Best Equestrian Camping near Mora, MN

Well, it snowed … in late March. I stayed in the campground in late March, 2025. This is a big park with a diversity of hiking, equestrian, and canoeing options. Since the park runs along the St. Croix, there are beautiful river-side walks to be had. There are also Oak Savanna trails. Several trails are for horses, but that isn’t my scene. I stayed in the campground for two nights. It was cold, rainy, and that turned into 5” of snow. Like many MN State Park campgrounds, you are close to your neighbors with no real private offerings. I stayed in site 66e. It was a typical site with nothing bad nor special about it. The hike to the former Dam site is the neatest thing about the park. I recommend reading the historical information at the site of the dam. Having been here once, I see no reason to come back.

I have been coming to Wild River since I was a kid. Nice park, scenic trails, horses on the way in.

Have stayed here many times in all seasons. Not an over crowded park with lots of room to roam. Horses are welcome here with their own special campground area and miles of trails to ride. Hiking trails cover open grasslands, hardwood forest and valley waterways. Lots of wildlife and a great place for birders. Paved bike trails trailer and tent camping as well as camper cabins. Especially beautiful in autumn with the colorful leaves.

This was my first solo tent camping night in June 5, 2020. There were some horse flies when I parked but they didn't seem to hang out in the shade of my campsite. There was a very loud bird making calls until about 1am... Maybe a whip-poor-will. Otherwise a serene spot tucked back in the walk in site.

Directions to the walk in sites were a bit unclear when driving in but I eventually made it there.

This campground is massive! Our campsite was on the farthest loop and was very private! We saw sooooo many deer some even walking right through campsites! You can hear coyotes, raccoons and very loud owls😂

We spent an entire day hiking and it was decent hiking along the river, some of the trails where a little confusing and trying to figure out where we at, but we made it just hiked a little further than we wanted to😂! This seems to be the hot spot for horses and if we go back I definitely want to do the horseback riding right outside the park! DRIVE to the visitors center from the campsites it’s a bit away!

Postives: Very private and remote, Lots of wildlife, friendly staff, okay hiking. The canoe rental place wasn’t open so we can’t comment of water activities!

Negatives: Only one shower house and we had to drive there, the primitive toilet smelled so bad it burned!! It needed to be emptied and wasn’t the entire time we were there. This isn’t a comment on this state park but because we where no where near a real bathroom and we have a toddler who wears a diaper/potty training there are no trash cans in the primitive toilet it could create a problem if you had a little one or if your a women😉

overall it was good camping trip, but if we did come back we would definitely camp closer to the shower house.

This is Minnesota’s largest state park and has over 200 camp sites. But where we were, we were secluded from most people. Not from the mosquitos. You had to defend against them. But clean park. Would go back for sure.

The mosquitos were terrible due to all the rain and there was a threat of bears in campsites to eat food while they humans cooking it. Yes this is all part of nature and so are snakes, but do not go here if you fear snakes. This part is a research area for snakes in Minnesota.. which I wasn't aware of and am terrified of snakes. Probably will try camping and visiting in the winter when 2/3 of these will be minimized greatly. That aside, it was a great quiet park on the river.

Right on Lake Mille Lacs, one of Minnesota’s largest. Walking distance from the bakery and bar! Newer, updated facilities. Boat access. Lake side sites (if you book early enough). You can hit Mille Lacs State Park if you want to knock them both out on one trip! This park seems to attract a lot of long term campers, as I’m sure it’s pretty reasonable to stay at the lake all summer. We went mid-July I think and the trees were literally raining caterpillars… it was tough to want to hang out in our tree canopy-covered site. Sooo.. we ventured outside of the park more at this one.

There was a festival going on in a town west of here that had a couple rides and a really fun patio bar. If you do decide to venture out at night, ask the bartender for the limo driver’s number; he’s the city’s “uber”!

Located just south of Mille Lacs in central Minnesota, Mille Lacs Kathio State Park is large and welcoming.

In addition to a state park and campground, the park is also on the nation register of historical sites, owing to the large number of archeological digs, revealing human activity in the area that dates back thousands of years.

The sites are large and spaced decently from each other. We could have used a little more privacy between sites, but this can be written off as an effect of being nearly in the season.

With the exception of a large family reunion, the park was quiet and you can easily find yourself alone from the crowds.

Canoes are available for rental, which allow for fishing in the Rum River. There is also an observation platform- the climb can be intimidating, but the views are well worth it!

I wasn’t able to find a spot to find a spot to fish from shore at, but that could just be my failure.

The Interpretive Center gave you a really good glimpse into the wildlife and history of the area, as well as provided an assortment of activities.

The facilities were a little time-worn, but clean, and the water in the showers heater fast.

My family and I had a wonderful time, and will be back!

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.

This park has a ton of camping available, particularly if you don't need electricity and have a smaller rig because then you can get into more of the campground loops. (There is electricity here, but there are many more sites without.) 

The sites in the Old Logging Campground were close together but many had vegetation between them offering some privacy. Site 207 was especially tucked in but it's a tight spot, so probably best for a van or tent. 

The park itself has a lot to offer being right on the St. Croix River, plus there are hiking trails, a paved bike path, a fire tower you can climb, an old CCC camp area you can tour, and more. Also, canoe and kayak rentals are available. And this is all within the state park boundary since, at 34,000 acres, the park is the largest in the Minnesota state park system. 

Some of the loops have old bathhouses that desperately need to be replaced, but they are in the process of doing so, which means some loops have great new bathrooms and showers. (If you stay in the upper 200s, sites, you'll have one of these new bathrooms right away, but more are being built.) Cell service was incredibly spotty on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Depending on where you're at, you'll get a low signal, but often it was only enough for texting-- don't think about using the web or social media or getting any work done while you're here. 

Overall, we enjoyed our weekend at this park and would come back for another getaway if we had the chance and it wasn't a workday.

While I have seen parks and campsites with more privacy, there are so many trees (and many sites with a lake view) that it's worth a stay at Father Hennepin State Park in MN. Especially if you are rocking out with a pair of OOFOS flipflops!

CAMPGROUND REVIEW:

We've stayed at this campground a few times before, and it should seem obvious that since we keep coming back, it's not too shabby. Yes, I've seen campgrounds that have more privacy between spaces, but I don't think this place is every terribly crowded (at least not when we visit, in May). The leaves are just beginning to bud on the trees, so there is less coverage from your neighbors than in the heat of the summer, but since there are less campers, you can spread out a little bit. My only complaint, and this is the same of previous years here, is that the electric sites are so close to the tent sites that you can generally hear the generators and/or those that think that the wilderness is for loud music dance parties. Fortunately, this time, we were in our new teardrop camper and could shut out the tunes!

We were at site 7, which was the last one in this campground that sits and faces the lake. And while we've been to this site before, it's the first time we've been in our Teardrop Trailer at this park. Lucky for us, the ice was gone and the wind was pretty calm, so the icy chill wasn't too bad. Each site has a fire ring with a grate that swings back and forth, depending on if you want to chill by the flames, or grill off some burgers. The site we had was fairly level. and provided ample space to park our teardrop and our car without hanging out into the road. A picnic table rounded out the scene to provide a full on camping experience. And lovely night sounds of frogs that sang us to sleep!

There are well over a hundred sites, about 100 of them tent pads (no electric), and about 50 with electric. A few group campsites as well as 4 handicapped sites.There are 2 shower houses, 2 flush toilet buildings, vault toilets scattered around and water (in season, when it's turned on).

In Minnesota, reservations are required. We've found that if you make them in advance, and then decide to cancel the day of the reservation, there are cancellation fees and first night fees and blah blah blah. If, however, you decide to take your chances and book it the "day of", there are no online reservation fees and you can cancel without penalty if you decide to go elsewhere.

Drive in sites are approximately $23/night. Electric are about $34/night.

PRODUCT REVIEW:

Now, I have to admit, I'm an OOFOS junkie. Ever since I won a pair in my very firsts campground contest. That said, I'll never pass up the chance to review another pair! This time, I had the OOFOS Women's OOriginal Sandal. The last pair I had was a light color, and I loved the shoes, but they got dirty so quickly. Since these shoes are a type of foam, they scuff and dirty a little easier than other shoes, but the comfiness of them is off the chart, so they are totally worth having in other colors! This time, I chose black, to combat and dirt issues I might have while camping. If you can't see the dirt, it's not there, right?

OOFOS are recovery shoes, and I didn't know what that meant at first, but just wait until you put them on at the end of a hard day on your feet (long work day, long hike, etc). They literally massage the sole of your foot. I'm not joking. I can't believe how my feet feel when I change shoes. If I listen veeeeeery carefully, I can hear my feet smiling! They are sort of spongy and squishy, but not in a strange way. Like walking on marshmallows! (but not sticky). Seriously, they cushioning, higher arch and wide fashion of the shoe (yes, it's a little chunkier, not a huge fashion statement) make it stable and comfy. They hug your feet and don't slip off the way some other "slippy" flipflops can. And so lightweight! The price is a little more than I normally pay for shoes, but I'd absolutely invest in another pair if this one wears out. The bottom has some fun grippy texture that looks as if it might channel away water if you stepped in a puddle.

Quite frankly, as long as I have my OOFOS, I don't care what campground I'm staying at, but this one is good enough that I enjoy staying a little while, to look at the lake and enjoy the singing frogs!

Hiking was great, we saw an albino deer on the hiking club trail! Site was a bit tight for our travel trailer and a tight fit to back up on the pad. Recent rain had the campsites pretty muddy but the paved spaces were well maintained.

A nice surprise We had site #50 in Lakeview Campground, this site is located on the rise and had nice breezes, close to showers, lake and playground.

Town of Isle is very close by along with other small towns dotted around the lake. Casino within 30 minutes.

Stayed at Lakeview Campsite#1 9/30 and was visited by a skunk... next thing I know, he brought his girlfriend and the two of them scoured my site while I was trying to enjoy my campfire-- no amount of flashing my light got them to leave and I wasn't about to try to scare them off. They left when they felt like it... That's what I get for staying in their back yard, fair is fair. Heard a big animal move through camp around 3am(definitely didn't sound like a deer since it shuffled leaves and gravel so not sure what it was-- not gonna lie, I was scared AF). It was a great mix of car camping with great access to nature. Bathrooms were a short walk away and well tended. My only disappointment was the amount of microtrash all over the site.

It nice place to camping

This was a nice campground on the lake. Spots are not very private in the lakeside campground. Nice hiking trails and large beach. Cell phone coverage was good.

This site is great for solo or family trips because there is a lot to do: swim, playground, boating, fishing, walking. The site and restroom/shower were well kept. During the night there were some raccoons rustling around and this caused multiple campers to come over, but nobody was concerned for safety, more curious about what they were doing.

Perfect weather. Super quiet during the week.

There isn't anything terrible about this park, but of all the MN options, this doesn't come close to most.

The hiking is boring, however it is on the lake so if you are into boating or fishing it might be great for people. The campsites are nice but pretty open to each other. However, this park does have a bunch of shade at the campsites which is great.

One thing to note is this park gets a ton of black flies so beware. They bite and are gross.

We had a great weekend here. There were a few trails that we walked and got to see several deer in the woods. This is a great lake for fishing and boating.

This park isn't bad, but it's not the best state park. The campsites aren't separated much. The rangers seemed to make a lot of trips through while we were there. It was a little too chilly to checkout the beach. There is a nice big sandbox for the kids that has sand toys to play with.

It’s a beautiful camp site on Lake Mille Lacs. Quite and clean. Big beach area. Water is also very clean

We stayed here one night in a nice wooded site not far from the beaches of Mille Lacs Lake. Nice trails too. Big picnic and beach area with a roofed picnic spot. We did not use any of the park restrooms as we have a self-contained RV. Lovely views of the really big lake!