar gun, computer or electric sign while driving in campground so not sure how he thinks he can enforce that. Saw plenty of vehicles on driveway going faster. Just a really bad, creepy atmosphere and negative vibe towards new guests and kids. Had we we planned on more nights we would have left early.

We discovered this campground while researching the area, it is fairly new and not only not reviewed on the Dyrt but not listed on it yet either. If you are planning to explore the Kettle River and Banning State Park nearby, this is a good alternative to camping within the State Park itself. With easy access to both the Twin Cities metro area and Duluth, with desireable whitewater paddling and rockclimbing both available in the area, Banning State Park campground fills quickly especially in summer and on weekends, and the Banning RV Park is an excellent backup alternative for overflow demand. And, actually, it may be your go-to option even if campsites at Banning are available, because this RV campground is located only½ mile from the Banning State Park entrance, and because it is at a higher elevation further from the river it is remarkably less buggy which Banning State Park can be in springtime or after recent rains. This campground is quite large, geared towards RVs and trailers but also has dozens of tent sites and is currently adding more! There are also several nice new camper cabins available. We stayed in site 297, a very large double tent site with soft grass for tenting, big shady trees, picnic table and fire ring, with possibility for water and electric hookup but we didn’t use it. We had two families with 3 tents and two vehicles, plus bought firewood(which was delivered in generous quantities) and the total price was$48, which would have been the cost of the two campsites we would have needed if camping at the nearby state park. We were located near the campground pavilion, which included picnic tables, family bathrooms with showers, playground, activity center with craft classes etc, and laundry room. Remarkably, in addition to playgrounds for children in different places around the campground, there was a huge dog walking and play area that was grassy and beautifully clean—and, of special interest, included a complete“dog playground” with all the standards elements of a dog agility course! Very cool—and an expense and effort most places wouldn’t go to. The campground itself was very clean and well landscaped and maintained, however the bathrooms do get heavy use and, though nicely cleaned a few times during the day, are in need of attention in the evening. The campers are mostly family oriented so the campground itself is very quiet in the evenings—however, it is not far from nearby Highway 35, so there is a fair amount of road noise despite a barrier of pines planted as a buffer. I was a bit concerned that folks camping there were not too concerned about covid precautions, no one was wearing masks even when participating at close range to others during some of the campgrounds organized group activities, and there was lotion soap but no hand sanitizer in the bathrooms. You may want to bring your own. Overall, nicely maintained, reasonably priced, conveniently located, and less buggy than the nearby state park! We would camp here again if returning to the area.

First the negatives. No internet, medium phone signal. The campsites are too small and too crowded. The adults let their young kids drive their cold carts and atvs back and forth from the campground to the beach all day long. I counted one particular one make 34 trips in less than 6 hours. I used to golf and I occasionally used a cart but usually I walked. Kids and young parents are way too lazy now, because it's a small campground and short walk to the beach from the farthest site. I think they do it for 2 reasons, they are bored, and they can. There is only one road in and out so there is constant traffic, and the road is gravel so prepare to eat dust. The sites aren't paved or even gravel, you park on the grass. Now for the positives. Some sites have 50 amp, most just 30 amp or less. Water hookups at most. No full hookups or dump site. There is a beach and swim area on Skunk Creek. A playground by the bathroom and showers. That building is clean, showers are free. Lots of shade from all the trees. Mosquitoes are few, flies plentiful. It is a quiet park after 10pm, but although they say closed after 8pm there was traffic all night long. Ask for a site in the back to avoid headlights shining on you all night long. Rates are $40/night for the pull through site we had w50 amp service. It has a few seasonal sites, all located at the rear. There is a golf course right next door across the creek. That is where the office is located. The town is small, only a gas station and small grocery store, so bring what you need. A Subway and nice drive-in are close by. Oh, the water is in me/my dogs opinion not for drinking. I wouldn't suggest weekends here unless you're into hearing every conversation your neighbors have or want to sleep in. Maybe the week days are better? They do allow leashed pets.

Kind of off the beaten path. You have to take the Willow River exit and go through the town a little bit. There's a small sign next to the Squirrel Cage restaurant and bar. You'll be next to the freeway and you'll hear the noise but it's not that bad. Usually hardly anyone is here. They have picnic tables, pit toilets and water.