Best Tent Camping near Lake Elmo, MN

Tent Camping Reviews near Lake Elmo, MN

715 Reviews of 27 Lake Elmo Campgrounds

• 

  LaMina H.

  Traveler

  May. 13, 2022

  Ann Lake

  My favorite spot in MN!!!

  Lake Ann Campground, located in the Sand Dunes State Forest north of Big Lake, MN is great for a weekend getaway with the family or a solo walk in trip. There are RV sites, tent sites, handicap accessible, walk in sites and group sites. Camping here is primitive with few amenities you get a fire ring and a picnic table, its great camping too be one with nature. There are several water spickets located around the campground along with outhouse type restrooms. There are no hookups or electric. Camping is on a first come first serve basis and you register at the kiosk located at the front of the campground acrid from the camp host site. There are several trails and Amaya something to do.

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• 

  Kelly S.

  Traveler

  May. 2, 2018

  Frontenac State Park Campground

  Early Season Experience

  We spent a single night here at site 37. The site was great, the privacy was okay, and the campground itself was slightly above average.

  Our site was huge. It could have easily accommodated an RV and a tent. There was a campfire ring and picnic table there like each site, but ours also had a tent pad and a very long parking spot. We were tent camping. This was the first tent pad I have ever been able to stake down without bending or breaking stakes and needing a mallet. The site was also close to a few of the trailheads. See pictures. Would recommend site 37 any day.

  The privacy was nonexistent because there were no leaves on the trees yet. In the summer, that might change. There are trees between sites.

  The campground itself was okay. The ranger and lady in the office when we stopped in were a little strange, but helpful. They were out of wood, but there is a DNR certified seller not a mile down the road- you can get more wood for cheaper there anyway. In MN, you need to get your firewood from the state park you are at or a certified seller in the same county to prevent the spread of tree pests and disease. The ranger can and will stop at your site and ask to see your seller card from the wood. The rest of the campground was nice. Many water spigots were still frozen, but there isn't much to be done about that. Overall, I would definitely recommend this campground!

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• 

  Katherine T.

  Guide

  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.

• 

  Amy G.

  Legend

  Aug. 30, 2021

  Rice Creek Campgrounds

  Spaced out nicely and they have a tent only loop!

  I booked this on a whim since we needed an overnight close to the State Fair.  I loved the look of the "TENT ONLY" loop - you don't see this often - so it was a good fit.  Seemed that the whole campground was booked up and I assumed, for a similar reason.  The State Fair.

  Booking was fairly easy through their website, and you can "hover" over the sites to see a photo of it.  I chose the one I wanted and hoped it would be what we wanted it to be.

  You DO need a park pass to stay at the campground.

  We arrived after dark, but in the dark you could still tell it was lovely.  I couldn't see any neighbor on the one side where there was a campsite (the other was a field...which is why I chose it). So we set up a tent, enjoyed the last of the evening and crawled into our bags.

  In the morning, when I could see everything, I was thoroughly impressed by the space, the maintenance of the property, the size of the campsites.  All of them were impressive and big!  A few were only separated by swathes of grass, but most had enough trees you couldn't see your neighbor.  And the fact that this loop (F LOOP) was "tent only" meant no generators! It was very quiet!   There were port-o-potties (cleaned about every 3 days) and a centrally located water source (potable) that was in the middle of everything for easy access by everyone. The spaces seemed fairly level, lots of mature trees, fire rings at all of them (with cooking grates that flipped out of the way) and picnic tables at most (resin tables, not wood).

  I took a quick look at the other loops.  The tent/small trailer loop didn't appear to have electric either.  And the RV loops obviously did.  All were very nice!  And there is a shower house (didn't go in) that was for all to use if you had a site.

  We'd stay here again in a heartbeat.

  **I've seen the other reviews here which seem to be based on the bugs.  I know that bugs are part of camping, so I don't review based on that, but I'll add details, if needed.  This one didn't have many, but it was raining, so I'm sure that factored in.  When I camp, I come prepared and I try to focus on reviewing the campsite itself, not the bugs, which I can not control.  I can, however, come prepared for them**

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• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  Jan. 12, 2025

  Highland Ridge

  Beautiful but buggy!

  General: Smallish (38 sites plus four walk-in sites) Army Corps of Engineers campground. Some (see below) have electric hookups but no water or sewer hookups, however, there is a dump station. 

  Site Quality: All sites are gravel/dirt (except for the ADA-accessible site), and most are very generous in size. Our site (7) sloped down but leveled out with plenty of room for our campervan at the bottom. All sites are wooded with trees providing separation/privacy between sites. Completing the site are a metal picnic table, fire ring, and lantern hook. 

  Bath/Shower House: Sites 28-38 only have vault toilets (but you could trek to the other campground loop). Sites 1—27 have flush toilets and showers. They were very clean, and I especially appreciated the fact that they were cleaned daily before 6 am, a shout out to the camp host! The shower was great– warm water and great flow, although our friends (who arrived two days before we did) had cold showers when the campground was full.

  Activities: Several short hiking trails. I give this campground 4 stars instead of 5 because Eau Galle Reservoir (Lake George) is about a 10-minute drive from the campground. Most Corps of Engineers campgrounds are located right on the water. There are no amenities (rentals, etc.) offered at the lake but it is small and beautiful, and we enjoyed a peaceful paddle. We saw a couple of people fishing on the lake and there is a small swimming area. At the campground, there was an interpretive center, but it was locked when we were there. There is also a nice, modern playground. 

  Aside from the plentiful bugs (in August), we enjoyed our two-night stay at this campground!

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• 

  Mary S.

  Legend

  Aug. 16, 2018

  Frontenac State Park Campground

  Shady, quiet campground in the woods with short hiking opportunities

  Campground Design

  I like that it's split into 4 small loops (1-11, 12-28, 29-38 and 39-59). There shouldn't be much traffic in any one loop. It's a very shady campground - lots of trees so it's quite dark at night with no stargazing from your site.

  Our site #42 was right next to #40 and there's not much privacy between the 2 sites. There's a lot more distance and privacy between #42 and #44. In general, sites are fairly close together but there are some trees in between.

  I thought we might be closer to the Mississippi River, but the campground is located above the river (called Pepin Lake at this wide point). You can hike down to the river; the steep descent makes the short hike more interesting. There are Lower and Upper Bluff trails as well as other short, connected trails throughout the park. (See photo of trail map.)

  Tent Campers

  There are 6 'cart in' sites, but they are about 1/2 mile away from the main campground and on the other side of the road. Park, put your gear in a cart, and walk about 1/4 mile to your site (C1 through C6). 

  Special rule for these sites: You have to pay $2 to use the showers at the main campground! Your camping rate is $15 instead of $23 for a non-electric site. If a cart in site doesn't appeal to you, the regular sites are good for tents; many have tent pads. There are also a couple backpacker sites.

  Amenities

  • Picnic table and fire ring on each site. Some sites have a tent pad. The 'rule of 3' says you can have 3 'units' on a site - 2 tents + vehicle, RV + rent +vehicle,... - One restroom with flush toilets, sinks and showers (old but no temperature control) located near the road in front of the loop with sites 12-28. We were in the last loop on site 42, and there was a pit toilet that smelled okay but had lots of flies.

  • Some electric sites ($31) in the first 2 loops; the map (see photo) has an 'e' next to the site number and so does the post at the site.

  • Dump station that includes a potable water filling station. There are water spigots in the camping areas.

  • Trash dumpsters and recycle bins.

  Extra fees

  • There's a $7 reservation fee for online or phone reservations, and the site posts indicate you need to 'reserve' the site before you set up camp.  You avoid that fee by showing up without a reservation when the office is open, but I wouldn't do that on a Friday or Saturday in the summer. You can always get a sense of whether showing up without a reservation is feasible by checking availability online. It also looks like you avoid the fee if you reserve online on the day you stay.

  • $7 entry fee per day is standard in MN parks. A $35 pass is good for 12 months.

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• D

  Dani K.

  Guide

  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.

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• 

  amber N.

  Traveler

  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! :)

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• 

  Jennifer H.

  Guide

  Sep. 21, 2020

  Afton State Park Campground

  New groomed backpack trails

  Site 27. This is a river landscape. Spiders and snakes..oh my. The parking lot is paved and has a dumpster. This is also where the nature center is. There are often music festivals and family events here. It is also next to Afton Ski resort. This park has a lot of beautiful prairie landscape with some temperate forest features. Wildflowers, shrubs, fungi, evergreens, and deciduous trees. Backpacking to the top hill sites has gotten easier as the park has curved the new wide groomed and wood chipped trail to spiral around the hill instead of a straight climb. There is a solar panel generated drinking water pump at the top and a honor system fire wood station. There is a bathroom, but not super close to this site. This site has a fire pit with grate and table but no bear box. This site does have a clear view to the trail and the site next to it, but it is set back a little bit. I can hear the joggers along the trail that wraps around the site. The sites are mapped out on a wide open prairie ground with some sites tucked back in the trees along the trail. There is not a water front view, but there is plenty of wildlife. The dear and flowers are beautiful. There is partial tree covering but we did bring a tarp for the rain.

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