Oak Woods Campground — Lake Shetek State Park

We spent three nights at the Oak Woods campground at Lake Shetek State Park in May 2022. The six non-electric campsites are along one edge of the campground, across the road from the park’s four camper cabins. All of the campsites are large and open and grassy. They lack privacy but have good spacing, tall trees, and lake views. One of the two bathroom-and-shower buildings is nearby. We were there in early May and were the only tent campers in the park at that time.

The park is lovely. We saw and heard many birds including songbirds, woodpeckers, geese, turkeys, pelicans, turkey vultures, and a nesting swan. We saw deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and a mink. We heard coyotes the first night. There are some nice hiking trails. We especially enjoyed the Loon Island loop, which is accessed by a causeway across the lake. There is an observation deck with a viewing telescope at Eastlick Marsh, which is where we saw the nesting swan and a beaver dam. In season there are recreational rentals (canoes, kayaks, etc.), but we were a little too early for them to be available.

Spacious sites and great full hook up sites!! Tons of walking trails and pet friendly!! You’ll see lots of birds and deer... Second time here and love it!!

We where on the Oakwood Campground for few days . Its a very quiet Campground with view of the lake. AMAZING WE COME BACK 🤩🤩🤩🤩

Fairly busy and not very private. Nice lake and cool trail out to the island

This review is for Oak Woods Campground at Lake Shetek State Park. Drive-in Site 12.

This campground is pretty large and there are neighboring campgrounds that make the camping options plentiful in this state park!

Sites are well marked and they are all in close proximity to one another. There are little to no natural features that divide each site from the next. When this campground is full you have zero privacy, and can probably hear the conversation by the fire at the neighboring site!

Site 12 in directly across from one of the camper cabins - these little cabins are super cute! You are also probably ~1000ft from the lake shore and can clearly see the lake from the site. It’s possible that sight line becomes somewhat obstructed when other sites are occupied. Restrooms and water source are very nearby.

I was up in the Oak Woods Campground. This was pretty much an open field with people crammed together. One of my neighbors sat and watched a certain cable news channel on a giant outdoor TV hooked up to their bus from 8am until 10p. I can tell you that a TV host named Tucker was very angry that night. Another "camper" had set up a giant playground, penned in areas for their multiple dogs, and had a bouncy castle set up for their daughter...that was running off of a very loud generator all day. The whole thing was lit up with string lights like it was an airport runway and gave the entire campground a carnival feel. WTF?  Unfortunately for your enjoyment, I deleted the video I took of the scene. Lucky for you, I still have a photograph of it. 

I had reserved 2 nights. I left at 6am after one pathetic night and went and stayed at a Harvest Host instead. 

Leave no trace (and set up no carnivals).

6/12/20-6/14/20 cart in 3

Lake Shetek State Park is located in the SW corner is Minnesota and on Lake Shetek. They have 4 campgrounds. We always up for the more private sites and stayed in the cart-in campground. There are carts available to haul your gear if you choose. The cart in sits sit up on a ridge and had some views of Lake Shetek. Our campsite (3) was spacious with a tent pad large enough to hold 2 tents and had a spot for a hammock. It had a fire ring and picnic table. The vault toilet was right across from our campsite, so we had a lot of foot traffic. It was not the most private site of the bunch, we liked 5 and 7 better.

Lake Shetek allows motor boats and there was a lot of boat traffic. There are other resorts on this lake so it’s very active. We brought our kayaks and enjoyed kayaking the lake, though there was always a pretty big wake and we stayed near the shoreline. We kayaked (a short Portage) to 2 smaller lakes that had no one on them. We were able to tie our boats to a tree below our campsite and scaled up the embankment, there was a path already there. There are a few hiking trails in the state park (roughly 4 miles of hiking tidal) but I wouldn’t say it’s known for its hiking. We enjoyed the causeway that led to the 1-mile Loon Island Trail. We saw turtles, deer, waterfowl and eagles during our stay. There is a “beach” locates near the Oak Wood campground however it was underwater, people still enjoyed swimming as it was shallow and warm in June. We did find another beach within the state park that was a longer walk to reach, but MANY boats were docked and “partying” here. There is a nice fishing pier and a dock within the park.

Due to all the boat traffic, I would say this is a much less private and serene state park.

We stayed in a Camper Cabin in this park in the wintertime.  It was a great experience for our kids and a fun winter camping experience for mom and dad.  The camper cabin was nice and warm and we even cooked our dinner over a fire at night.

the park is beautiful and the lake is really nice, however the campground was essentially an open field with sites numbered along the edge. No privacy which made it tough to travel with dogs and kids were running around everywhere. Well kept but wouldn’t stay at this site again.

I camped at Lake Shetek State Park, MN many years with my two daughters. We were there for a week. Took in the park and swimming on the beach along with going to the Laura Ingels Wilder Pageant! My youngest daughter at the time was a huge fan! We even ate at Nellie's Diner!

Spent the long Labor day weekend at Shetek in cart in site 7. About a two block walk into the woods. Site 7 is lakeside, but the steep embankment makes it feel a little farther away. There is a pit toilet and water near the cart in sites, both in good working order. The flush toilets and showers are about a quarter mile farther. In very nice condition. Lots to do at the camp, nice lake for boating and plenty of ponds for kayaks and canoes and for fishing.