Best Glamping near Staples, MN

My friend & I stayed in their Osprey yurt, and it was perfect for our first camping trip together. I recommend yurts if you’re not 100% comfortable with/ enjoy staying in a tent.

Beautiful biking trails!!! There’s a paved trail around the lake. Hiking trails in the prairie are breathtaking. The yurts looked very cool. Will return.

For someone who likes to do it all Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area is the place to be!!!

From Rv Camping and tent camping to amazing secluded Yurts on a trout pond there are more than enough options to camp and stay.

The campground itself isn’t anything to rave about, and is mostly open and pretty close together but the yurts, those are a different story!

The yurts are set on a beautiful only mine pit that is stocked with all kinds of trout. The have a wood burning stove, bunk beds, table, chairs, bear locker, fire ring and picnic table. There is a pergola style shelter with a full roof for outdoor cooking.

The view of the trout pond is absolutely stunning and fishing isn’t bad either if you know how to fish trout. There is a shop in town that will deliver kayaks and pick them up when you are done for a small fee, like 50$ for the day?

The old mine pits around and in the park are pristine and literally crystal clear! You can see hundreds of feet down through crystal clear water making it an amazing place to canoe and kayak.

If you are into mountain biking, this is definitely the park for you! Some of the best mountain biking red dirt trails are located in this recreation area! Shops in town rent bikes too! The views from the trails are breathtaking!

Overall, one of my favorite places to hike, bike, camp and, paddle!

We decided to try camping in one of Glendalough’s yurts. There is carts available to haul your gear. The views along the bike path are stunning. There is so much to do here. Biking, hiking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boards, and so much more. Truly something for everyone. We had a blast and can’t wait to go on our next adventure there!

The tent sites are all cart in, making the scenery the main focus. You don't have to stare at vehicles while you are enjoying a fire, which I love. They also have sites that you can canoe in to as well as cabins and yurts. The trails are well kept, the river clean and the lakes are motor free. You would never know that you are as close to the town as you are. And they have plenty of activities to do on the water like canoeing, paddle boarding, paddle boating, kayaking or just swimming.

This is one of the few state parks where they have canoe-in sites. It's right in the heart of lake country so there's always water around you. They have cabins as well as tent sites so its pretty easy to get around. They have a few of the new yurts that the Mn State Park system put in. These are very nice.

There's also an old house/museum where the former owner of the land lived. Apparently a few presidents visited there during the turn of the century.

Woah love this park! Has so many things to do.

• Went on the hiking club trail around Annie Battle Lake, most of it is even paved for biking or groomed for skiing.

• The yurt and watercraft sites are secluded and so awesome with great views, right on the lake, firewood and water back there available specifically for that area... so cool.

• The cart in sites and camper cabins are in a little old growth forest area right on the lake up in a little hill area. Spaced out quite well, all have views of lake (even though on a hill so for swimming/boating access you gotta go to appropriate spots). What a site for camping!

• Very clear and calm lakes, sandy, and the little creeks/rivers betwixt them are just begging to be canoed or kayaked.

• Great swimming areas and picnic tables and fire pits everywhere. Vast views and also pretty wooded areas.

• Shower and rest rooms very modern by the trail center.

All in all so cool that they kept it so rustic has a cool history! Big views and wooded views which I love. Various walks, streams and lakes. Campground is the real deal and good for anyone who wants a wilderness experience without actually backpacking! Great for kids, for sure!

We had a really great weekend exploring Glendalough, in the Ottertail Lakes region where the northwoods transitions out to prairie. Lots of lakes, a mosaic of habitats from pine and aspen forest to maple and ash woodlands, to oak savannah, to fens and marshes and lakes and streams and prairie. The camping opportunities here are really unique, it is one of the few state parks in our state where there are no RV's or car camping,, you have to hike in with your tent and gear on trails into the campground, or paddle across the lake to some of the more remote campsites, or backpack or bike around to the other side of the lake on trails to more dispersed sites. It is awesome. The lakes are ranked among the most pristine in the state and are designated"Heritage Lakes" because of the water qulity and the diverse habitats around them. They also have a few camper cabins or yurts that you can rent which you can cart in to or hike to with your gear. It makes for a very quiet, very secluded and very peaceful retreat with quiet outdoorsy like-minded neighbors. In the summer they have all kinds of environmental education programs, and you can learn on your own with their field guides and good interpetive trails explaining the activity of the glaciers through here, how the landscape formed and how different microclimates and habitiats evolved after the glaciers retreated. They are open year round, in the winter you can cross-country ski or snowshoe in for winter camping. Pretty cool!

There are plenty of campsite in the lower area that are very close to the water and good for RV people who do not care for privacy (like camping on a golf course).  If you want privacy, go for the upper area which is completely forested with plenty of trees and brush between sites.  I was in site 17 and was totally pleased... With one exception.

I paid full price for this site.  But, the restrooms. showers, and water were shut off.  If I am paying full high season rates, I want full services!!!!!!  I appreciate there is no padlocked gate keeping people out in the off season.  But, if it easy to turn off the water, showers, and bathrooms, it should also be easy to create a reduced rate for reduced services.  Some other County, State, and Federal campgrounds charge nothing for no services off season camping.  What is Minnesota's problem?  Give people what they pay for!!!

This is purely a ripoff.  It left me with a very unpleasant memory of this area and Minnesota.

Crow Wing State Park is a good choice if you are looking for something close to the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota. with this park being just under two hours away from the Twin Cities metro area it’s an easy choice for a nice weekend getaway. If you’re looking to stay for a long extended time it’s also a good choice as it offers electric and water. The electric sites are pretty open and close together so if you like to be secluded and not see other campers from your campsite I wouldn’t use this park. The electric sites are really on top of each other and don't feel like you are camping to me. The non-electric sites are pretty nice and secluded from each other which would make this park a park I would bring my tent to instead of my travel trailer. There is also a group camp That is separate from the main camping area.

The park office offers ice and firewood for sale. Firewood is 6$ a bundle at the park office. The only firewood you can use is the approved firewood in the local area or scrap lumber. See the Minnesota Firewood law.  Canoe rentals are offered at the park office for $15 for a half-day and $25 for a full day. There is also a water fill station and a dump station for your travel trailer or RV. This is a good park for hiking and exploring. 

If you wanna stay close to the Twin Cities metro area this is a good park for you!

I was looking to take a solo camping trip for the weekend and paddleboard on the Cuyuna Mine Lakes. I booked the trip pretty late because of a lot of different factors, but Crow Wing State park still had plenty of availability. The park is nothing spectacular, but it was nice, wooded, and the staff were great. It was my first time solo camping in awhile, so I opted to stay at a state park where there would be rangers. I noticed that the rangers stopped and talked to me night one, and remembered me- which made me feel very safe as a solo female camper. The campground was overall pretty quiet, and my site was wooded so that I normally could not see other campers from my site, which was great! It felt decently quiet . If you visit in the summertime, expect hellish mosquitoes and pack accordingly!

You can join the hiking club trail straight from the campground, which was nice- I went on a few beautiful sunset walks to watch the sunset over the river

The bathroom and shower were clean and easily accessible.

The park was a 20-30 minute drive from the Cuyuna Mines area, so I was able to easily drive over Saturday morning and spend the day paddleboarding.

This park is not one of the most spectacular in Minnesota, but I had a great stay and it was very relaxing. It was great for a weekend getaway for a solo female camper looking to do some paddle boarding in the area

I am from a suburb of Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota and we wanted to go camping with my in-laws who have horses. We needed a park that was close and had equestrian camping so we decided to go to Lake Carlos State Park.

Lake Carlos State Park is roughly 2.5hours from the Twin Cities and is a beautiful getaway for a weekend trip. You can leave after work on a Friday and still have time to make it to the park, set up and still be able to cook dinner and enjoy a s’more or two.

We booked site H3 in the equestrian campground which was a VERY open site right off the main loop in the equestrian campground. It was very sunny and barely any shade for the horses. The site were in was electric and there were only three non-electric sites in the equestrian campground. The other sites were awesome for shade but were still super open to everyone.

There were great trails for hiking and horseback riding. They also allowed mountain biking on the trails.

The staff at the office were super friendly and they talked to us for about 15 minutes. Their store in the office was pretty great and they had everything from toys for the kids to s’mores stuff and stickers specific to the park. The firewood was pretty fast burning and cost 6$ a bundle so it was pretty spendy since we cook only over the fire.

The main campground was VERY busy and jammed packed. The sites were too close together and open for my comfort.

The beach was very dirty and there were army worms everywhere crawling on everything.

We took a little bike ride to the group camp which was an amazing area with a very nice shelter with electric.

All in all, this is a good park to go to if you are looking for a park close to the twin cities metro area.

this campground is quiet and one of the cleanest locations we have camped at. Park rangers and staff are great to deal with

Just kidding, our dogs hate camping but we definitely enjoyed Crow Wing. The park ranger was super helpful on our first visit to the park. The campgrounds were beautiful, hiking trails were fun and the fishing was a blast. We would definitely head back to Crow Wing for more camping adventures!

Park Rangers were super helpful and friendly! Loved the campsite even though I made a dumb mistake and booked the wrong weekend. Ranger helped get us a different site despite the busy weekend. Watch for ticks though, they were out in droves in the area. Very clean toilets.

Tent camp here once and a while, but finally got around to officially doing the hiking club trail. Love doing a sunset hike, this trail is just over two miles, all along the river, with pretty much continual sunset views if you take the trail East to West. It's a loop, which is always preferred I think. Nice picnic area by the river. Historic signs describing the old town are along the beginning part of the trail near the picnic area. Kinda fun to read about and feel what old settlements were like! 

Easy and pretty trail, took just half an hour, went with the kids. Just an awesome sunset walk and a bit of moonlight!

Nice park on the Mississippi and Crow Wing Rivers. The park encompasses the 1850’s town of Crow Wing. Great hiking trails. A lot of mosquitoes. Bring spray.

Tent site is an open area with tall trees. It also offered an open view of the night sky & enjoyed watching the full moon! Next to the shower house which makes it a convenient trip to the bathroom. Stayed one night but will stay longer when bringing the kayaks. Price for this spot made my trip super cheap!

Nice separation of sites.  Easy access off of Highway 371. Bathrooms not updated as they are at other State Park campgrounds.

We introduced our youngest to camping at this campground. It’s a crazy story. In summary you couldn’t ask for a better first time family campground as far as my sons first camping experience lol well I’m surprised he doesn’t deeply hate camping. Everything that could of went wrong did including rain on a clear forecast and we didn’t equip the rain fly.

It was a last minute booking over 4th of July. This was our first camping trip in our 30' camper, in a state park Campground. Not alot of room to maneuver 5th wheel around, spote are skinny, close together, not much shade. Showers are push button and lasted 5 seconds, NOT IMPRESSED!!

We loved the group camp site except for the fact the people would walk through it. There was a main hiking trail and lots of people came through. Our dogs did not care for that surprise. Otherwise fairly clean. They come and freshen up the outhouse daily and empty the trash cans. For the group site there is tons of space and very secluded which was great. Also right on the river!!

Nice trails along the Mississippi River, easy to walk, good signage on trails, and good information signs with history of each site along the trail.

Very Clean men’s bathroom. One shower needs a new shower head.

Sites 40 to 45 are very nice and secluded. Sites 58 and 59 are prime secluded sites.

I live close so I visit frequently to use the trails for running.

This park boasts an amphitheater, trails along the river, a group center, an historic site, decent bathroom facility, and spacious camp sites.

The electric site area isn’t super awesome, as it gets crowded and is more like a huge group camp. But the rest are way more private.

One thing missing is tent pad areas- still grassy and flat enough to truly be NBD, BUT, always nice to have a designated surface.

Great access for canoeing and kayaking the Mississippi water trail. If you start at Kiwanis Park in Brainerd- you can make it to crow wing in four hours leisurely, or three fairly easily.

Nice trails, good parking, good shower facilities, and pretty trails.