Best RV Parks & Resorts near Knife River, MN

Nice gravel sites, mostly level, some pull through. Some full hook ups, most have electric and water. Hosts are helpful. Shower and bathroom are showing their age.

A rare find - clean, level, large RV sites with full hook ups on the North Shore not filled with residents in all the good sites. Strict rules such as no early check in and no late check out. Tents and rvs also allowed in a section next to the highway with electric only. NOTE: no onsite dump station - if you do not stay in a full hookups site you must drive into the town of Silver Bay to use the city dump facility, which may be too awful to use, depending on how many used it first. ATV trails connect to this campground, so it is very popular with them. No one starts before the 8am quiet time end, so we enjoyed watching the different types pass by. A new security code locked bathhouse is clean and nice. We stayed during the Memorial Day weekend, and were pleasantly surprised at the well behaved and polite people here. I recommend this campground as a nice place to explore the North Shore from.

When traveling long term with the destination of peace and serenity, places like this are necessary. Freedom, silence and a feeling of oneness with nature heighten your intuition and joy for life. Simplicity is key and the mind is free to relax towards thought of beauty and love. Stay here if you appreciate nature and all it’s sustainable power, it’s magic.

Love, love, love this campground! It not only has full hook-ups and overlooks a lake, but is right on the Mesabi Bike Trail. The managers were friendly and helpful. The sites were spacious. It was so peaceful!

This is a  private campground that fills up quick.    It is 1 mile from Bayfield town center.  It is close to the ferry dock, restaurants, parks and beaches.  All sites are electric and water and some are full hook up.  There are cabins and tent sites as well.   The office/store is very clean and stocked with things you may need.  8 flavor ice creams on site!  There is a  dump station and picnic tables and fire rings at each site.   There is free wi-fi and a shower house, bathrooms and laundry.

We have camped here multiple times in a tent and also in our RV. Grounds have a nice mix of RV spots out in the open as well as some RV and tent spots back in the trees with water and electric only sites. Full hookup sites are only out in the in the open spaces.

Sites are mostly level and are some are a bit tight and close to your neighbors. They have recently added some additional RV spots and some other upgrades as well. Staff is friendly and bathrooms, store, activity room, pool are all seemed to be well maintained.

Make reservations early in the session because things fill up quickly. Great family campground with a lot of young kids running around, riding bikes, and playing and dogs in most campsites. Pool is also available but we haven’t used.

Easy access to Jay Cook State Park. Jay Cook has a lot to offer; a suspended cable walking bridge, great moderate hikes, waterfalls, climbing on rocks, and amazing river views. Great place to stop in for a couple hours or spend the whole day hiking.

Not to far from Duluth and other amazing North Shore locations.

Dump station is conveniently located on your way out of the grounds but can get backed up at the end of a busy weekend and can make it difficult to exit the campground.

Like so many RV / campgrounds this one is also located near to railroad tracks that has several trains that come through day and night.

The entrance to the marina & campground is a little rough and could use some attention. Camp office & store and restrooms could also use some fresh-ing up as well. Staff was friendly and helpful.

If you like being next to the water in your RV you would be hard pressed to find an RV site any closer to the water. We had ships / sailboats as your neighbors.

Water and electric sites only that seemed to also be positioned for docked boats. Most sites were pretty level except for the occasional pot hole and mud puddle. Some trees were planted in the RV spot areas.

Dump station was a challenge with RV and a blue boy. To dump RV you most likely need to turn around and back in. Watched several RV’ers had some trouble getting their rigs in a good position to dump. I chose to use my tote (blue boy) and I had to lift / drag it up on a nearby railroad tie next to dump because the PVC sewer pipe was 4-6” above the ground. They did have a dump service for an additional fee, that was used by several boats during our stay.

Great proximity to Duluth and like many RV parks it comes with railroad tracks close by. The RV campground felt like a after thought to the marina but it works.

Severe weather rolled in on our last night and things got pretty scary. We thought at one point that we might tip over from high winds.. You are very exposed when you are parked on what could almost be called a “dock”. Several of the boats that were tied up next to use and their docks broke loose and were floating in bay. The storm does not reflect the review score but more of something to be considered.

The campground was full when we pulled in at 6 pm but the hosts let us stay in an overflow area, right next to the lake. Lots of small rvs and tents, which we prefer to the big rv parks. It’s off the road but close to to town. We liked it a lot.

Red Pine is a great private RV park near Duluth, MN. We stayed 2 nights. Most of the sites are not shady. The campground streets are gravel. The park was clean and quiet, and the staff was friendly. Gave 4 stars on cleanliness only for the gravel/dirt roads and sites. Otherwise, is was very clean. Stayed in back-in campsite#49 which was not shady but level. It was an dirt/gravel site with grass on either side. There was just enough parking for my 34 ft TT and truck. The site included: picnic table on grass and fire ring. Utilities: 20/30/50A electric in back. Sewer located in back and had a non screw-on fitting. Water was located in back, but on door side. Neighbors are close. AT&T had 4 bars of LTE and Verizon 3 bars of LTE service. AT&T Fast.com: 1.5 Mbps down, 5.0 Mbps up. Verizon Fast.com: 190 kbps down, 9.5 Mbps up. Free WiFi Fast.com: 1.5 Mbps down, 3.6 Mbps up. Would stay here again. We camped at Red Pine Campground in a Travel Trailer.

This is a decent park. There are some pretty water falls and campsites are very clean. They all have fire pits with plenty of room for your car or camper trailer. There are plenty of trees for shade. It is a very peaceful setting.

The real positive about this campground is that it is a great setting if you want to pull in your camper and if you prefer to rough it in a tent there is a parking lot and a trail for walk-in campsites.

Checkout Amnicon Falls State Park.

Campground Review

One of the things I love about Wisconsin is that there is a municipal campground in a lot of towns near major attractions. In this case, it’s Prentice Park in Ashland, WI, which is on Lake Superior and close to the Apostle Islands. If you come to the Apostle’s on a busy summer weekend, you may not find a place to camp. Ashland to the rescue. This is a fairly new, modern campground just off the the main drag, and a short hike (less than half a mile) to the beaches. There is a nice paved trail that takes you to the beach as well as around the wetlands in between. A short drive into town takes you to a cute downtown where you can see the murals painted on a dozen or so buildings depicting the history and people who have made this town. The campground itself has 9 or 10 tent only sites and about the same of RV/hookup sites, with most of the tent sites clustered on one side, the RV/Hookup sites in one group in the middle, and a few more spacious tent sites past that. Some tent sites are really large and set back from the road, with nice grassy areas for pitching the tent and a few trees for hammocks, and a few of the tent sites are very small, right on the road, and no room for more than a small tent, the picnic table, fire pit, and that’s it. There is one bathhouse that is new and very clean, with two all in one shower rooms (toilet, sink, and shower, very spacious) and what looked like two more standard bathrooms (they were locked the whole time I was there, and they are not coded like the shower rooms are). You will need to check in with the campground host in order to get the code for the shower rooms. One of the best features of this campground is the water. Yep, water. There is an artesian well in the day use area that pumps out the cleanest, tastiest water. Empty every vessel you have and fill up here! There is another artesian well house down on the beach and it was very busy with locals filling up.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I occasionally get to test products. On this trip, I fell in love. With Matador’s FlatPak Soap Bar Case. This little “dry bag” for a bar of soap is a total game changer. In the past I’ve always brought tubes of shower gel with me camping. It’s the only time I use shower gels as I am a bar soap kinda gal. The gel’s always seem to be a bit of a mess for me as the lids don’t stay closed, or water or gel leaks out, or there’s just not enough, and it always means a special trip to the store to get just this one item that I don’t have normally at home. This Soap Bar Case means I can bring my own bar of soap which I know will last a while and can easily find another at any store in the country. This dry bag lets the soap dry out while magically keeping soapy residue inside the bag.

Here’s what I LOVE about this case:

1. While compact in size, it can hold a standard bar of soap. No need to squirrel away a bunch of those icky hotel soaps that you end up abandoning after a single use.
2. Soap goes in wet, comes out dryer (but not dried out).
3. The fabric breathes, so the moisture evaporates out through the fabric, but doesn’t get anything around it wet, and the soap residue doesn’t pass through the membrane. Everything in my dopp kit stayed completely dry and soap free. Soap stays in, moisture goes out. Totally mess free!!
4. The dry bag closure is really simple to use. Just roll the bag down about three or four times and clip it closed. Simple.
5. This could easily be clipped to your backpack and it wouldn’t be in the way or flop around as it is so small.

There is only one thing I would want different:

1. I wish this came in other colors besides black. A bright red or marine yellow would make it easier to see in my dopp kit and would make a person less likely to forget it/leave behind.

This is a product I would happily buy for any of my camping buddies, and if/when Matador introduces the FlatPak Soap Bar Case in brighter colors, I will likely buy myself a second one. This would be great for taking to the gym as well as for kids going to summer camp or anywhere you want to get clean without getting soap on all of your gear.

Campground Review:

This is the closest campground to Meyer’s Beach, the best launch site for anyone wishing to explore the mainland sea caves of the Apostle Islands. The campground has about 40 sites, with 6 tent only sites, a group camp area, and RV hookup sites. Most of the RV sites are pull thru. Pay showers, a free little library, and firewood is for sale. There are large bathrooms with changing stalls as well as toilets, so kayakers can get out of wet suits without having to balance to not fall in toilets. The group site is closest to the lake and great for groups of kayakers. However, there are not a lot of hammocking options for anyone except the RVers. The tent only sites are along a narrow alley between dense woods (no access to the woods), and very close together (absolutely no privacy). A big rainstorm proved the tent sites are not well draining either. The boat ramp and launch is large and well signed with the various usage fees posted. There is a large parking lot with a National Park Service kiosk/trailer that is manned during normal hours with rangers providing information about the Apostle Islands. Apostle Island campers can leave their cars in this lot while they kayak and camp on the various islands.There was some major construction going on in and around the boat launch and campgrounds, but it is not disruptive to your activities. The whole campground is only 15 minutes to the cute little town of Bayfield where you can find outfitters for various activities in the islands.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt I get to test product from time to time. On this trip I got to test some Mountain House freeze dried meals. After a long day of kayaking the coast in the sea caves I barely had the energy to boil water, so I pulled out my single serve Rice and Chicken from Mountain House and made a quick and easy dinner by just boiling water. Now, this was my first time trying a freeze dried meal, so I doctored it from the get go with some mini bell peppers I had in the cooler. I actually think this meal would be just fine without adding the bell peppers, but a girl’s gotta have her veggies. Overall, I liked this meal and will keep a couple Mountain House meals in my gear tub for future camping trips. I also tried their New York Style Cheesecake Bites for dessert. I was intrigued by this as I wasn’t sure how dairy could be freeze dried, but it worked! Definitely got the graham cracker crust taste and a vague dairy/cheesecake flavor. I like the way they were portioned in little cubes, very convenient for eating out of the bag.

This campground is oriented towards RV’ers and boaters, the campsite has full RV hookups and is adjacent to a very nice marina for those who are looking for that. The campground is also run by and adjacent to the Red Cliff Casino Hotel, so that has pluses and minuses depending on how you feel about being so close to a hotel and casino. I think the campground overall is adequate but nothing real special in terms of a general camping experience, but it is close to Lake Superior, Apostle Islands, and Bayfield. One gem of a campsite is worth noting: site # 23 is tucked way back in the woods on its own inlet pretty well secluded from all the rest of the campground, I would really recommend it as a very special place for tent campers. Very peaceful, wooded and quiet, lots of bird and wildlife action, and a few nice spots for fishing. Another important thing to mention is that staying at the campground or visiting the marina or hotel restaurant helps support the Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe Indians, which is very worthwhile.

Most importantly, whether you stay at this campground or another near by, the campground is just south of an incredible outdoor opportunity: the chance to visit the new Frog Bay Tribal National Park, the first Indigenous National Park in the US. This park has been set aside by the Red Cliff Band to preserve an incredible segment of The Red Cliff peninsula that encompasses an amazingly beautiful and undisturbed old-growth cedar hemlock forest. As a biologist, I was thrilled to visit this very, very special place on earth, and I am grateful to the Red Cliff Band for their conservation and education efforts here. The quiet, the profound stillness of the forest, the rare plants and habitats, the beautiful trails are breathtaking. You can wander through on your own on several impeccably kept trails, and as you wander you will find guide posts pointing out plants of special cultural value along with their Ojibwe name. Even better, you can hire a Red Cliff Ojibwe naturalist to give you an informative guided tour to learn more about the natural and cultural landscape. You can also arrange for a guided tour to some of the Red Cliff sea caves that are off limits to the general public. These are must-do activities for curious adventurous naturalists. For more info on Frog Bay Tribal Park, check this link: http://redcliff-nsn.gov/divisions/TNRD/FBTNP.htm

This is a small lot for RV parking on the way to the scenic overlook. There’s a dump station and hose for fresh water down the hill. We stayed the night and ended up meeting another van couple and ate dinner together. If you stay, definitely recommend doing the City/Lake view trail at the top of the hill to learn a little bit about Silver Bay! The video I added is of the trail at the top.