Looking for a place to cabin camp near Waterville? Find the best information on cabins near Waterville, including photos, reviews, and tips. From secluded to easy-to-reach, these Minnesota cabin rentals are perfect for any adventurer.
The campground has 58 drive-in campsites. Camping is available year-round. In winter, the park has campsites available for use in the B-loop of the campground, including electric (30 amp) and non-electric sites. The park's camper cabin is available for use year-round. Camper Cabin users must call to arrange for cabin key.
The campground has six, 30 amp electric sites.
Water and dump station are seasonal.
$24 - $34 / night
Meet new friends, relax in the heated pool, take a walk along the river, smell the scent of a friendly campfire or have your next family reunion here! River View Campground is located a mile south of Owatonna, MN, in a beautiful country setting, nestled among giant oak trees and bordered by the Straight River.
This park has something for everyone. The trails take visitors around wet lowlands, oak savanna, and grasslands. Albert Lea Lake and park marshes draw hundreds of waterfowl during migration. Oak savanna and prairie landscape, including wetlands, dominate most of the park. One of the more unique aspects of the park is the 116-acre Big Island, covered with maple/basswood forest. Another is the glacial esker located in the northeast section of the park.
Sawmill Campground is a small family owned campground.
Amenities include:
-Full RV Hookups; Electric, City Water, City Sewer ALL SITES
-Pull-through Sites have 50, 30, and 120 Amp service
-Decks at Pull-through Sites ( some)
-Picnic Table at each site
-Firewood Available
-Ice Available
-Free Wi-Fi
-Back-in Sites have 30 & 50 amp
-Restroom and Shower Building
-Storm Shelter
-Laundry On Site
-Tents and Popups welcome
-Pet Friendly
-Daily: Back-in 30 & 50 Amp - 24.00
-Daily: Pull-through 50 Amp - $26.00
-Weekly and Monthly Rates Available
-Camping cabin available
Legend
Lovely park to camp at! There is a beach for swimming. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Bathroom and showers are in the campground and there is wood available for purchase.
Traveler
Sites are approximately 2 miles from parking and the hike it relatively easy with minimal elevation change. You have a choice between a grassy walk or walking mainly on tar and gravel as part of the Blazing Star Trail. They are also accessible by boat.
There are 4 backpacking sites and they are well-spaced so you each have privacy. #3 and #4 are close enough that you could be in a group together but #1 and #2 are pretty isolated. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, wood cabinet/fish cleaning table, at least 1 flat spot for a tent, and a nearby porta potty.
Views of the lake are amazing with a variety of birds making appearances. Harvesting season may bring some farm sounds but otherwise, aside from the occasional train, you'll mainly hear the sounds of nature around you.
If you can make the walk carrying everything, including water, on your back, definitely check out one of these sites.
Traveler
We stayed in White Fox Site 97 from September 13-15. No one was nearby until late in the evening on the 14th, so it felt very private and quiet. Although I know that is because the people in the campground were quiet... thank you! Tons of trails; paved, gravel, or grass; you can explore the entire park. We had a bit of rain and then it got hot again so it was super muggy. Of course that is the weather, not the park. The ranger was friendly and helpful. Great worry free trip, just like camping should be!
Traveler
Nice sights with full hookups. The sights are gravel but level. Bath houses are nice and well maintained.
LegendRoomy gravel sites. A mix of electric and non-electric sites. Commercial fire rings. Electrical needs refreshing. We had an issue with the 30A breaker not resetting on site 46E; eventually relocated to 47E. Park employee Noah was very accommodating and pleasant to deal with. He came out to the site to discuss options with us and eventually made some site reservation changes to resolve the situation. Close to town, nice historic district.
Scout
Lots of activities for kids and teens. Teen social on Fridays to help them meet friends. Nice pool. The campground is on a hill if you have mobility issues. Many spots along the river.
Traveler
We stayed at this koa because it was our only way to watch softball tournament. We stayed 5 days and it was fairly nice. People that were working were very helpful and nice. Lost power a couple hours twice because of branches falling g from trees.
Scout
Most of the sites are roomy enough but not a lot of privacy. Short walk to water/bathrooms.
ScoutWe were here mid week and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Beautiful old growth forest with lots of shade. For July the bugs weren’t bad. After traveling across South Dakota and dealing with 100 plus temperatures with no shade this was a welcome change. The rangers and hosts were welcoming and helpful. The bathrooms and showers are ultra modern and clean. We are planing on stopping back here on our way home.
GuideAbout the only nice thing about this place is the lady who answered the phone, Valerie.
She was extremely nice other than that it was gravel. Roads that were poorly maintained trucks were parked sticking out into the road making it difficult to get around. The site was very unlevel and the water Spicket didn’t really work very well.. we paid for two nights and bought a KOA review or rewards program to do it… We refused to stay the second night when we called to see if we could get our money back the gentleman who checked us in as a ground tender was rude and choppy he wasn’t very friendly when he brought us into the place.
The place was packed like sardines… Very difficult to negotiate at night.
Overall, the worst campground we’ve stayed in in the two RV trips we’ve taken from Florida to Minnesota. There are so many beautiful state parks don’t bother with this KOA not even for a one nighter.
We were stuck on a back loop. There were a lot of mosquitoes bugs and mud… It just wasn’t a nice experience.
GuideWe visited in early April so the sites were quite exposed, I can imagine they would be more private in the summer. Water and showers were not open yet as it was too cold but the vault toilets were well maintained.
TravelerWe stayed at A24 and A26. Overall, nice spots and were easy to find, and an easy walk to the bathrooms (which were standard but good). Theres a “little library” by them too with a small picnic table for kids. Your sites all face each other completely so don’t expect any privacy (it’s a campground so not that you should expect that usually).
Like others said, A24 is huge and has a beautiful tree in the middle, but it currently has a blue stripe around it which might mean it’s getting chopped or is sick?? (Photo attached) I think you’d lose a lot of your tree cover if they take it down.
Tons of mosquitoes like at many parks this year.
ScoutOk cell coverage for Verizon, no issues web surfing. Site 7E was larger with a good size and distance from others. Not the fault of the campground, bugs were in full force. Tons of tree coverage and very humid making it a great place for the little buggers. Would probably visit October/November when cold gets rid of them and the tree coverage. Hard to see the amazing views in the summer. Again, no fault of campground, just a consideration. Also, no real potty spots for pups. Either weeds/woods or muddy spots attempting to be grass/weeds. Best was around the showers/restrooms. Those were by far the shining gem of this campground. Fantastic bathing facilities. We’re self contained, so didn’t need it but my spouse did go use the restroom there instead of waiting. We peeked in the showers and they were really nice looking.
Scout
Camp Dels Review
Worth the read!
Charges:
They charged us half of what my cousin next to us got charged and we got the same thing but mine should have been more because I had 3 more adults. And it was 500$ for 3 nights. We should have just went and rented out a house.
On the last day we went up to get our bills fixed and it took 40 min for them to figure out the issue, wrote down the totals and said we'll charge the cards at 11 am when the other guy comes in. At 11am we went back up for our receipts and it took them another 20 min to figure it out. He wanted to send us away saying. I'll figure it out and email it to you. I said no that doesn't work for me I'll take it now. He said what would you like me to do. So I had to spell it out for him and said "I want you to take the full amount your charging me, subtract the deposit, then subtract the payment I made when I came on Friday, and now tell me what I owe today, run that amount on my card right now and give me the receipt and do the same for the other site we had too. It's not hard. However you have to do it in your computer you figure it out, I just want to go home. I'll wait" he said your right it's not hard. I said start over completely if you want I don't care. I just want my receipts. (They couldn't even figure out math and how simple it was. What are they going to do if there computers ever fail totally) it was painfully funny to endure both times I sat through Watching with my bill!
Night time:
So at night get ready to be harassed every 30 minutes to a hour by workers trying to bully you to bed every night if you choose to stay up past 11pm. And they pick out the 1 drunk guy in your group to try and cope with when the sober one is saying "hey I'm sober. I don't drink. Can you please answer and talk to me" but they are rude to you and refuse. They pick at the drunk guy. But that was every night. All 3 nights. 1st time they come it is 1guy. 2nd time 2guys. 3rd time 3guys come. 4th time 4guys. 5th time 4guys come. They start at 11pm telling people to turn off all music (even on the phone turned way down. Even watching a video outside. Even if your humming/singing together, lol he said no/off, now). Of course we complied though.
At 12am they say time for bed and then start tying to reason with you about coming back for a time when it's going to be all over at. At 12:30/1am they will come back a 3rd time and start bullying again. And say put it out now and throw a fit when you don't completely comply. So they say "I'll be back in 15 min and we are done, fire goes out and you are all going to bed". So at 1:15 perfectly on time their gang comes to harass you adults to go to bed. He screams I'm not leaving until your fires out and your all in bed. I tell him to shhhhhh! And now the drunk guy who paid 500$ to be here gets his wood doused with water and is livid. And some of us drop off every time they come because they are so rude and don't want to deal with it but I'm sober and an adult and No one is going to put me to bed. All the adults there are waisted all day and not watching their kids. And now I know why. We talk to all our neighbors plus we are there with about 10 other scattered around sites and every neighbor couldn't believe what they were doing saying we weren't even loud. We had no music and a small fire with a few people. I kept walking 5 away to go pee and I couldn't hear our group any of the nights. And we weren't even all at 1 fire either.
* And throughout every interaction the non-drinker asks respectively (me) where in your rules or on the website does it say adults have a bed time by 1am and you guys go around harassing repeatedly trying to cause problems starting at 11pm and bully them them to bed???? Maybe you should be more transparent or be more humble and kind with your discretion. No one is being loud and belligerent. But I was ignored. Because if it had sad that on line or had I been warned about the worker's behavior after 11pm we wouldn't have came. We ourselves had 2 spots. The guy we knew who invited us had like 8 spots with him and needless to say none of us and anyone we know will ever come to
Camp Hels.
The workers/people:
Some shouldn't work with the public. But they are all family! All related just about! And they let you know it! Some of them also let you know that they aren't saposed to be working but that they are there working anyways! So I put money in for the batting cages. Nothing happened so i swiped the playing card again. A guy and lady walk out. I said excuse me. Im not sure im doing it right but i think it took my money. She yelled at me that "we are having problems, dont I see that, give us some time". So i waited. It looked like they were going to leave so i told the guy what happened to my card and he said sure we'll refund it. The last ones not working. (But they didnt put a sign on it) and he told the lady to deal with my refund. And she came and yelled at me again. I tried to explain myself but there's no talking to her. Pretty sure she was drunk. She said stay right here. Ill be back. I waited for 30 min for a refund at the batting cages. Come to find out no one works up there. She went to the office to get a refund. But I had to call the front desk to see if someone was even coming back. And he asked her while holding the phone "do you got people waiting on you up there? We'll get going there still waiting." When she got back she yelled "so who's waiting on me!" Like she didn't ask me to stay put like a dog. And was rude again. But I got a new card and 20 new mosquito bites.
There was other little things that were observed and overhead from other guests like at the pool, concert, petting zoo and other places too. We couldn't mention them all. We are very social and people loved all the stuff to do but hated the way they were all treated. We talked to a few seasonal owners and they say they get treated the same and hate it.
The sites/cleanliness/activities:
Lifeguards were nice. Business and all activities inside the campground ran smoothly and weren't awful at all. The kids enjoyed themselves using the amenities and activities. The bathrooms were ok and pretty clean. Some trash cans had overflowing garbage and a lot all over after events. I never saw anyone picking it up. But you could always see someone riding a golf cart being bossy. It was nice to see they gave their zoo animals long breaks from feeding and petting. Some of the birds looked like they had Veterinarian feather/skin illnesses. They call it a petting zoo but there's really no petting.
Recommendations:
Don't ever go. Or camp next door or close or get a house then just pay for a day pass if you can.
If CAMP DELS is reading this you should be more transparent on your site and train your family/workers to be more kind and just walk by reminding people to stay quit at night. Insted of being on a power trip demanding adults have a bed time, pretending you don't have discretion and choices yourselves on who and where you are actually creating the problem, bullying and then playing victim. Because the only thing your accomplishing every night is pissing people off. There is a better way. Weather your there or not trying to throw your authority around, people will go to bed. Example PD dont go into bars after 12am harassing people saying "times a coming guys! I'm going to close you down". You should only be keeping people from getting out of hand. Not causing it. Another fantastic idea is have an adult camping section where quiet time is 11pm and adults can go to bed when they choose! Instead of trying to take away people's freedom, especially on Memorial weekend! God bless and hope I never see any of you at Camp Dels ever again.
TravelerIf you are a little more flexible and have the capacity to do so, definitely consider the rustic campground rather than the semi-modern one. There aren't very many sites, the sites are very large, and the setting is lovely. There are vault toilets here, along with campfire pits and picnic tables, so if you need fresh water or want to shower, you can walk 7 or 8 minutes or drive over to the other campground for those.
LegendThis park has one of my favorite sites. The site for your tent is up a short walkway from where you park your car. My dog loves the bison drive! Firepit and picnic table provided. wood is available for purchase at the office. Shower and bathroom facility was clean and close to this campsite. Be sure to visit the waterfall in the other section of the park nearby! Will be returning this summer! Please note, raccoons are in the area, so please be kind to mother nature and keep your food and trash secure!!
RangerNice spot. Quiet during the off-season. The spots are plentiful here given its the off-season, but keep in mind, if you come, the only camping spots available are the ones that have power. The "A" section is closed down, but once the season gets going again, it will open. Camping is nice here. My preference is the "A" leg of the campground as it is more wooded and you're buffered better against other campers. The "B" leg isn't quite as private. Pick the perimeter spots if you don't want a neighbor right on top of you. These spots end in even numbers. The inner camp spots are odd numbers, and they've expanded the amount of spots, so there isn't much privacy. Once the foliage grows in, it might be "ok," but looking at it now during the winter season, there isn't any privacy at all. In the park there are bathrooms and a dump station. Parking over at the trail system, there are also pit toilets and community grills, and picnic tables. It's mostly quiet here with a slight bit of road noise. It's nothing bad, though. Anything from tents to cars to fifth wheels can camp here. Any larger fifth wheel, I believe, would be better suited to the "b" leg for camping. There is power there and spots large enough to accommodate your rig. If you're coming to see the bison, keep in mind that the bison drive is closed Wednesdays! Have fun!
GuideWe arrived after dark last night so we weren't able to see the gorgeous view until the sun rose! Luckily we woke up early and went for a walk right as the sun was coming up. It was quite cold, a little over 20°, but that meant the lake was frozen solid so we got to walk around on it! Tons of fun. Unfortunately the bathhouse, water spigots, and dump station were closed. That is not a super big deal since we have a camper. And it was publicized on their website about the dump stations being closed. The sites were spacious, the one we were in was non electric and a back-in site. But for $24 a night it was pretty nice! Especially would be worth it if more of the amenities had been open, but with how cold it is, it's very understandable that they would have them closed. There was still an outhouse with a vault toilet that was open. Unsure if there is a working sink because we did not use it. We had to call to make a same day reservation which was a tad bit annoying but the man on the phone was very helpful and nice so not bad at all.
TravelerWe stayed at the Big Island Campground in the beginning of August. The sites seemed pretty large to us. My kids loved skipping rocks at the little shore at the entrance to the big island. You cannot swim in the lake but there are canoes and kayaks to rent. We really enjoyed our time here. Rangers were super nice and helpful. We hiked about 5 miles, saw a few deer and other animals. Bathrooms were very nice and clean. All of us that remembered to reapply bug spray didn't have any bites.
Guide
Good campground location for the bike trail and for going to places like Mankato, and Faribault. No swimming beach, but that's good because the lake is nasty in late summer.
LegendWe stayed at a walk in site in the rustic campground. It was very private and you could barely see the other walk in site next door. The man made swimming pond was a highlight and much needed on a hot summer day. We hiked the trails through the park and saw deer, turkeys, and other small wildlife. The historic Schell’s Brewery is less than 10 min. from the campsite and it was great to visit.
LegendWe stayed a couple nights here on our last major stop, and it was ok. I’ll start with the positives. The people are very nice, and work hard. It’s close to downtown Minneapolis. They have events planned for kids. It has a pool that stays open late, and it’s got some playgrounds. Now, the cons….it’s off the road behind a construction company. It’s clientele was pretty rough on our trip. One of the playgrounds was closed. Small sites and it’s packed in here.
TravelerGreat spot for nature seekers. Great bike trails. Well spaced, quiet sites. Electric hookup for RV and easy dump station. Showers were what you can expect but good pressure and hot water. No where to swim in the lake.
Guide
People are nice small campground. Not much for kids to do but if your staying overnight it’s fine for travelers.
LegendThere are two campgrounds in this state park. We snagged the last open site on the island. There are a mix of families, older folks and even a youth group. Our site is fully shaded as are most others. There is a central shower house and a couple vault toilets in the two loops. The trail heads out around the edge of the island. It’s a little over 1 mile long. There are a bunch of small trails leading to some spots to sit along the water. We headed down each offshoot and enjoyed our visit. A paved trail leads back and ends up right across from our campsite. The weather is cool so we stayed an extra day. The place cleared out on Sunday night. We are the only ones in this loop. We would stay here again but not in the middle sites. We feel too much in view of everyone which causes some distraction for the dog.
Traveler
Not a terrible campground, fairly quiet, and woodsy.
Biggest problem with the campground is gates in and out lock every night at 10pm and don't open again until 8am. So our first night we got locked out and had to sleep in the vehicle.
Also, you're packed I like sardines, hope you have good neighbors.
Ranger
The campground Host Sherry and John are great!
The campground is well maintained and right by the river. Nice RV spots and nice tent spots along the river. #10 is nice tent spot we like. #20 is good RV spot we use. There is Firewood in a shed for sale.
No cell service but able to text.
Nice clean bathrooms! Great shower heads in men’s bathroom.
Trails are super nice and well maintained, many different levels of hikes going along the River to hikes up on the prairie tops. Some nice overlooks.
Zoo and nature center are great. Animals are all rescued and given a home. Bison herd and elk and deer too.
We will be camping there again!
Frequently Asked Questions
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