Best Tent Camping near North Branch, MN

I have stayed here twice once in one of the rental cabins, and second tent camping. The campground is very quiet and never seems to be to busy. The tent sites are a little to exposed for me (I prefer to be in the woods) but they were all clean along with the facilities too. The beach is wonderful along with the section of river and hiking areas. Definitely worth a trip

This was a great spot for our first time camping with our kids! We camped in a tent so booked a site on the river side (no hookups) but it was very spacious and was perfect for our group! Bathrooms seemed fairly decent. They weren’t too far away. I would definitely stay here again!

We experienced wonderful customer service, tent camping, nature center and waterfalls.

Some nice hiking and beautiful landscapes of wildflowers, grasses, and the river Typical state campground set up, not a ton of privacy but enough. Stayed 3 nights, tent camping. Biy certified firewood outside the park if you plan on using a lot. A nice weekend getaway close to the metro!

Be sure to check out Franconia sculpture garden if you're staying here and have the time! It's such a fun and quirky place. Some of us stayed at an RV site and some of us stayed at a tent site this trip 😁

Three campgrounds, first come first serve. $10/day entry $40/daily for electric hook up (non-resident); no full hook-ups, no water, only 1 vault toilet open per campground. Year round availability, however- tough to find! Very hard to get a cellular connection (T-mobile). Beautiful views of the river, right along the edge if you tent camp. Multiple playgrounds, hiking trails and loads of nature, large beach and waterfalls.

Lake Maria State Park has great hiking trails for the whole family, the camper cabins are spread throughout and are hike in only. Each cabin is pretty secluded and on a body of water. The cabins themselves are very basic, but the setting is awesome.

I haven’t stayed in the backpack tent sites, but I bet they’re fantastic.

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.

I camped here in April and got a camping spot on the edge of the River Campground facing the woods. I loved this spot and it was plenty big for parking two cars, tent, hammock, chairs, you name it! It appears that most tent camping is on the outer edges and RV camping is in the middle. No one was noisy, wasn't a "party" campground which was great for peace and quiet. It was great being so close to the river trail. Great views and fresh air!

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.

Stayed here as a layover en-route to Wisconsin. This park may be right off of the interstate, but it's quaint and the sites are roomy. They're also nicely vegetated so you get a sense of privacy. We stayed in the busy season (July) and even though most sites were full, once it hit the quiet hour, the whole campground went eerily quiet. Not far from the tent sites is Wolf Creek Falls, about a 1.2 mile hike (worth it!). The showers were clean and rangers were laid back and lenient with the camp fee.

Tent sites line the exterior of this campground while electric, RV sites are close by. While I was at a riverside spot, the amount of RVs across the road can really detract from the experience. People in RVs (this is a generalization made after many'a'night in campgrounds) tend to not recognize their voices penetrate tent walls with incredible ease -- many lack the personal experience that their voices are disruptive at midnight and should speak in hushed voices while their neighbors try to sleep. Not to mention, what's with the bright lights they shine on their exterior? Camp Hosts (who slept in an RV as well) were useless to manage quiet hour expectations. Bathrooms have a shower and while I did not use, seemed in good condition.

We had a last minute idea to go camping on Labor Day weekend, hopefully omewhere near St Croix Falls so we could visit Interstate State Park and explore the surrounding area.  As luck would have it, there were no campsites avaialble at any of the local state parks on the Wisconsin side or Minnesota side of the river. So, we checked for other area campgrounds and discovered this gem of a private campground right on the shores of the Apple River. This is mostly a campground that rents seasonal sites to RV owners, and these are tucked away in the woods near the river with a real sense of privacy. But, for the casual camper,  they also have a swath of sites located right ON  the river, including sites with hookups if desired, or a separate lane of very large and very secluded tent sites also right on the river that I dare say are nicer than any of the tent sites at area state parks. The Apple River is really beautiful, and if we had brought our kayaks we could have plopped them right in the river from our campsites and had an amazing paddlle on this pristine tributary of the St Croix.  (See attached photo for map of the Apple River upstream towards its various headwaters lakes. Further down the Apple River is a canyon and whitewater section for tubing or paddling: 

https://www.stcroix360.com/2013/06/floating-the-apple-river-canyon/)

We were in site T3, which had an electric hookup used by friends who joined us in their van; there was also a water hookup which was handy even if we didnt hook up to it. There was a fair amount of  space at our site, but If we were to come back again we would want a bit more space and privacy so we would absolutely go for one of the tent sites, any one of them would be great! The campground over all is clean and well maintained, a lot of retired folks as seasonal campers but also a lot of families with kids, and a nice family atmosphere. Given that is was Labor Day weekend and every site ended up being taken, you might expect it to be busy and loud, but it was pleasant and quiet, and the neighbors friendly, The bathrooms and showers were clean and well kept, and bleach water disinfectant was avaialble to wipe down surfaces if anyone had concenrs. There is a small pub with a patio attached to the campground office, but it was surprisingly quiet and low key. There is volleyball and more outdoor games adjacent, and this is all a bit set apart from the campground anyway. Along the river is a small beach, boat dock for canoes and kayaks and fishing, and a nice playground for kids.  It is a good 20-minutes to half hour drive to Interstate State Park and the Falls towns, which has pluses and minuses. We also took the opportunity to try some hiking a little closer to the campground, and enjoyed the Stower Seven Lakes Trail on the old Soo Line : https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/stower

Other outdoor activities and special places to visit in Polk County near the campground: 

https://www.co.polk.wi.us/landinfowisdnrmaps

Really a lovely spot, and a nice surprise.

We stayed here with two young kids tent camping. We stayed in site A20 due to the close proximity to the bathrooms. The grounds were very well kept and groomed. The sites were pretty close together with no trees in between, but only around 25% of sites were occupied when we were there so it wasn’t a problem. I would imagine it would be very cozy and not much privacy when full, which could be the only potential drawback. There were a fair amount of RVs- we were one of only a few tents I saw. There were some nice looking cabins on our loop as well. It was a very short walk down a path to the beautiful lake which was deserted when we were there. The bathrooms looked new and were very well kept. There was even one family restroom with a shower which was so awesome for trying yo get two small kids cleaned up. Loved that. Overall this was a great campsite when not full and we had a great time.

We went on a day trip to the eagle point section of the Lake Elmo park district. This is set in a lush rolling prairie with lots of hiking trails in addition to other attractions like an archery range and swimming pond. 

The modern campground is built for non-tent campers, which is kind of a bummer because it is so much nicer than the “rustic” tent campground. Could you set up a tent there? Sure, but most of the site is devoted to a gravel parking pad. 

The rustic campground is an offshoot of the horse trailer parking lot. The sites for the most part are not spacious or private. Only portapotties. I think the best camping opportunity I saw was the group campgrounds, which had more modern outhouses. This will continue to be a great day trip location for us.

Great campground with all the amenities one might need, including showers, nice bathrooms, a park, a beach, trails. Right next to lakes and a nature preserve. Close enough to town in case you forget some things like we did. A county parking pass is required, they don't like people parking on the grass, and they have staff making rounds to enforce the shortest list of rules I've seen in the last couple of years. My only complaint is that the location of the porta-potties didn't match what the maps showed, so my seemingly perfect plan to be somewhat far from them failed and I ended up right next to one; it was clean and didn't smell, but we heard the door close every time. They have the campsites spaced out better than most other places I've camped and have trees and brush between the sites whenever possible. We tent camped and plan to bring our travel trailer next year. Definitely plan to stay here at least once a season.

This is a small county campground with 15  simple campsites geared towards tent camping, though 5 of the sites are equipped with electricity so folks with vans or small trailers might be comfortable here. The park is nicely wooded and there are basic facilities such as water and vault toilets. They are adjacent day use areas including a group picnic shelter and playground. This is a good spot for fishing, and canoeing or kayaking https://amerywi.gov/432/Canoeing-Kayaking and there are other activities in and around the nearby town of Amery. 

I might not camp here as a destination vacation spot, but it might be a good stopover if on a weekend paddling trip. You could start at the DN Campground of vicinity further north https://thedyrt.com/camping/undefined/d-n-campground, then paddle a nice easy day trip to this campground, and then the next day paddle into the town of Amery and pull out there.

The camping is currently closed for the season, and will be have repairs and needed upgrades. It would be worth checking in spring 2021 to review the improvements!

My husband and I paid for one night at a non electric drive in tent site with the disabled discount it came to $11.50. When you first pull in to the park there we’re an average amount of annoying bugs, especially for an 85 to 90 degree, summer day in a highly vegetative, woodsy park. Staff was not present due to the COVID-19 but we submitted our cash payment and grabbed the site map and park guide and drove to the left to find our camp site. As we slowly whined down a gravel road the trees became more dense, our site seemed perfect for the two of us! Picnic table and fire pit centered and to our left a designated tent landing area, to the right was just enough space to park our Mercury Sable Sedan. They had shower and restroom facilities within a short walking distance from our site, that is when we started noticing the horseflies were making it known that we were “trespassing on their turf”. We entered the shower and restrooms to bugs, bugs, BUGS!! Nasty 🤢. Neither of us showered there. Walked back to set up our tent, horseflies nonstop attacked us. To not get bite we had to run around like chickens with our heads cut off! No joke. So when our tent was finally set up instead of enjoying marshmallows at our fire pit we watched Netflix on our tablet instead our tent. Next day taking the tent down was even worse hot 90 degree day, horseflies and no breeze.. So my husband and officially nicknamed this campground “Horsefly Hell”. And no we don’t recommend this one.

We discovered this campground while researching the area, it is fairly new and not only not reviewed on the Dyrt but not listed on it yet either. If you are planning to explore the Kettle River and Banning State Park nearby, this is a good alternative to camping within the State Park itself. With easy access to both the Twin Cities metro area and Duluth, with desireable whitewater paddling and rockclimbing both available in the area, Banning State Park campground fills quickly especially in summer and on weekends, and the Banning RV Park is an excellent backup alternative for overflow demand. And, actually, it may be your go-to option even if campsites at Banning are available, because this RV campground is located only½ mile from the Banning State Park entrance, and because it is at a higher elevation further from the river it is remarkably less buggy which Banning State Park can be in springtime or after recent rains. This campground is quite large, geared towards RVs and trailers but also has dozens of tent sites and is currently adding more! There are also several nice new camper cabins available. We stayed in site 297, a very large double tent site with soft grass for tenting, big shady trees, picnic table and fire ring, with possibility for water and electric hookup but we didn’t use it. We had two families with 3 tents and two vehicles, plus bought firewood(which was delivered in generous quantities) and the total price was$48, which would have been the cost of the two campsites we would have needed if camping at the nearby state park. We were located near the campground pavilion, which included picnic tables, family bathrooms with showers, playground, activity center with craft classes etc, and laundry room. Remarkably, in addition to playgrounds for children in different places around the campground, there was a huge dog walking and play area that was grassy and beautifully clean—and, of special interest, included a complete“dog playground” with all the standards elements of a dog agility course! Very cool—and an expense and effort most places wouldn’t go to. The campground itself was very clean and well landscaped and maintained, however the bathrooms do get heavy use and, though nicely cleaned a few times during the day, are in need of attention in the evening. The campers are mostly family oriented so the campground itself is very quiet in the evenings—however, it is not far from nearby Highway 35, so there is a fair amount of road noise despite a barrier of pines planted as a buffer. I was a bit concerned that folks camping there were not too concerned about covid precautions, no one was wearing masks even when participating at close range to others during some of the campgrounds organized group activities, and there was lotion soap but no hand sanitizer in the bathrooms. You may want to bring your own. Overall, nicely maintained, reasonably priced, conveniently located, and less buggy than the nearby state park! We would camp here again if returning to the area.