Best Campgrounds near Ranier, MN

This is a small county park and campground off the beaten path. It is located adjacent to the Little American Falls, and alongside the Big Fork River water trail. There are several campsites you can drive into, and if it is not the muddy season you could drive with a trailer or small RV into some of the the camping sites. Although the sites themselves are pretty well kept, campers are advised to pack out their own garbage but it seems some folks don't feel they have to--so there is some litter around, and evidence of campers burning garbage in the firepits. There is little to no cell phone service here, no on site ranger or camp host, but sites have basic picnic tables and fire rings, and there is an outhouse available. You should bring your own water; any RV's should know there are no hookups of any kind, but you are allowed to use a generator here. 

The main appeal of this campground is access to the river, which involves going down a steep bank (there are stairs) but worth it for fishing or kayaking or canoeing. The falls are beautiful, and worth a visit. There arent official biking or hiking trails but you could easily walk or bike on the back roads adjacent to the campground. If you want more privacy, there is a canoe campsite on the bank opposite of the county campground, just downstream of the falls, that is maintained by the Minnesota DNR and is water-access only.

There is no cost to camp here, but also no reservations so first come first served. For maps, you can refer to the Koochiching County recreation maps to see location, which are here: 

https://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/135/Outdoor-Recreation-Map-PDF?bidId=

https://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/DocumentCenter/View/994/Koochiching-Recreation-Map-2018-PDF

The Big Fork Water Trail map is here: https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/canoe\_routes/bigfork1.pdf

And for more info you can contact the Koochiching County Lands and Forests office here: https://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/178/Land-Forestry

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Maybe 3 sites. Right off main road. Close to Ash River Visitor Center.

Great primitive campsite to hit on the way to Voyaguers National Park. Everyone says stay at Woodenfrog or Ash because it’s close to the park but those parks are very primitive. If you do not have a portable shower or don’t mind using a “hole-on-the-ground” toilet then Pine Acres is a great primitive campsite. There are portable potty’s around the campsite, out houses but they also have full functioning bathrooms and showers. There is a train that goes through across the lake but it stops around 10pm so horns aren’t going off while you’re sleeping. Wonderful staff very friendly. My go-to-place when I come back up here.

**NOTE:  To the best of what I can find, this appears to be a free site.  I can't, at this time, find any indication that's it's paid or reserve-able**

This is a great little free campsite right on Crane Lake before you go into the Boundary Waters Canoe area.

The site has a fire ring with grate, picnic table, plenty of trees for hammocks, and a small tent pad that would be good for a three or four person tent. There's also a primitive toilet so you don't have to dig a cat hole!

This is a motorized lake so there is boat noise, but the water lapping on the rocks at the island makes it very tolerable. Fairly easy access to grab drinking water for filtering, and some decent pine branches for hanging a bear bag. (even on an island - it's advisable to hang a bear bag. Also helps with other critters like squirrels and mice)

The campsite faces the West so if the weather is good, you're in for a great sunset!

This is a flat, mowed area with direct access to the river for canoe camping. The road in is gravel for over 5 miles and while doable with my little camper, bit sketchy in a few places. I am the only one here which is nice and while it is mowed beautifully, the mosquitoes are insane and I've been if a few places I thought they were nuts. It is free and we don't expect anyone else to show up. My guess is the river is well over flood stage and most likly.arent floating this weekend but we will see. Pack it in and out with a pit toilet and two picnic tables.

I kind of got to talk out of coming to this park and I wish I hadn't. I think it's great. The campsites are private. You have great cell phone service so you could work from here. And there's more trails than it implies if you just look at the maps, online. The river is flowing very, very fast, so no paddling around on it today, but during a lower summer, I think you could paddle across to canada. So yeah, it's a lot more interesting of a park than was implied.

Camped here Oct 18-19, 2023 at site 43. Large primitive state forest campground. There were very few campers here during our stay. Our site, as well as others, was large and wooded. Spacing and privacy between sites were quite good. The site was level with a dirt/gravel surface. Site had metal fire ring and table. A nice patch of woods behind our site. Clean vault toilet a short walk away. Short trail to lake and boat dock nearby. Did not see a camp host. Hiking trail along lake was really nice. Really loved camping here.

Camped here on Oct 17, 2023. Small wooded state park campground along the Rainy River and the Canadian border. Sites were back-in and had tent pads. I don't recommend anything larger than a truck camper. Some sites were small and not level. Campground host was friendly and helpful. Some hiking trails. Fished on the Rainy River and caught a northern pike. Hand water pump. Clean vault toilet with tp. Our site had a covered picnic table, lattern pole and metal fire ring. The site was wedged inside the gravel campground loop road. I really liked this campground.

Service was great, Arnold helped me Book a spot for a family gathering nearby. The campsite was clean and hook ups worked great!

Campsites we’re ok. One had 2 picnic tables other 2 had none. Water in the stream was an ugly rust color. Just the sight turned us off of trying to fish

Spent 3 nights at Lost Bay campground on Kab Lake. We took a boat taxi in, which allowed us to pack pretty luxuriously. Spent the days bumming around, swimming and exploring the bay with our paddleboard (took a day trip to Ek lake, too). Our site was on a point which gave great views of the surrounding lake and kept the bugs at bay with the breeze. I loved the water access, however I think the site would be a bit treacherous for small christen as there were a lot of steep grades and dangerous fall potential near the lake.

The wildlife was great. Lions could be heard calling at all hours. We saw plenty of turtles, deer, otter, grouse, leaping fish, and even some howling wolves.

My biggest annoyance was the motorized boat traffic. Not bad in the bay but there were a decent amount of fishermen out or people getting taxied through the bay to one of the two backcountry trailheads. The drone of motors could be heard off in the distance. If you are looking for BWCA solitude, you won’t quite get it here (albeit close and the backcountry would be a different story). I’d rate this experience as a less rigorous (logistically and physically) version of the BWCA, but also a less immersive/rich experience as well. Overall, great trip for what me and my friends were looking for.

This campground is located just outside Voyageurs National Park on Lake Kabatoga. This is a primitive campground with pit toilets and water. Sites are mostly private with some having a view of the lake. Since most of Voyageurs is a water based park this is a great choice is you done have a boat. A lot of mosquitoes in July.

We loved this campground, It is beside the Boondocks Bar and Grill and is owned by the same people. Dez and Kirk were the consummate hosts, friendly and so nice, we could not have asked for better. We cold called them last minute in late April, most of the other campgrounds were not open for the season, but they welcomed us, which saved our butts because we literally would have had to drive hours and completely redo our itinerary. The Bar and Grill is next door and has great food, awesome drinks, friendly locals and bingo on Thursday nights. The campground is easily accessible and the sites are not difficulty to back into, all were graveled and we had minimal leveling, even with the water and mud. I think there are at least 1 or 2 pull throughs but due to the snow and standing water we parked in site #2.  They have 30 and 50 amp, potable water (wasn't on throughout the park when we were there due to the weather) and a dump site at the exit. They are pet friendly and there are areas for walking leashed pets behind the park.  It is conveniently right off the highway and we did not even notice any traffic noises in the evening. International Falls is approx 20 minutes away, with shopping, laundromat and the Canadian Border.  Voyageurs NP, Rainy Lake Visitor Center is approx 30 min. This is now our go to campground when we visit Voyageurs NP.