Best Glamping near St. Paul, MN

I love Afton. It's a mere 40 minutes or so from Minneapolis-St. Paul and it's a great beginner campground for backpackers. The campground is only a 1-mile hike in, but the last 1/4 mile or so is up a steep hill that has really taught me a lot about pack weight. There is firewood available and a water pump with some of the best tasting well water I have ever drank.

The first time I stayed, there were loud people awake until the wee hours of morning, but I have camped here 2-3 times since then with no issues. This is my go-to hike-in spot when looking for a place closer to the Twin Cities.

This park offers a number of hiking trails on mountainous (well, river valley) terrain and is nestled along the St. Croix River. There is a beach, picnic area, interpretive center and trail, cross-country ski trails, and more.

Afton is a gorgeous park. There's beautiful trails that take you through dense woods and prairie, and then you take a pretty decline to get to the St Croix River. It was foggy when we were there but still gorgeous. We also managed to get a yurt and it was so much fun. Comfy beds, room for 7 and it was clean and well built. This is a great park!

The mosquitos were terrible due to all the rain and there was a threat of bears in campsites to eat food while they humans cooking it. Yes this is all part of nature and so are snakes, but do not go here if you fear snakes. This part is a research area for snakes in Minnesota.. which I wasn't aware of and am terrified of snakes. Probably will try camping and visiting in the winter when 2/3 of these will be minimized greatly. That aside, it was a great quiet park on the river.

My partner and I scheduled a 3 day / 2 night stay in a new Vintage Cruiser RV for $39.99, in exchange for attending a presentation on private membership.

We checked in Wednesday evening, and the nicest staff I've ever met helped us acclimate to RV living. We are new to this game. They patiently described how to utilize the grey and black water tanks, as well as encouraged us to check-out the canoes, row boats, bikes, horseshoes, ladder golf and many other entertainment items - for FREE!

The map provided was accurate which made locating the cruiser a breeze. There were further instructions inside as well. The RV was immaculate. Provided for our use were all linens (a public very clean bath and shower was just across the road), dish soap, dish towels, paper towels, flat wear, plates, bowls, mugs and pans.

The campground has a couple of ponds, as well as access to Ham Lake where the watercraft is launched. There is a petting arena with goats, ponies, and a llama who gave my partner the stink eye, but fell in love with me rubbing the fence and giving me all googly eyes!

The clubhouse sells bundled wood, ice, snacks, cold drinks, ice cream and provides 24-hour fresh coffee. There is also a small resupply area, and gift shop.

There are pull-through sites, back ups, 50 and 30 amp hook ups, and tent sites, covered pavilions, picnic tables and fire pits.

The campground itself seems remote, secluded and peaceful, however, you are conveniently located to two well-stocked convenience stores, as well as Wal-Mart about 15 minutes away. It's also only about 45 minutes from the Minnesota Twin Cities.

One note: We visited in August and needed gallons of bug spray.

We very much enjoyed our get away!

We have lived in the Twin Cities for two decades and have never visited Rice Creek Chain of Lakes before. We will again! It's a lovely park, a reasonable biking distance from the Twin Cities (a lot on dedicated bike path). Sites are good sized with mix of sun and shade. Swimming beach is nice as well. Staff were very helpful.

Great campground with all the amenities one might need, including showers, nice bathrooms, a park, a beach, trails. Right next to lakes and a nature preserve. Close enough to town in case you forget some things like we did. A county parking pass is required, they don't like people parking on the grass, and they have staff making rounds to enforce the shortest list of rules I've seen in the last couple of years. My only complaint is that the location of the porta-potties didn't match what the maps showed, so my seemingly perfect plan to be somewhat far from them failed and I ended up right next to one; it was clean and didn't smell, but we heard the door close every time. They have the campsites spaced out better than most other places I've camped and have trees and brush between the sites whenever possible. We tent camped and plan to bring our travel trailer next year. Definitely plan to stay here at least once a season.

We stayed here a week. I have been here before.  It's a great campground if you can get in. We came late in the season and got the one spot open for a week.   BTW Camping Worlds huge store is just north on 35E.  Kelly's Bar nearby has a great fish fry on Friday.  

The campground is neat and well managed. Aside from that no issues except being so close to a large city (Urban campgrounds are not for wilderness campers) and county airport (noise) occasionally. Close to the Twin Cities it is.  Access to anywhere is easy. The Three rivers campgrounds triangulate the northern suburbs. Baker park, Bunker Hills Park, and Rice Creek are all close to the major parts of town.

We love to camp here as it's so close to home. Decent amenities, however NOT the feel of a State Park. Think suburbia meets nature.

This campground was very accommodating! We came in late due to the Adventure and they had no issue with it. The site was large and flat with a nice fire pit. Thank you!

It was very easy to find, close to the twin cities, and clean. There was good access to kindling for a fire in the nice fire pit that has a grill. There is ample room to park a car and put up a large tent. We were impressed with the upkeep of the park.

Brief stay for a scavenger hunt in Minneapolis

Brief visit for a scavenger hunt in Minneapolis

Wonderful site! Feels very secluded in spite of being so close to the cities. Great beach & sunrise. Highly recommend!

We were into it! There was good space and we had fun.

Just a beautiful campground. Lots of privacy, plenty of space. On a trail system that you can ride around the lake (3 miles) or all the way into Minneapolis if you’re adventurous. Fantastic beach.

We had never heard of this campground prior to seeing a booth for the Anoka Parks system at the Sportsman's Show. This is a beautiful park reserve! The sites are near each other but seem to have quite a bit more privacy that you would expect at a county or state park. The showers were very nice and clean. The gem of this campground for us was Centerville Lake!

There is ample picnic space and a very nice swim beach, plus there is room to beach your boat if you are so gifted. This is a great trip to "the lake" that is very convenient to the metro area.

There is only one complaint I have about this campground, and it feels a little ticky-tacky to mention it, but I will because I think it may be significant to some people...there is significant road noise from 35E and 35W nearby. We found it to be almost like background white noise, but it was never not noticeable. The noise was definitely not a deal-breaker for us and this great park!

Nature is always beautiful!

We took a 30 minute drive north of the cities for a quick get away, and were rewarded with a very nice campground!

The check in staff was friendly, helpful and efficient. She gave us the info we needed for wood and other campgrounds in the area.

Our site was clear, flat and grassy, and had an established fire pit. Other loops had grills and hook ups for pop-up campers and RVs.

There is a gorgeous beach area with tables, a pavilion, changing rooms and a well equipped playground.

We walked a portion of the trails towards the golf course, on a paved path under a green canopy.

Plenty of bugs, so bring your spray!

This is a nice and family friendly campground. We've camped in loops E and F and both are good. Most sides have some shade and trees and the picnic tables are in great condition! We were there over the 4th weekend and it was pretty busy, but everyone seemed respectful and the loud parties seemed mostly to be over at the beach. Lots of great paved trails surrounding the area, and Wargo nature center is only about 2.5 miles away, a bikable distance even for my 7 year old!

Stayed here when we got our first camper and it is nicely shaded large sites. Great walking paths and clean restrooms. Great for a quick weekend camping trip.

Love love love this park! We did the backpack site so you hike in almost a mile and you go up on the ridge that's open in the middle but each site is heavily forested and some overlook the river. During the late spring, summer and early fall months you can't really see the river but if you do it after the leaves drop or before they come in then you'll have a great view of the river. Our site is off of the main trail so you have a nice little hike in and it feels very secluded and you have a nice even gravel tent pad that's raised up as well as a fire pit and picnic table. There is not a lot of room to play at your campsite but if you just take your trail up to the main trail then it opens up. Off the main trail you will also find vault toilets and firewood that you just have to saw yourself with the saw that is provided. You are surrounded by excellent hiking trails including some great single track as well as a great beach on the St. Croix River that is also very clean. The raccoons are not messing around so make sure to secure your food inside your tent or in a well fortified cooler otherwise you'll be listening to them ravage your site as you try to sleep at night.