Best Tent Camping near Redwood Falls, MN

I was up in the Oak Woods Campground. This was pretty much an open field with people crammed together. One of my neighbors sat and watched a certain cable news channel on a giant outdoor TV hooked up to their bus from 8am until 10p. I can tell you that a TV host named Tucker was very angry that night. Another "camper" had set up a giant playground, penned in areas for their multiple dogs, and had a bouncy castle set up for their daughter...that was running off of a very loud generator all day. The whole thing was lit up with string lights like it was an airport runway and gave the entire campground a carnival feel. WTF?  Unfortunately for your enjoyment, I deleted the video I took of the scene. Lucky for you, I still have a photograph of it. 

I had reserved 2 nights. I left at 6am after one pathetic night and went and stayed at a Harvest Host instead. 

Leave no trace (and set up no carnivals).

There are two campgrounds in this park - the upper one is on the prairie while the lower one is situated among trees along the river. We stayed in the lower campground in site 30. The lower campground is close to the playground and swimming pond but it rained the whole time we camped so we didn't use either.

Sites in the lower campground are fairly close together and we didn't have cell service (Verizon), which wasn't a big deal.

I brought my fat bike and bike the Bluebird and Dakota Valley trails. Both are mowed paths that go through prairie and wooded areas. The actual mountain bike trail was disappointing, it was overgrown, narrow, and hugged a high ridge.

Our site, 30, sloped away from the parking pad. You wouldn't be able to set up.chairs under your awning at this site and the picnic table sat in a low spot that got muddy after 2 straight days of rain. There is a river that runs behind the sites in this loop. Our boys played on the rocks and had a great time.

There are nearby train tracks and trains ran by several times a day, though luckily they don't blow the horn so we didn't notice them much.

Nice little park to stop at for a night on a trip. Only stayed here for a night on my way out west in 2024. Arrived a bit before dark and decided to sleep in my car rather than my tent just due to the timing and being tucked away by the river by myself. Never did figure out where a bathroom was unfortunately. There was a gas station right down the road for any conveniences you may need. There is a kayak launch right by the campsites that I would've put my inflatable into if I'd had more daylight/time here.

Not sure how larger campers would set up given the layout and how small the pads look, but there was plenty of room in front and behind the pads.

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!!!

I had a love/hate with this campground. They have a great website with pics & details of each . It was super easy to use & reservations were a breeze. The site looked absolutely nothing like the pics ! They also mention water but this site had none. We found that out AFTER booking. But whatever, we had electricity & a full water tank. No sewer either. Price was reasonable. Well cared for site. Roomy. Clean picnic table. Fire ring, no grill grate. Garbage in the pit though, people suck. Not much for privacy between sites. We had site 28, it wasn’t bad . Much better than most ! We were kind of up on a hill above a very overpopulated part of the campground. We scoped our site 30 & would probably dig that if we were to return. We lucked out & had quiet neighbors next to us. Everyone else was out of control noisy. I won’t judge too harshly based of Labor Day weekend, but the crowd here lacked any common courtesy this time around. It was a bummer. Nice paved paths to Redwood Falls. Not much to see once you get there. Too many people. The river was nice but had murky grey water that had a very odd smell. The dogs couldn’t enjoy it. There was a bridge you cross to get to the paths but nowhere designated for pedestrians so you contend with cars. Cute swing bridge along the way though. There was a “zoo” - enclosures containing birds, bison, prairie dogs, goats etc. Maybe it would’ve been ok had parents not stood idly by whilst their children threw apples, over hand, at the poor animals & laughed. It all seemed far too stressful for these poor creatures. There was no one to be found in regards to any keeper. It was all pretty disturbing. People at the campground set off fireworks all day & night causing the peacocks to scream out. Yes you can hear it at the sites. I get this was a municipal park. And actually it was quite nice when everyone left and we were literally the only ones for 2 days. Camping in southwest MN was a new experience. I’d venture to say it would be nice to camp during a weekday. Be warned- there is NOTHING to do & the flies ( non biting houseflies) were abundant!! We had to buy fly strips!! All in all, we’d go back if we were just looking for a quick, closer getaway.

This is the definition of a hidden gem. The park is well maintained with friendly staff. There are nice trails around the lake and more in the lower unit. There is disc golf and kayak rentals and a small store where you can buy ice, firewood, souvenirs, and an ice cream treat. 

For extra peace and quiet, get the tent only (non electric) sites across the lake! There are a variety of sites if you want to “rough it” or not. Bathrooms are clean. 

You can tell the workers here care about the park and your experience. I found 0 trash on the trails, and I usually come out with a handful.

It fills up on weekends with “seasonals” but all the sites have trees and nice shade that gives you a sense of privacy. Theres a tent site close to the playground and bathrooms perfect if you have kids.

We pulled into this place at 2:00 AM so we weren't really able to see much of the environment. In the morning though we awoke to a beautiful park with good shade coverage from the trees. Our group only hammock camps so we were glad to see the abundance of trees between each camp slot. The only downside to this place was the gnats. Although not that bad we woke up with tiny bites on us. That being said if we would have brought a bug net or been in a tent we would have had no problem with them. Overall this camp site was a great place to stop while we were driving to the Badlands.

We stayed at site 21 in late August of 2019. It’s obvious that the park had some heavy flooding earlier in the year. A lot of the waterfront sites became sandy. The sites are close together and not very many mature trees between sites. There isn’t any cell phone coverage at the campground but there is service around the historical site. Only restrooms are single stall vault toilets. No showers. However I think the horse campground has upgraded restrooms and showers but I never checked it out because it was so far away. Mosquitoes were bad, everyone came home covered in bites. Kids had a blast playing in the creek. There was also people out on their horses offering rides to kids and educating about horse ownership.