Best Tent Camping near Midway, MN

This is both a campsite review and a Dyrt Ranger product review.

Campsite Review: This a canoe-in campsite on the Mississippi River Headwaters Water Trail. It is located 31 miles from Itasca State Park which is the source of the mighty Mississippi and where the canoeable Water Trail begins. Fox Trap would be a couple days paddle downstream from Itasca. You can access this campsite only by paddling, either 15 miles from the campsite at Coffee Pot Landing, or after driving into Bear Den Landing which is a mile away, then paddling a mile downstream from there. You could in theory hike in as well, but this would involve traversing unmarked logging trails in the nearby state forest and then bushwhacking a bit! Could be done, but more fun to paddle in. This campsite has a nice three-sided log Adirondack shelter you can use, along with a steel fire grill and a picnic table. The canoe landing access is easy to use, and then you will need to portage your gear up a small bluff. There is no potable water here, so bring your own or use a good filter—though the water is basically pristine here, there are a lot if beavers and risk of giardia. There is no privy either, so prepare to rough it and Leave No Trace. The view is great as you are up high on a bluff, and on a point, and the marshy waterway below has a lot of bird and wildlife action as this is part of the wild and scenic section of the river. Great for a quick weekend getaway, or as a stopover when through-paddling the water trail!

Product Review:

As a Dyrt Ranger, I sometimes test and review new camping products for The Dyrt. This review is for the Rom Outdoors camouflaged convertible backpack, that serves as a sturdy waterproof tarp, a warm fleece lined poncho, and also folds up neatly to become a large and roomy portage pack. See video below to see how I used it, and what I liked about it. In sum,

Pros:

1. The pack is made from really sturdy waterproof canvas. It will last a long time and take a lot of abuse. My dog tested it trying to get into her dog food packed inside, and there is no way--too tough for claws!

2. It is a convertible pack, which can be uses as a portage pack for gear, or as a poncho, or as a warm sturdy camping tarp. All the parts used for altering the use, such as velcro, zippers, straps and buckles, are all top quality and heavy duty

3. I don't know how waterproof it is as it didnt rain while I tested it, but I used the poncho form as a camouflaged birdblind for birdwatching and photography. It is awesome for that! Very roomy, very warm, you could easily use it in 4 seasons.

4. It unfolds to a standard size tarp, you could use it under a tent to keep it dry, or inside a tent or Adirondack shelter to provide an insulating layer between you and the ground

5. As a portage pack, it straps into your canoe realy well, and while portaging it is easy to carry, as a 5'5" tall woman I found the straps to adjust perfectly at shoulders, chest and waist. The three sets of straps distribute the weight well. I portaged with gear and my 12 pound dog and it was comfortable! I know it wasnt meant to carry a dog, but it worked for a small one like ours, she fit right in. When fold up s a pack, it has two deep pockets in the main body of the bag, plus additional large pounches on the outside.

6)The pack comes with a full size removable pack liner that is also a lightweight back pack on its own, and there are two large external gear pouches that go on and off with buckles and heavy velcro.

Cons:

1. The shoulder straps and buckles are a tad bulkly if you unfold the pack to use as a tarp. You wont notice if you use a sleeping bag pad on top, but you might feel it a bit without a pad.

2. The poncho feature would be particularly good in cool to cold weather, maybe in warmish weather too, but not in real warm or hot weather because the canvas itself is so thick, plus there is a layer of insulating polarfleece. I cant imagine wearing it as a poncho for very long on hot days.

Great views here! Stayed right next to the lake! Had easy access for kayaking and had a fun girls weekend! Site 7 was a short hike in from the parking lot and the site was large enough for multiple tents. We had a 3p and 2p backpacking tent. Picnic table and fire ring provided at the site. There is a self pay station and the rates were pretty cheap! we enjoyed a rainy weekend and were even able to rig up an awning with some dead branches in our site and extra rope we brought to help us keep dry. Great location for water access. we had an inflatable kayak, traditional kayak, and inflatable paddleboard between the three of us!

This is a State Forest Campground, and for the price of only $14 a night, you can't go wrong. Although you may get some noise from RVs with generators, we visited in late september, and there were enough sites to choose from that we could be away from that noise. Almost every site had a fair amount of space, and some privacy from neighboring sites with brush and foliage. There seemed to be pathways back to little vault toilet houses, and when we visited, they were very clean! They must have been recently cleaned, and there was no smell at all. Perhaps the cooler weather had something to do with that as well.

We had a fire ring that was tall, and deep. With a grate so you could grill. A picnic table, and again, plenty of space for our teardrop trailer. The property had a few small, short trails through the woods, and also boat access.

It's far enough off the main road that you won't hear road noise. You will, however, see and hear deer, and possibly black bear.

There's no electricity, because it's a State Forest campground, but if the price of $14, it's exactly what we wanted for this time of year.

One more bonus is that motorized two-wheel vehicles and off-road vehicles are not allowed past the entrance. That doesn't mean they can't be carried on the back of a truck, but you will not find them riding around this campground. Made things a little bit quieter!

This is a specialized public campground for trailriders and their horses. It is maintained as a recreational opportunity by the Natural Resources program of Beltrami County, within the Headwaters State Forest. Several area horse clubs assist in the maintanence of this campground, which is available on a first come first served basis to individuals and groups. Camping here is free, but donations are gladly accepted. The campground is uniquely set up to accommodate people, tents, vans, and horse trailers, every site having ample parking, picnic tables and fire rings, tent sites, and horse tie-up posts with grazing area. There are vault toilets and water available by pump. The campsites are well maintained and set by the picturesque Grant Creek, next to a trailhead for a maze of nearly fifty miles of trails for riding. This is a very nice camping experience for horseback riders, 4-H groups, families or riding clubs!

Stayed here one night while on a work trip, trying to maximize summer fun. For a free campground, it was fantastic. Sites had picnic tables and a place for a fire, although it wasn’t an actual fire ring. Trees by the sites are not well spaced for hammocks unless you have extra long straps. There is a boat launch to put into the Red Lake River, and the water was calm enough you could have had a leisurely paddle in a kayak either direction. Perhaps it is not normally that low/slow since I visited during a particularly dry spell. There was a drinking water pump, but I did not use it. Two vault toilets with a good stock of toilet paper, bring your own hand sanitizer. No electricity and cell service (AT&T) was available but very slow. The sunset was beautiful coming through the large trees in the park, and it was very quiet overnight.

Campground Review: The Stumphges Rapids Canoe Landing is a stop on the Mississippi Headwaters Water Trail. It has a primitive dispersed campsite that lies with the river buffer zone that is part of the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest, but the DNR is no longer maintaining it as a full scale Water Trail canoe campsite, eg there is no water pump, latrine or Adirondack shelters such as at Coffee Pot Landing or Wanagon upstream or Pine Point downstream. Although on a bluff overlooking one of the more pristine sections of the Headwaters, the campsite itself has seen better days. There is a clearing for tents and parking, a fire ring with stump seats, and a beautiful bench overlooking the sandy but steep trail to the canoe landing. Be prepared to bring your own water, and to Leave No Trace when you visit the woods for an al fresco potty stop. For those who appreciate a very rustic campsite in a secluded state forest location, you might choose this spot to either drive in or paddle in, but it is not as nice as Coffee Pot or Fox Trap, which are your next closest full canoe campsites on the Water Trail. Whether driving or paddling, the site is not really accessible during the winter season although you probably could ski or snowmobile in for winter camping. I give the river location itself a full five points, but the campsite itself just a 3 at best

Brochure and map for the Mississippi Headwaters State Forest: http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_forests/sft00034.pdf

Map of the first hundred miles of the Headwaters Water Trail: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/canoe_routes/mississippi1.pdf

Directions to the Stumpghes Rapids Landing and adjacent dispersed campsite are at this link: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/water_access/site.html?id=WAS00636

Product Review of Eclipse Sunwear protective clothing:

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I sometimes have the chance to try new products and review them for the Dyrt camping community. The Eclipse Sunwear shirts are a relatively new brand of sun protective clothing, and I tried both the hooded shirt in mint green and the electric yellow shirt. You can see an example of them here: https://eclipseglove.com/collections/cover-ups/products/equinox-hoodie-beach-cover-up PROS:For health reasons, I have been advised to be cautious about sun exposure, which is a challenge as I do a lot of outdoor recreation and I also work outdoors. The Eclipse Sunwear is pretty awesome at protecting from sunburn and minimizing sun exposure without use of sunscreen lotion, as the fabric screens out UV light. The shirts are made of a lightweight stretchy fabric that is really cool and comfortable to wear doing anything from kayaking to carrying gear for field work. You can wear them swimming and they dry quickly. The hooded shirts are sleek and comfy and have extra pockets, one dedicated to holding your cell phone and keys which is real handy. There are a variety of nice colors, you can choose to “blend in” with natural outdoor colors, or for safety you can choose their fluorescent colors to be seen when biking or hiking or working alongside roads. CONS: The only con is that the sleeves have open vents on the undersides. These may be meant to keep you cool with airflow in a spot that isn’t exposed to the sun, which may be great at the beach or on the water, but it gives access to mosquitos when you are in the woods. I am thinking about sewing up the vents in mine for that reason.

Stayed at backpack site 10. It’s about 250 ft from main trail and about a 40 min hike in/30 min hike out from parking lot. The main trail is wide and well maintained with ambling hills, but overall pretty flat. It is about 1/3 mile away from nearest campsite.

The site is lakeside. You can easily access the water and there are some great views (at least in early spring before the leaves come in). There is a pit toilet on the other side of the trail and is clearly signed and clearly visible from the trail (best hope no one hiking by walks in on ya).

There is only level ground enough for one tent—maybe two two-person tents if you cram them next to each other.

You can forage for firewood on the forest floor, do bring a saw. I was lucky and there were plenty of downed branches nearby. But I suspect later in the season it’ll be harder.

Also, getting water to filter from the lake was difficult without getting wet—the reeds inhibit easy access.

I read in another review that you are always aware of people around. While I think that is more true of the non-dispersed sites, I could clearly see hikers from this site. More annoying—at about 8 am there was a very loud mechanical noise that radiated over the landscape for about an hour before stopping. No idea what it was.

Unfortunately the people who had this site before me didn’t clean up after themselves—beer cans everywhere (that I ended up packing out) and a dirty diaper thrown in the woods near the tent pad. I did let the park know.