Best Tent Camping near Richfield, MN
State parks surrounding Richfield, Minnesota offer diverse tent camping experiences within an hour's drive of the Twin Cities. Afton State Park, located 30 minutes east along the St. Croix River, features 26 hike-in tent campsites accessible via a one-mile trail with some challenging uphill sections. Lake Maria State Park, northwest of Richfield, provides exclusively backcountry tent camping with sites ranging from a quarter-mile to three miles from parking areas. William O'Brien State Park offers tent-only sites in its Riverway campground section, while Nerstrand Big Woods State Park provides walk-in tent sites with gravel tent pads in a wooded setting. Tony's Backyard, closer to Richfield, offers a single walk-in tent site for those seeking proximity to the city.
Most tent campsites in these parks include standard amenities like fire rings, picnic tables, and access to vault toilets. Tent pads vary from level dirt surfaces at Lake Maria to raised gravel pads at Afton and pea gravel at Nerstrand Big Woods. Water availability differs significantly between locations, with Afton providing a solar-powered water pump near the campground and Lake Maria offering water only at the parking lot. Seasonal considerations are important for tent campers, as summer brings intense mosquito activity, particularly at Lake Maria, while spring can bring flooding to lower sites at William O'Brien's Riverway campground. Firewood is available at most parks, though Afton requires campers to cut their own using provided saws.
Tent campers frequently mention the privacy and seclusion as primary benefits of these sites. According to one visitor at Afton State Park, "The campsites are nicely spaced and diverse. Some are more wooded and others in the open prairie." At Lake Maria, a camper noted that "the site was private, quiet, and wonderfully shaded, with just enough open sky for stargazing by the fire." Winter camping is possible at several parks, with one Lake Maria visitor reporting they "snowshoed around midnight under a full moon and had the place to ourselves." For families, Afton's backcountry tent sites offer enough space between campsites that even with children, noise isn't a significant concern. Non-electric tent sites generally provide more seclusion and less generator noise than areas that accommodate both tents and RVs.
