Best Equestrian Camping near Pine City, 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.

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”!

Smaller sites and a little privacy in the lake campground. The ones next to the waters edge have a nice view and are more completely in the shade. The inner sites have more sun. The beach is long and rocky but ample enough to swim in. It is a busy place because of its location close to the cities and other areas up there. The electric hook ups were well maintained. Bathrooms were nice and clean and vault toilets are scattered throughout the park. Trails are there to hike and walk. Water to swim and plenty of bike paths. 

Maple grove is the more primitive site and lots more coverages between camp sites.

This campground is on a first come, first serve basis. There are no reservations for the regular sites (although I do think they might take reservations for the equestrian and group sites).

I highly recommend the walk-in-sites for the most private tent camping experience. The walk from the car isn’t far, but the sites are off the road and in the pines. If you like to have your car at your site, you’ll find some sites with nice long driveways that can accommodate multiple cars, or even a truck with a boat/trailer. The beach is nice and private, but it’s a bit of a hike from the campsites. I’d recommend just hopping in the car and driving over if you’ve got young kids with you.

There is no store or firewood sold at the campground, so you’ll have to haul your own in from an approved vendor.

Stayed in Petaga (drive in) spot #52. The spots were pretty private - the surrounding campsites were definitely visible through the trees, but there was plenty of distance so you weren't overhearing everyone's conversations or anything. The site was very roomy! It was a short walk to the bathrooms, water was nearby. The paths to the overlooks on the Rum River were close as well. The inner campsites are RV hookup sites, and the sound definitely carried when someone came later at night to set up their RV. We lucked out with great weather, and bugs were not bad (some mosquitoes but not overwhelming). Campsites have easy access to the trails that connect to the west interpretive center. Some things were closed due to COVID (including the fire tower), but bathrooms were open. No boat rentals right now either, but the river looked like a great, calm spot to kayak.

Stayed for two nights at a drive-in double site here and found it ideal for autumn camping. We didn’t think we would get colors, but they came out a little early, adding a few splashes to the hiking and river view.

Site was private enough, the woods surrounding dense enough to obscure others while still feeling open. Also open enough to spot three white-tail deer.

Hike to the Nevers Dam lookout was easy enough for a five year old to walk (most of it) — featuring some very cool fallen trees and a wonderful winding staircase — and the adjacent sandy beach was a pleasant and peaceful surprise.

One complaint is that the nearby vault toilet reeked of amonia and was unusable so we had to walk to the adjacent loop for bathroom. Silver lining is that we discovered the free little library near that bathroom and grabbed a copy of ‘Ramona the Brave’ for the kiddo. We went back and left a copy of ‘Amira’s Picture Day.’