Best Campgrounds near Roseau, MN

If you're like me and hate camping 10 feet from a million campers in a crowded campground, then this island site is for YOU! The campsite itself is a double occupancy. We had 4 adults and 5 kids and had plenty of space for two big tents and all our stuff. The canoeing is a quick 15 minute paddle from the lakeside campground on the far east side of the lake. (I wanna respect everyone's ability to paddle a canoe, but this is a level 1/easy peazy/if my 9 year old can do it then so can you kind of paddle.)

The island is filled with tons of old oak trees and has plenty of space to string up a hammock or two in the shade. The tent pads aren't the most level, but they aren't the worst I've pitched on either. The dock is nice and low so getting in and out with your gear is a breeze. We camped over the 4th of July and even with the busy holiday boat traffic still felt pretty secluded, especially at night. The vaulted toilet was nice to have on the island too. We had to canoe in our water in portable jugs, but that's how we usually camp.

It would have been nice to have a food locker of some sort in the campsite as both nights we stayed we had a big old fat raccoon in the campsite trying to get into our food. We ended up putting our totes with all the food/garbage wedged under the bench of the picnic tables in order to keep them out. Still didn't stop them from dragging a cooler of ours into the woods one night. (Darn trash pandas.)

The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because the area around the island is all weeds and muck. You'll have to paddle west into the big part of the lake (10 minutes) and dock your canoe next to the swimming beach if you want a muck and weed-free swimming experience.

I'm primarily a hiker, and there were just very few hiking trails. I have a feeling. It's gorgeous in the fall with the turning of the colors, but the weather was poor cold, very windy. You couldn't do the hike on the beach, even because the waves were too high. So in rough weather, once you've done the hiking trails which took about 2 hours. You were kind of done there was nothing else to do. Even boating would have been questionable and probably not any fun at all. Last, I don't see anybody say it, but the signage was really poor coming into the park. You couldn't really tell which way to turn to get to your campsite. And as evidenced by everybody who drove past me trying to find their camp spot even though I was the only one in that campground I have a feeling others struggled as well. I might come back in the fall. I drove through town before I left. And there were a lot of ice fishing Jacksontown, so my guesses it's more of a winter spot. Or a boating spot than anything else. And last we did see a bear, it's remote. There were probably all of ten people camping there, So not surprising to see wildlife, but the just about walked up on the bear.

I think this place is wonderfully scenic and the lake is so pretty. I like it is limited boating and really made for the kayak sort of paddling. The water is very high this year and the mosquitoes are out in force. Also, there is zero cell service and if you are right parked at the office, you could get on their free wifi which is likely what I will have to do for work. I put my starlink on the roof of the van but the service is horrible and even though I changed to most exposed spot, it isn't enough. The office staff was very nice but I will likely need to unplug and commute out to work.