Best RV Parks & Resorts near Marine on St. Croix, MN

My partner and I scheduled a 3 day / 2 night stay in a new Vintage Cruiser RV for $39.99, in exchange for attending a presentation on private membership.

We checked in Wednesday evening, and the nicest staff I've ever met helped us acclimate to RV living. We are new to this game. They patiently described how to utilize the grey and black water tanks, as well as encouraged us to check-out the canoes, row boats, bikes, horseshoes, ladder golf and many other entertainment items - for FREE!

The map provided was accurate which made locating the cruiser a breeze. There were further instructions inside as well. The RV was immaculate. Provided for our use were all linens (a public very clean bath and shower was just across the road), dish soap, dish towels, paper towels, flat wear, plates, bowls, mugs and pans.

The campground has a couple of ponds, as well as access to Ham Lake where the watercraft is launched. There is a petting arena with goats, ponies, and a llama who gave my partner the stink eye, but fell in love with me rubbing the fence and giving me all googly eyes!

The clubhouse sells bundled wood, ice, snacks, cold drinks, ice cream and provides 24-hour fresh coffee. There is also a small resupply area, and gift shop.

There are pull-through sites, back ups, 50 and 30 amp hook ups, and tent sites, covered pavilions, picnic tables and fire pits.

The campground itself seems remote, secluded and peaceful, however, you are conveniently located to two well-stocked convenience stores, as well as Wal-Mart about 15 minutes away. It's also only about 45 minutes from the Minnesota Twin Cities.

One note: We visited in August and needed gallons of bug spray.

We very much enjoyed our get away!

Highland Ridge, WI - COE east of Minneapolis. (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Overall Rating: 4.5 Price 2023: $12/ night w senior pass Usage during visit: 60 - 70% during weekdays Site Privacy: GOOD - not a fence forest, but tremendous spacing makes up for it.
Site Spacing: VERY GOOD Site surface: Gravel and level Reservations: Yes. Can reserve on line at the cg Campground Noise: None Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: Yes Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes Potable Water Available: Yes, at the bathrooms. Generators: Not needed. Bathroom: kept VERY clean. Shutdown for cleaning every morning at about 6 AM. Showers: Yes. Clean Pull Throughs: I think all are back ins. Cell Service (AT&T): Good Setting: Forest with no understory Weather: 80s Bugs: Not too bad.
Solar: Forest canopy would interfere , but not needed. Host: Yes. They are around and offer free beach passes. They are super. Rig size: Large RVs. Sites: All sites are very nice in loop 1 -24. I understand that Loop 28+ is less private.

This is a great little rustic campground within an hour's drive of the Twin Cities! It has several potable water sources throughout the campground, but no running water for toilets or showers. There are several vault toilets. Each campsite has a picnic table and a fire ring. You can buy firewood & ice at the Sand Dunes Stop gas station, just a 10 minutes drive away.

This is a first-come, first-served campground, so no reservations required. This does mean that there is a chance you won't be able to get a site, but I've only had that happen one time when I got there at 6pm on a Saturday. There are usually sites available.

I love going to this campground - it's family friendly, and there is a swimming beach a quick 3 minute drive away! The hiking trails aren't half bad, either! I love coming here to relax for a weekend, spend some time at the beach, and just enjoy nature. If you go in the early to mid summer, you'll also hear local whip-poor-wills serenade you to sleep.

Overall, 4 stars. The only downsides are no running water and no ice & firewood at the campground itself.

For a County Park, Lake Elmo has an impressive list of amenities. Before we even get to the campsite let's mention the filtered swimming pond. This man made pond is a sandy bottom and surrounded by a nice sand beach. Large built in umbrellas are available for sun coverage and there is a concession stand and bathrooms with showers. And yes, as I mentioned the water is filtered! No gross goose poop or green algae to deal with! Next to the swim pond is a giant playground with fun for the big and little kids. Other amenities include archery, horse trails, paved and grass trails, camper spots, rustic spots and hike in camping spots. In winter the xc ski trails are lit for evening skiing. Or let's be honest early afternoon. It is Minnesota and the suns down by 4 In the Winter! They also have a newer Nordic center that's open all year round and includes a locker room with showers. The hike in camp spot we chose was on a small lake so it had a nice breeze and made it easy to bring a kayak or paddleboard and hop right in. There is also a boat launch for your larger toys! The trails in the park are quite impressive for its size. We enjoyed a 5 mile loop off the Nordic center and right past the camp spot. A picnic table and fire pit as well as nice flat tent pad were provided. If you're coming in from out of town then you're just a 5 minute drive from Woodbury and all the amenities you'd ever need but the park feels miles away from it all.

We are here for a show at the casino and thought it would be fun to bring the camper down and glamp for the weekend. It is just a parking lot but the sites are all pull through and there is plenty of room between sites and ours was perfectly level.

We have dogs so the fact that it’s all asphalt and rock is a bit of a bummer but we are close to the exercise area and they do love little walks. It also seems to be controlling some of the normal bad pet parent behavior we see at even parks. Like letting the dogs run with out leashes or tethering them all day to bark at everything.

The sites do not have fire rings but there are some community ones and it appears the other campers brought their own smokeless fire pits to use.

There is a shuttle to the casino and at 7pm folks seemed to clear out to head over. It was honestly one of the quietest campgrounds we’ve been to on a Friday night.

The bath house is newer and super clean- not a single creepy spider web in any corners.

On Verizon I have full bars so we haven’t tried the park WiFi but we’ve been able to use our chrome cast and two iPads off my cell phone with zero issues. Because it’s in a river valley the air tv single is terrible so we are glad to have the chrome cast with us- since the forecast called for a raining day.

My family and I took our second trip with our travel trailer to Lebanon Hills Campground locates here in the Apple Valley. It is located on the fringe of a nature reserve with miles of hiking and biking trails. We stayed in the west loop and all the sites are full hook up back in spots. Each site has well groomed grass and plenty of space between campers. Site also came with a XL picnic table and fire ring w/grill grate. The East Loop provides campers with more rustic accommodations. Also in the East Loop is a nice play ground and trails. In between the different loops is a nice pond with groomed trails that go all the way around. About a half mile from the campground is Skills Park which contains over 10 miles of mountain bike trails! One down side is that if you want to swim you have to travel about 4 miles to Lebanon Hills Visitor Center where there is a beach. They do rent paddles boards and kayaks there. All in all, beautiful place and a great trip!!