Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in. Experience some of the most stunning views that Minnesota camping has to offer. Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our campgrounds near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake and user-submitted reviews.
$21 / night
Welcome to Cuyuna Range Campground! We offer private, spacious campsites on a nightly basis (with weekly/monthly discounts available) to recreational camping vehicles (RCVs) such as motor homes, fifth-wheel trailers and travel trailers. The campground does not have a separate bath/shower house so tent camping is not available and all RCVs staying at the campground must be equipped with their own bathroom.
Cuyuna Range Campground is located in the heart of Cuyuna Country - located within a 10-minute drive of the nearby cities of Crosby, Cuyuna, Deerwood, Emily and Ironton as well as the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area, mountain biking trails and ATV trails. We are your home base to come back to after exploring all the area has to offer for restaurants, shopping, activities and adventures. Relax, laugh and enjoy time with your friends and family in the beauty of nature! Cuyuna Range Campground is a place for you to rejuvenate in the privacy of your own wooded campsite.
Cuyuna Range Campground offers 17 private, wooded and level campsites, all with full hook-ups (water, septic and electric (20/30/50 amp)) - the only campground of its kind in the Cuyuna Area! Each campsite is 40' wide x 60' deep (with at least 30' of woods in between each site) giving you plenty of privacy. No overcrowding here! Each of our sites accommodate RCVs up to 50' in length and provide use of a picnic table and fire pit with grill attachment. There is a class 5 pad on which to park.
We live in the Cuyuna area so are available if you have any questions or issues and we'd love to make recommendations for restaurants, shops or activities! There is so much to explore and experience and we look forward to hosting you!
$57 - $65 / night
Gull Lake Recreation Area offers something for everyone with boating, hiking, fishing and swimming at Minnesota's famous Gull Lake, the largest of the 10 lakes on the Gull Chain of Lakes. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an abundance of watchable wildlife like bald eagles, white-tailed deer, river otters, a variety of songbirds, and the legendary call of the loon.
Anglers will delight in the large population of fish including stocked walleye, northern pike, bass and a variety of panfish. Boaters can access crystal clear waters throughout the chain of lakes and enjoy the peaceful sunsets overlooking the woods. Hit the self-guided interpretive trail for a short hike with wildlife watching and scenic overlooks along the lake. Hop on your bike on the City of East Gull Lake's paved multi-use trail that starts by the dam, or head out to join up with the Paul Bunyan State Trail with trailheads located in Baxter and Nisswa. Got a kayak, canoe, or intertube? Try heading down the Gull River from the lower canoe launch. Ask the Park Rangers about river safety with current water flow and check-out a life jacket before you go.
The campground sits on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake. The area was formed by a receding glacier that moved southward from Canada and carved the landscape. Gull Lake is one of the six Mississippi Headwaters Projects of the Mississippi River Watershed operated by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Gull Lake is located minutes from 520 holes of golf, the 100-mile Paul Bunyan State Trail, amusement parks, a zoo, and numerous shopping opportunities in Brainerd, Baxter, and Nisswa.
$40 / night
In Central Minnesotas popular lakes area, the Crosslake Recreation Area has tremendous appeal for families and friends, with an array of facilities perfect for a day outdoors. Natural Features: Surrounded by tall pines on the eastern banks of Cross Lake, Crosslake Day-Use provides an ideal location to explore and enjoy the near 13 natural lakes, boasting 13,660 acres of water and 119 miles of scenic shoreline. Recreation: Swim, hike, sunbathe, picnic or get out on the lake with the help of the on-site boat ramp for launching canoes to powerboats. Facilities: The area offers two picnic pavilions with electricity, adjoining parking, a playground, extended picnic area and swimming beach. Both pavilions fit 50 guests. Nearby Attractions: Crosslake is just 10 minutes from shopping and a paved bike trail. Its also near the Crow Wing State Park where visitors can view the Mississippi River atop the historic Chippewa Lookout.
In Central Minnesota's popular lakes area, the Cross Lake Recreation Area is best known for its picturesque sunsets, beautiful beaches and well-maintained campsites. The campground provides a full menu of activities for camping enthusiasts, while being located just minutes from shopping and paved bike trails. For a virtual tour go to: http://www.photographyoptions.net/images/headwaters/tour.html
The recreation area provides plenty of water based entertainment like boating, canoeing, kayaking, water skiing and fishing. Two onsite beaches are convenient for swimming and sunbathing. Two accessible fishing piers provide angling opportunities on both Cross Lake and the Pine River.
Cross Lake Recreation Area is nestled among tall pines on the eastern banks of Cross Lake on the Whitefish Chain of Lakes. The area has tremendous appeal, with access to 13 natural lakes, 13,660 acres of water and 119 miles of scenic shoreline. The collection of lakes help form the Headwaters of the Mississippi River.
The Recreation Area is located adjacent to the city of Crosslake and is just a short walk from shopping and a paved bike trail. It's also near the Crow Wing State Park where visitors can view the Mississippi River from the historic "Chippewa Lookout."
Reservations must check in within 24 hours of their scheduled arrival or risk their reservation being cancelled. Modifications to existing reservations will be charged a $10.00 non-refundable modification fee. Modifications to reservations may be made online or by calling Recreation.gov at (877)444-6777
$22 - $36 / night
$52 / night
Canoe in site that is also used by hikers/bikers on the Paul Bunyan Trail. The Paul Bunyan State Trail is 115 miles long, not including a couple of short on-road connections through the cities of Baxter and Bemidji. Extending all the the way from Crow Wing State Park to Lake Bemidji State Park, north of Bemidji, it is the longest of Minnesota's state trails and the longest continuously paved rail-trail in the country.
$21 / night
Welcome to Cuyuna Range Campground! We offer private, spacious campsites on a nightly basis (with weekly/monthly discounts available) to recreational camping vehicles (RCVs) such as motor homes, fifth-wheel trailers and travel trailers. The campground does not have a separate bath/shower house so tent camping is not available and all RCVs staying at the campground must be equipped with their own bathroom.
Cuyuna Range Campground is located in the heart of Cuyuna Country - located within a 10-minute drive of the nearby cities of Crosby, Cuyuna, Deerwood, Emily and Ironton as well as the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area, mountain biking trails and ATV trails. We are your home base to come back to after exploring all the area has to offer for restaurants, shopping, activities and adventures. Relax, laugh and enjoy time with your friends and family in the beauty of nature! Cuyuna Range Campground is a place for you to rejuvenate in the privacy of your own wooded campsite.
Cuyuna Range Campground offers 17 private, wooded and level campsites, all with full hook-ups (water, septic and electric (20/30/50 amp)) - the only campground of its kind in the Cuyuna Area! Each campsite is 40' wide x 60' deep (with at least 30' of woods in between each site) giving you plenty of privacy. No overcrowding here! Each of our sites accommodate RCVs up to 50' in length and provide use of a picnic table and fire pit with grill attachment. There is a class 5 pad on which to park.
We live in the Cuyuna area so are available if you have any questions or issues and we'd love to make recommendations for restaurants, shops or activities! There is so much to explore and experience and we look forward to hosting you!
$57 - $65 / night
Gull Lake Recreation Area offers something for everyone with boating, hiking, fishing and swimming at Minnesota's famous Gull Lake, the largest of the 10 lakes on the Gull Chain of Lakes. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an abundance of watchable wildlife like bald eagles, white-tailed deer, river otters, a variety of songbirds, and the legendary call of the loon.
Anglers will delight in the large population of fish including stocked walleye, northern pike, bass and a variety of panfish. Boaters can access crystal clear waters throughout the chain of lakes and enjoy the peaceful sunsets overlooking the woods. Hit the self-guided interpretive trail for a short hike with wildlife watching and scenic overlooks along the lake. Hop on your bike on the City of East Gull Lake's paved multi-use trail that starts by the dam, or head out to join up with the Paul Bunyan State Trail with trailheads located in Baxter and Nisswa. Got a kayak, canoe, or intertube? Try heading down the Gull River from the lower canoe launch. Ask the Park Rangers about river safety with current water flow and check-out a life jacket before you go.
The campground sits on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake. The area was formed by a receding glacier that moved southward from Canada and carved the landscape. Gull Lake is one of the six Mississippi Headwaters Projects of the Mississippi River Watershed operated by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Gull Lake is located minutes from 520 holes of golf, the 100-mile Paul Bunyan State Trail, amusement parks, a zoo, and numerous shopping opportunities in Brainerd, Baxter, and Nisswa.
$40 / night
In Central Minnesotas popular lakes area, the Crosslake Recreation Area has tremendous appeal for families and friends, with an array of facilities perfect for a day outdoors. Natural Features: Surrounded by tall pines on the eastern banks of Cross Lake, Crosslake Day-Use provides an ideal location to explore and enjoy the near 13 natural lakes, boasting 13,660 acres of water and 119 miles of scenic shoreline. Recreation: Swim, hike, sunbathe, picnic or get out on the lake with the help of the on-site boat ramp for launching canoes to powerboats. Facilities: The area offers two picnic pavilions with electricity, adjoining parking, a playground, extended picnic area and swimming beach. Both pavilions fit 50 guests. Nearby Attractions: Crosslake is just 10 minutes from shopping and a paved bike trail. Its also near the Crow Wing State Park where visitors can view the Mississippi River atop the historic Chippewa Lookout.
Legend
This is one campground in Minnesota that offers a handful of electric hookups for winter camping. The beauty of this campground, is that while the campsites available are in a row, there's plenty of space between sites and some of them are even pulled through. Making it easy for RVs to pull in and hook up.
The vault toilet is not easy to find from where the electric openings are in the winter. While these spaces are right next door to a shower house with toilets, this is closed in the winter. The vault toilet is several rows over and down, making it hard to find if you don't already know where it is. But it was clean, and it was available.
The campfire rings seemed clean, and each had a picnic table as well. We loved the pull-through site because then we were a little more protected from the road, although it's not busy this time of year at all. So it was very quiet except for our neighbors, and they didn't make much noise at all.
There are trails nearby that are easily accessible on foot from the campground, and you can make loops that come back to the campground as well.
There are two campgrounds at this park, but this is the one that has availability in the winter time. Ironically, they also have a couple of walk-in spots that are also open this time of year. If you're willing to brave the temps without an electric hookup. Not hard to find, not hard to access, but no electric hookups at these sites.
Legend
offers sites with no hookups and sites with electric (no water, but potable water station is provided to fill up prior to parking) bathrooms and showers in the campground. Fire ring and picnic table provide for each site. Firewood and sewage dump station also provided for free to registered campers. There is a dock, sand swimming beach, horse shoe pits, disc golf, basketball court, and softball field.
Traveler
The website for this RV park is broken
TravelerThis Campground is closed permanently
ScoutThis is a beautiful quiet place to park it for a while. There is everything here from 43 ft Class A rigs to tents. We were the only ones for about four days when we got here and now the campground is completely full. It’s the middle of September, and you wouldn’t know you were practically in the middle of the city with all the foliage. The only downfall is you have to unhook to go dump every so often. Thankfully the dump site is inside the campground
Scout
Was here every summer in the late eighties and early nineties as a kid with my family and it’s still as nice and peaceful as it was then. I’ll continue to keep coming back every summer
Traveler
This is our second year and starting into our third. This campground has been great for our family. Everyone in the campground is very friendly, pool is amazing and the lake is great for fishing. It is a seasonal campground so it is awesome to be able to leave our camper here year-round.
Guide
The campground was nicely maintained. Had a nice pool and friendly seasonal campers. The management and reservation process was less than desirable. Very difficult to get ahold of management and upon arrival they had given our reserved site away to someone else and moved us. Paid for a water/ electric site and were moved to an electric only site and no cost difference or refund offered.
Legend
As this was our second time here at Minnesota National, we had no problem finding the course or RV park. The RV navigation in our new Ford 450 was also spot on. When you turn in at the golf course, drive all the way to the club house/lodge parking lot and there’s a road to the right that takes you into the campground (CG). As you check-in online prior to arrival, you simply proceed to your camp site. As you turn down the short road to the CG, there’s a sign to help you identify your site location. We proceeded to back-in site 25 with full hook ups. The utilities are in the back of pad in this CG, so you may need 20+ feet of electric, sewer, or water cord/hose depending on your rig’s configuration. The sewer grade is a bit up hill. We got 3 bars LTE on Verizon and no CG WiFi. There is only a vault toilet/out house in the CG. We came here to golf for two weeks. The 18 hole course is quite challenging where the 9 hole Savannah is shorter and a little bit easier. The golf course restaurant has decent food and a good deal on draft beer during their Sunday to Thursday Happy Hours.There is not much more to do here except golf. McGregor is about 15 minutes away and is where we did laundry and got our groceries.
GuideAn old national forest campsite, rustic with ground fire pits. Good for tent. You will be able to see the drive in spots by the fire pits. About 6 spots. Only two other RV people there mid summer weekday. The spots are spread out decently. Theres a boat ramp and an old outhouse toilet. Be ready to bring bug spray. Dont miss the sign while driving down 6 mile lake rd, the coordinates work better on map directions.
Scout
Lots of amenities, $60+ /night, guest fees. More open with less “trees and camping” feel so not for everyone but we liked it.
Scout
I stayed here for 2 nights. I was with my parents who had an RV but I just stayed in a tent in the back of their spot. It was a very clean park. You can tell they take care of it. Showers were nice. Pool was warm. Everyone at the park seemed nice. It's not on the lake but there is a boat landing with 2 ramps about a mile away. It's right on a major bike trail.
Traveler
We got to the site and we had low branches asked them to cut them. They said they were at there standards so we had hold it up. Them the site next to us had to have rock concrete us and 4 others called several times nothing
Guide
Lovely sites with plenty of trees so most sites are quite private. Mosquitoes are brutal here, especially on the hiking club trail and to a somewhat lesser degree in the campground. We were thankful to have a screen tent for this visit. No Verizon cell service at the campground. Surprisingly good cell service at the Loon Lake area of the park, which also has a beautiful short hike!
Guide
Great campground right on Leech Lake. A quick drive to Walker if you need any supplies. Plenty of options for getting firewood near by.
We were on site 23 and it was a huge site (as were most sites) No issues with neighbors being noisy other than a yapping dog. Site was nice and level.
There are some sites that are definitely less desirable around the main bathroom / shower house.
With the wind off the lake bugs were well managed - but this is MN in the summer - so there were mosquitoes and flies - but that is expected.
Grass was well maintained
Beach was great albeit shallow. But nice soft sand.
Wouldn't have any qualms about going back
FYI - they don't supply a solo stove - but I love mine so I use it instead of the fire ring
Guide
This campsite was a bit confusing for me to find and I still wonder if I’m at the right place. It’d be a peaceful night if it weren’t for the generator running all night across from me 😤 The mosquitoes are terrible, but that’s expected. I also thought it’d be on the water but it’s not… The road can also be pretty tough so be prepared if your pulling a trailer. I don’t think this was what I expected
Guide
Absolutely nothing interesting about this place. It’s just a standard issue dirt lot with a slight incline. Open parking, no sites.
Guide
I had the entire park to myself. Beautiful view of the Mississippi River, not far from the headwaters. Enjoyed the sounds of nature as I relaxed in site #6. I took advantage of the on-site fire wood via the Yodel Portal app. Amazed that I had the place to myself.
Guide
Was here last year also. Great place for older people that have a national parks card. $13.00 a night is unbeatable. Park is always clean and well maintained. And free laundry too. Yes, there are skeeters, but this is summer in Minnesota. You learn to deal. Quiet and not packed at all. Site is large and flat and trees galore.
Ranger
There were a good amount of spots, and I seemed to be the only person. Was a good and secluded. I did hear some weird noises throughout the night, but all was well. It is your average dispersed site. I made it fine with 2wd, just take it slow.
GuideNice campground. We were dry camping in the RV since there was no water. Still a nice place for a winter getaway. Will go back in the fall!
Guide
Base camp for fishing Big Sandy. Stayed here several times in a tent and a trailer. Nice sites but surrounded by swampy areas so mosquitoes are thick.
Very clean, pay attention to north or south entrance. Have to drive on either end can’t cross the dam with a vehicle.
But firewood before hand as well.
Guide
Small and well maintained park as you would expect for a USACE site. Super clean bathrooms. Level sites and great views of the Mississippi.
Road noise from Hwy 2 is a downside.
Ranger
Nice trails along the Mississippi River, easy to walk, good signage on trails, and good information signs with history of each site along the trail.
Very Clean men’s bathroom. One shower needs a new shower head.
Sites 40 to 45 are very nice and secluded. Sites 58 and 59 are prime secluded sites.
Legend
Smaller campsite with less spaces but right on the waters edge which provides a breeze and keeps the bugs down. Wet spring so Kathoy was terrible but works here. Trails, town which has a grocery store, place to wash cloths and a place to trade out the books I've ready for a new set. Good connectivity so easy to work from with decent bathrooms.
LegendI came in the spring it was a wet spring there were a lot of bugs. The trails are probably not maintained because it was so wet but they were almost impossible to hike on simply because of the amount of mosquitoes. The bathrooms are nice the camp spots were nice they had good signage for the archaeological stuff. It was just very hard to enjoy it because it was so overwhelmingly buggy.
GuideThe campsite was pretty wooded on most sides. I visited in the late spring so there were quite a few mosquitos since the campground is near the river. Bathrooms/showers were cleanish, water was mid from the outdoor taps but not horrible
Camping near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake, Minnesota, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled getaway, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake, Minnesota, has something for everyone, from families to solo adventurers. Just remember to plan ahead and enjoy the great outdoors!
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake offers a wide range of camping options, with 195 campgrounds and RV parks near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake and 12 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake is Crow Wing State Park Campground with a 3.9-star rating from 25 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 12 free dispersed camping spots near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake.
What parks are near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 9 parks near Mississippi River Headwaters - Cross Lake that allow camping, notably Mississippi River Headwaters - Sandy Lake and Mississippi River Headwaters - Leech Lake.
