Best RV Parks & Resorts in Minnesota

We booked our stay at the RV Resort so we wouldn't have to drive two and a half hours back and forth during the two day Grand RockTember Music Festival. *Please note when there's an event, book early!! This RV Resort has 271 RV/Camping full hook up sites that include a picnic table and fire pit. The sites are very close together with little to no privacy, but it did a fine job as we were there for the concert. Guest Services were super friendly when we checked in, and they give you a pass card to enter & exit the Resort. There is 24 hour security, and shuttle bus service to the casino, although we enjoyed the 1/2 mile walk to the amphitheater. All the sites are back in only, and are a tight squeeze for bigger rigs. They enforced the quite hours well, and we got a good nights sleep. There's a heated outdoor pool, and small convince store in the guest services building. They have a pet walking area, and kennels if you want to spend time at the casino. The bathhouse offered private toilet stalls and showers, and we squeaky clean!!! If you like to golf, don't miss the 18 hole Grand National Golf Course next door. We enjoyed our stay, and will be back again.

In our years of RV travels The Pines of Kabetogama is among the best RV resorts we have ever stayed at. Long story short, the resort itself provides direct access to Voyageurs National Park, is immaculately maintained, has top-shelf amenities, and the staff is amazing. You truly get what you pay for.

After hours of driving, we just wanted to get to our site and settle in. Upon arrival, Jeanne greeted us at the front office and was very kind, friendly, and helpful. She treated us like family. Tom guided us to site number 20 on the upper level with a poured concrete pad with pristine full-hookups. We were pleasantly surprised at just how spread-out the sites were. There isn't a bad site in the entire resort. It comes down to what your preference is. Do you prefer the community experience? The sites on the lower level fill that preference. Spread out with more privacy? Reserve a site on the upper level.

The restrooms were an unexpected surprise. Absolutely spotless with granite countertops and glass bowl sinks!?! We didn't expect to walk into a luxury bathroom experience at an RV resort.

The view of the sky at night was amazing. We didn't know this until we arrived and walked over to the Lake Kabetogama Voyageurs National Park Visitors Center that the park is Dark Sky Certified.

Having direct shoreline access to Voyageurs National Park was the highlight for my family. As soon as you are on the water, you are in a National Park. If you have a boat be sure and bring it along, otherwise, you can rent one from the resort and tour the lake. Tom informed us that if you have a motorhome RV, as we do, and you tow your boat the staff will launch your boat for you. The resort has a very large dock system with 16 slips by our count.

In terms of wildlife, we were fortunate enough to see more deer than we could count, as well as several bald eagles, and loons during our stay.

There are on-site coin-operated washers and dryers which we did not use, but are nice to know are available. If we were there for a longer stay we would use them for sure.

Even though we were not staying in the luxury cabins, the staff was kind enough to allow us to peek inside and they are immaculate. The decor is iconic, and the finishing touches are high quality. They aren't like the other ramshackle bunkhouses with spring bed frames we've stayed at in the past.

As I began my review, because the resort itself provides direct access to Voyageurs National Park, is immaculately maintained, has top-shelf amenities, and the staff is amazing you truly get what you pay for.

The aspect of this campground we liked the best was that we could walk to town. The campground itself is o.k. It was full when we were and definitely felt crowded. There are some tent sites up in a wooded secluded area but most of the park is geared to RVs. Or you can pitch pitching your tent amongst RVs. Tucked up in the woods is a small tent area that is nice and quiet but a little far from the bathrooms so be prepared to walk.

There are 300 campsites of with full hookups, some with electric and water hookups and others no hookups. Some site have great views of Lake Superior, some are sunny and open and others have some large trees. Our site (#104) was very close to our neighbors and the RV right behind us and we had a big tree right in our “patio” which was not conducive to sitting outside. We had a 50 amp full hook-up site which all worked well and well-placed in the site. The campground is county-run and a mix of seasonal people (lots of whom appeared to be there for the fishing) and transients like ourselves. One aspect of seasonal campers that I don’t like is how they junk up their site and this certainly had that. 

There are four bathhouses on the property some of which are pretty old and tired whereas others are larger and more updated. The bathroom near us was large but was heavily used (which is an understatement) as four tour-size busloads of college students exiting the boundary waters spent the night in tents near it. It was pretty trashed with that volume of people. Since the park is pretty large they have amenities like baseball fields, playground, group camping sections, a beach with picnic area, fish cleaning station, and nearby boat launch. 

A short walk to downtown and you have restaurants, shopping, grocery, fuel, pretty harbor, art galleries, bait shops, and more. One of the most highly touted places in Grand Marais is World’s Best Donuts. Even before we got to Grand Marais, people in other parts of Minnesota told us about it. The donuts were really good but beware their closing hour is when they sell out which is why we went really early. We also ate at The Crooked Spoon Cafe and had an amazing meal. Nearby Grand Marais are a scattering of state parks known for their waterfalls which are worth seeing. Many people come here because it is close to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness but since we just came from the town of Ely we did not go back to the boundary waters. We liked this area and kept busy for the three days we were there but couldn’t see staying long-term.

We stayed at Balsam Beach Resort & RV Park at the height of summer vacation on Lake Plantagenet in Bemidji. The resort was at full capacity, so it was crowded with no privacy that we prefer to have. (one of the reasons for the lower star rating) We brought our RV and boat, and there was room to park our boat trailer by the boat landing. There are many seasonal sites, cabins for rent, and an open field area for camping in a tent, and 4 RV spots. We stayed in RV spot #1, and the spot came with a picnic table and a fire ring which we did not use because the size of the space put our RV to close to the ring. There is a big fire ring down by the lake that anyone can use (please note you can not bring in your own firewood, they have it available for purchase in the lodge for $5.00 for a small bundle) All RV sites are full hook up with 30 amp electric service, and water and dump. If you bring a boat, it will need to be inspected before you launch it into the lake. There is a big dumpster where you can put your trash in, and they also have bins for aluminum cans, and glass and plastic recycling.

Most of our time was spent fishing on the lake, but we were impressed with the other activities they offered to people staying there including a swimming pool, beach toys, paddle boats, canoes, inflatable rafts, a playground, a baseball field, horse shoes, volley ball sand pit, work out room, and laundry facilities (bring your quarters!! A regular wash and dry is $4.00) They also off cable TV hook up, and have a "general store" that sells sweatshirts, tshirts, ice cream, coffee, and has movie rentals for $4.00 per movie/per day. (Yes, we got the sense that everything is an additional fee) They do allow pets, but at a cost of $5.00 per day. The resort was clean and well maintained by the owners. We just did not feel a sense of welcome from the owners, and will not be making a return trip in the future. It was nice being only a few miles away from the city of Bemidji as we spent a day visiting Paul Bunyan and Babe, and Bemidji State Park to hike the Bog walk (recommended!!) We also spent a day fishing on Lake Bemidji, which is a 10 minute drive from the resort.