Best Glamping near Owatonna, MN

Beautiful forested area just outside Owatonna. Easy drive past beautiful farms to town. Camp host told us mosquitoes were light this year; they seemed plentiful to me! Water near site, showers and bathrooms adequate.

Everything was beautiful. We camped for a week in southern Minnesota state parks, but this one is our favourite.

Beautiful, small state park less than an hour south of Twin Cities. Sites are wooded and shady but some are close to neighboring sites. Not too many mosquitos or flies for August in Minnesota! Sakatah Singing Hills paved trail runs through the park.  It was pouring on Saturday so most of the other campers checked out and we had the campground mostly to ourselves. Super friendly and helpful staff, clean restrooms. Faribault is 15 minutes away so we went antique shopping at Keeper's Antiques downtown and had cocktails at 10,000 Drops Distillery for rainy day activities.

We arrived on a Sunday and stopped at the Park Welcome area. We got the last spot with electric for 3 nights. Nice staff! Ice was available.

$34/night plus Minnesota State Park pass @ $8/day.😩

Not super spacious but very comfortable distance between spaces. Well maintained dirt road in campground. Grassy and mowed. Nice big trees! Water spigots. Very nice individual, clean rooms for showers.

Two separate campground loops in the White Fox area and another couple loops half mile down the road

The lake is gorgeous but just a few places to get to the water. Saw a sign on the park door saying kayaks and canoes available to rent.

Six miles of paved, but badly in need of care, is a bike path that meanders through thick forest and open grassy fields. Follows the lake and heads close to the town of Albert Lea.

We saw a guy setting out electric scooters that were available to rent which looked like fun!

Birds and deer abound.

Walmart 2 miles away!

We tent camped at Myre-Big Island State Park in Minnesota from September 30 to October 3, 2022. The weather was warmer than usual at this time of year, and the fall color development was a couple weeks behind normal. It was cool but beautiful during the daytime (light jacket/sweater weather). The temperature dropped at night but didn’t require anything more than our sleeping bags to keep us warm. The earlier sunset meant meal cooking and cleanup needed to be a bit earlier, but it also meant longer time for beautiful campfires in the evenings.

The trails were in great shape and beautiful with past-peak grasses and developing colors in the trees. Most of the wildflowers were done for the year, but some were still in bloom. Deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and lots of birds were active near the trails and campgrounds.

We have camped here previously, in early summer. Then the bugs were abundant and aggressive on the Big Island trails. During this fall trip, there were very few.

The campground is very nice and well kept. Clean thru out the park. Some very nice shaded sites. Not the greatest for big RV's. OK lake access, good for padding and small boats. Overall it was close to home and a nice time to just get away for a weekend.

Cool campsites some better than others fairly wooded spots seem a bit bigger more open for bigger campers. Nice campground overall. Bathrooms were closed when we visited.

Awesome campground with friendly knowledgeable staff. Fun hiking trails and good lake.

Only hiking trails and dock of lake.

My wife and I camped at cart in site 4. And went for a walk around the park. We saw a bull frog and a few leopard frogs at the boat launch. And continued on our hike. We saw a few cool birds, lots of berries and a few interesting bugs. We sat and watched the sun set and join in on the star gazing event that was going on in the park. We got to look at the moon and Saturn through a few big telescopes.

We checked in at the visitor center and the ranger told us the site we had chosen on-line was not suitable for our small RV. She found us a site in the electric campground that someone else had just canceled on. It was a good site with some privacy due to thick woods on two sides of our site. It was a weekend so the place was full.

We heard Barred Owls and Sandhill Cranes. The cranes flew over making strange LOUD calls. Cool.

My partner and I stayed at cart-in site #1 which had a pretty view of the lake. However, the site is right on the hiking trail, and positioned where 3 paths meet- so although it was very quiet and only a few hikers passed by, I can imagine it could get annoying if it was busy. There is also no place to swim at this lake which is a bit disappointing, but it is a very beautiful lake with lots of wildlife!

A nice small park but nothing special. Sites are good sized and nicely spaced. Facilities are primitive. Nice walking trail around the property about 2.5 miles. The trail does cross some of the tent sites. Maybe once the lockdown is over things will be better there.

It’s a nice park but no swimming beach we could find. Sites are nice sized and it’s quiet $6 for firewood. Will come back for a weekend the staff we have seen seem very nice. As of now NO showers.

This campground is very well kept and managed with great customer service in the office. My only complaint was how close together the walk-in sites were. There was a convenient parking area for the sites but it was TOO convenient for someone looking for more space and privacy, wanting to hike into something more secluded. It was unfortunate but the grounds were gorgeous and lush, and the lake was quiet and surrounded in cattails. Great weekend getaway.

All RV and ridiculously expensive for tent camping

Camped when the mosquitos had gone away for the year! The trails here are nice and wooded and some go along the lake. Firewood at the office.

This was the cleanest campground I’ve ever been to. Well maintained and clean. There was a pretty bad storm that came through and the staff was quick to clean up downed branches and help all the folks who got damage.

Sakatah Lake State Park campground is a lucious, green campground located near Sakatah Lake. There are quite a few sites. Most are private, but they are a bit crammed together in multiple loops so some sites are not so private.

The campground has friendly rangers with great recommendations and is located on a state trail that goes from Mankato to Fairbault. We had a great time from Friday-Sunday hanging out at the campsite, roasting marshmallows, riding bike on the state trail, and hiking around the lake!

Sakatah Lake is quite shallow so late season is at risk of algae bloom - the lake was pea soup green when we got there at the end of August, so go early in the season if you want to get on the water.

We biked the Sakatah Singing Hills Trail from Faribault, MN to Mankato, MN (39 miles). The whole trail was paved, which was really nice and runs through hardwoods forest. We camped in Sakatah State Park and then explored the City of Mankato. Sakatah Lake is a relatively calm lake and seems like a great place to kayak.

They have 5 bike-in campsites near the trail. Other campsites include drive-in sites, electric sites, group sites, and camper cabins. The campsites are secluded just enough so that one feels like they are camping in the woods by themselves.  Unlike a lot of campgrounds, Sakatah State Park has its fire pits above ground. Very nice for keeping warm. Amenities at the campground include showers, flush toilets, vault toilets, dump stations.

Very nice park if your RV is not to big. I put our 38 foot 5th wheel in a site but you better be on your game here. Lots of shade and big trees. Love being on the bike trail and the hiking is fair. On the lake but you need to be in middle of this lake if you want to get wet. Unless you enjoy swimmers itch. Not even very nice fishing on the dock Unless you like green fish. As most State parks in MN you better get your reservation in early if you want a site with electric. If your good without. It's a great park.

I was so amazed with all the sounds of birds in this park. I heard Everything from Eagles, Canadian Geese and Swans to Woodpeckers and multiple song birds. I wish I could distinguish between them. Also the frogs and toads were adding their voices too.

We had an awesome time roasting mallows and hotdogs over the fire and singing songs!

A friend and I used the bike in sites it was very nice, though finding trees for my hammock with in the designated sites was difficult.