Best Tent Camping near Two Harbors, MN

We LOVE Split Rock State Park, and try to go at least one a year. This spring we backpacked in a bit to the first backpack site, BP1, just about a mile in from the parking lot. 

The cart in sites are definitely amazing, but the backpack ones are the best! This one is on an overlook with pretty much your own private lagoon right next to the site. Stats for this site: 

- mostly shaded at the site

- wood chips for the tent area

- bear box

-picnic table

- rustic latrine (bring own TP)

- fire pit.

There are trails down to the private beach area and to the public one to the north. You could totally access this via kayak or canoe.

Take the hike back to the main parking lot/camp entrance for use of nice showers and bathrooms. Also a little public bay with great views of an island and the lighthouse. Also has a great public use building with an outside sheltered fire pit and electricity. We hung out a bit there to charge phones and use the tables.

All sites are quite private, even more than most state parks. Various access points to Lake Superior throughout the campground, and the park is close to Two Harbors for supplies, etc.

One of my favorite parks, up on the cliff with amazing views and great trails that wind you through the woods to high bluffs and lookouts. Just awesome.

3/6/20-3/8/20. Cart-in 4

Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is situated on Lake Superior in Two Harbors. It’s a backpacker’s paradise! They are open year-round and have 20 secluded Cart-In campsites within 2000 feet of the parking lot. They have wheeled carts available to move your camping gear to your campsite - or in the winter you could sled-in like we did. Each site has a fire ring, picnic bench and a bear locker for your food or gear. They also have 4 backpack sites with their own vault toilets and are 1/2 mile to 2 mile hike from the parking lot.. The sites are all nicely spaced with some close to the water with gorgeous views of Lake Superior, some of the lighthouse and others wooded. We got to scope out almost every one of them, as only one other person was camping here this weekend. You really can’t go wrong with any site at Split Rock as they were all beautiful and have their own little something to offer. Their showers are not open in the winter but they do have vault toilets throughout

They have 12 miles of hiking trails that run along Lake Superior and double back on the Gitchi-Gami trail. The Gitchi-Gami trail is a paved trail in summer which boasts biking or hiking and unplowed hiking in the winter. In the winter the park has hiking, snowshoeing and xcountry ski trails. .

The big draw is their historic lighthouse in which they charge a separate fee to enter. For all the times I have visited Split Rock, I have honestly never been to the light house. There is also river/stream fishing and access to several rock beaches. We hiked ALL the trails during our stay. They are diverse and beautiful! We particularly enjoyed the Day Hill trail which leads up to an overlook and gives you panoramic views of Lake Superior, the lighthouse and Split Rock Point.

This state park fills up very fast and is reservable, so we opted to visit in the winter. We chose site 4 which is close to the parking lot, next to Lake Superior and has views of the lighthouse. Our site was beautiful nestled among birch and pine (which most are), with waves crashing in the background. There is a short path that leads to a private bench that provides stunning views of the lighthouse and cliff views of the lake. We had clear skies and very little wind in our campsite. Highs in the 40s - low of 15 Friday, 28 Saturday. It was perfect winter camping weather!

I highly recommend a visit to this state park!

Spent a couple of nights here recently and really enjoyed the solitude. Trails are all marked and the proximity to the lighthouse was nice. Weather was cool and varied between clear and partly cloudy with a light rain for about an hour one morning. Site is on a relatively open, low bluff that overlooks Lake Superior to the South and has fire ring with grill grate, half a picnic table, a locker for food / gear, latrine and tent area padded with wood chips. Trees on site were perfect for my hammock. Waves crashing below site were calming and put me to sleep both nights - was much like beach camping in my home state of California! I did not hike the surrounding trails much as this was more of a short reconnaissance trip for future visits. If you plan on swimming be sure to bring water shoes! Pebbles/rocks are tough on bare feet.

While there I also took the opportunity to scout backpack site 1. This site has same amenities though it is more sheltered by trees. There is a short path that leads down to the water’s edge and a little swimming cove that could be cool for shallow rock diving. Large, flat granite formations for sunning yourself as well. Either site is awesome and Split Rock I’ll definitely be back!

Big Bay State Park Campground, WI: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Ferry Ride: $110 round trip with a 17’ trailer Overall Rating: 3.5 Price 2023: About $20 to $30 Usage during visit: Very full Site Privacy: Loop 1 - 29 Great site privacy. Loop 30 -60 some good sites. The overall privacy not as good. Site Spacing: Loop 1 - 30: Great. Loop 31- 60: Good Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: People noise while here. Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Some sites Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Check out the campground map . The dump is on the way to the airport.
Potable Water Available: Yes, at the bathrooms Generators: Not specified. We used a low noise generator. Bathroom: Clean pit toilets and flush toilets in the showroom.
Showers: One centrally located.
Pull Throughs: Mostly, if not all are back in. Cell Service (AT&T): Sporadic Setting: In a pine forest Weather: Highs are 70’s Bugs: Some mosquitoes. I think they are decreasing. Have bug spray if you hike. Solar: No Host: They are short a host Rig size: Rigs I’ve seen are under 35’ Sites: The sites in Loop 1 - 30 is the best loop, are most all very private. Loop30 - 60: Not as private. Site 42 has no under brush between site and parking for tent walk in sites. Other than that, pretty good. Sites 48, ad 50 are the absolute least private sites. Trailer sites in Loop 30 - 60 are generally not as deep and thus less site privacy than Loop 1 - 30. (35 - 41 are walk in tent sites,)

My friend and I went camping here from October 19th-21st (which happened to be during an unseasonable cold snap- I'm talking 20 degrees at night with a bit of snow, but that's neither here nor there). The first night we lucked out and though it was cold, there was virtually no wind.

We chose one of the campsites nearest to the parking lot since we had a lot of cold weather gear to lug and my friend was new to camping. Even though it was close to the lot and there weren't really leaves on the trees anymore to offer privacy, the park was quiet and we only heard people when they would walk directly past our campsite.

The proximity to Lake Superior and the view was absolutely gorgeous. We gasped when we got to the site because it was so beautiful! In combination with how quiet it was, it really made for a worthwhile stay.

The tent pad was flat and covered with woodchips. Tent pad was elevated, with a wooden bench built in. The site was cart-in, which made loading in and out a breeze. Going uphill to the parking lot was a bit of a pain, but it was a short enough distance that it was just fine. There was a sizeable metal bear box for food. The vault toilet was a short jaunt up the hill and had plenty of toilet paper in stock.

Because it was off-season, the campground building with flush toilets/showers was closed, and there was no running water for the campground. (During the regular season, water is close by at the parking lot.) There was water available on the side of the Trail Center Picnic Shelter.

I am looking forward to returning to camp here in a bit warmer weather!