Best Tent Camping near New London, MN

If you’re looking for a peaceful escape where the only sounds are rustling leaves, birdsong, and frogs singing at dusk — Site B6 at Lake Maria State Park is the one.

This hike-in site is about a half-mile walk from the parking area, and the journey in is half the magic: winding wooded trails, wildflowers, and glimpses of the lake through the trees. Once you arrive, B6 feels like a secret woodland sanctuary — set up on a slight rise, tucked beneath a cathedral of towering oaks and maples.

The site is private, quiet, and wonderfully shaded, with just enough open sky for stargazing by the fire. The tent pad is level, and there’s a solid fire ring and picnic table. Vault toilets and water access aren’t too far, especially by backcountry standards.

What makes B6 stand out, though, is the vibe. It’s close enough to Lake Maria’s best hiking trails and just a short walk to the lake itself, where you can sit on a log and watch wood ducks paddle past and listen to the frogs in full chorus at night. We saw pileated woodpeckers, red squirrels, and a chorus of chorus frogs. Nature feels close here — in the best way.

Pro tip: Pack light and bring permethrin-treated clothes during bug season. And don’t forget a headlamp — the darkness here is wild and beautiful.

This site is perfect for anyone who wants a little solitude, a lot of nature, and a chance to slow down and breathe. We’ll absolutely be booking B6 again.

Backpack sites only. Love this park as it offers many backpacking sites with some being very short hikes in and some being longer hikes. Some are lake front and some are more woodsy sites. I really enjoy sites 1, 2, and 3 as they are a little more secluded from other sites, however 1 is fairly close to the county road so you will hear some vehicle noise overnight. Site comes with a fire ring, picnic table, and bear locker. Site 1 is my favorite despite the road noise due to the location of the tent pad and being on almost a peninsula offering lots of lake views.

Lots of space between sites. There are not many trees so not much shade. Sites are gravel and relatively level, not much leveling required. Variety of sites, from group camping, primitive (no hookups), electric only, full hookups (water, electric, sewer) as well as cabins and tent only areas. Limited hiking trails connected to campground. Surrounded on two sides by farm fields and Lac Qui Parle Lake on another. There are two loops in the campground. One loop has view of the lake. Boat/canoe launch is in lower campground about 10 minutes from Upper Campground. Recycling and garbage dumpsters on site. Dump station near entrance. Verizon cell signal is poor. Pit toilets available. Bathhouse is centrally located, includes private showers. No laundry on site. Nearby attractions in Montevideo include Talking Waters Brewery/taproom, Jake’s pizza and Java River cafe (with outdoor seating, dog friendly).

This is one of my favorite parks to spend a night in when I don’t have time for an extended trip farther from home, living in Maple Grove this is only a 40 minute drive but you feel like you have really gotten away! I’ve found it’s also easier to snag a campsite at the last minute unlike most of the other parks around this area of the state, and especially during the week when you will likely have the park to yourself.

The hikes to the campsites are easy, wide trails without much up and down and most are about a mile hike in. The spots that I have stayed at have good places to set up a hammock, and all sites have a fire ring, picnic table and food locker.

Walking in on the trails can be a little buggy in late summer but clears up around the campsite, just make sure to bring some bug spray. The variety of birds in the park are fun to observe, the owls were hooting loudly all through the evening and there were a few woodpeckers hanging around our site. These sites in specific also had an outhouse really close, just remember to bring your own toilet paper. Sites 1 and 3 are on a little lake, but the water is more swampy so don’t plan on swimming and it’s probably not ideal for cooking or being purified for drinking water. There is a water pump in the parking lot where you can restock. You also shouldn’t have any trouble finding downed wood for fire around either of these sites. It’s secluded and you don’t see any other campers here but easy enough to get to! The view of the water from site 1 is beautiful and the sunset over the lake in October with the fall colors is a must see.

Great family campground. Lots of shade cover. Oak ridge is perfect for larger rigs (<35 feet - anything bigger there are only 2 spots that will fit) (no electric or water). Clean vault toilets. Lots for kids to do. Canoeing, fishing, paddle boards. Great hiking trails. Loop for kids to bike on easily. Easy to get to.

For those using the dump station it’s on a hill and tougher for bigger rigs to use. No flushing station. But water throughout park. Firewood at the station. Small number of electric sites in the first campground but sites are closed together and less privacy/shade. Bathhouse is in first campground.

If you’re looking for some unique camping look no further than the Upper Sioux Agency State Park outside of Granite Falls Minnesota. This park is one of three parks in Minnesota that is home to Tipi camping. Yes I said Tipi!! And not even a Tipi that you need to supply one that’s already set up for you with the wood platform and everything perfect for you to have an amazing experience!

We paid $55 a night and were able to stay at this awesome Tipi campsite. The only downside to the campsite that we stayed in was that it was right on the corner of the main road. Other than that we are absolutely in love with the campsite and the staff at the park. Each day the park rangers would come through and ask if you needed firewood charge you for it and bring it straight to your campsite. This is a pretty good option for buying firewood since the park office was a few miles away from the actual campsite.

It was a really nice shower and bathroom facility along with vault toilets just off the main road. The campground is pretty open but still secluded enough for us to feel like we were there alone. There was a river close to the campsite so that we could fish if we wanted to. And just a short walk or drive or bike ride you could get to the picnic area right off the river and have a really nice day or evening. There were also backpack in camp sites that were really secluded and pretty large. The only problem to those was they were close to the river and the mosquitoes are pretty bad.

This park also has equestrian camping and it’s really nice because it’s completely separate from the main campground.

There wasn’t a whole lot to do around the Park in the nearby towns however there was some cute little antique and thrift shops which was right up our alley.

We would definitely go back and stay in a tipi again!!! What a cool experience!!!