Best Campgrounds near Grafton, ND

I'm always looking for a campsite late in the afternoon. And this one turned out to be perfect. I pulled into East Grand forks. Got out my phone and started looking, and I said oh, there's a state campground right near here. Here. Right in town in fact. I'm traveling with the dog on this trip so I'm always looking for places that I can run the dog, if possible off leash in the morning. Well, technically you're not supposed to have docs off leash here, there's plenty of space down along the river and trails that go away from the campground where the dog can have a little bit of a free exercise. Because it's October, the place is almost empty. And I got one of the no hookup sites, so it was reasonably priced.

Good: green, lots of trees, big dog park, adjacent city park and trail, cute town. Bad: hook-ups are awful—they are behind your RV spot, shared with the RV behind you; shared power pedestals so only one gets 50amp, whoever gets there first; the 20amp breaker was useless; sewer connections are 90° angle and 1/2” off ground so almost impossible to use sewer elbow and they have sewer flies; water is a pex tube coming out of the ground, shared, and had a unremovable fitting that did not allow me to connect my pressure regulator. Some sites have utilities on the COMPLETE OPPOSITE side of standard RV connections requiring two additional sewer hoses and extra power cord. Ridiculous.

We spent a 3-day weekend here as a shake-down cruise for our new camper. It was nice to have full water, electric, and sewer hookups. The sites are well prepared, mostly level and pull-through. We enjoyed being able to bike the greenway on both sides of the river and downtown is just a couple blocks away.

We stayed here for 2 nights on the way north to Canada and another night after crossing the border again.  It is a lovely park with large crescent shaped pull thru sites (There are some back-ins as well). Sites are well spaced with plenty of trees and green spaces in between.  Super walking trails, great playground, walking distance to restaurants and downtown.

We would stay here again.

We followed the instructions on the confirmation email across the bridge from Grand Forks to East Grand Forks, MN to check into the campground (CG). After going through the Avenue of Flags and near the Blue Moose Bar& Grill there’s RV parking in front of the little check-in cabin. Check-in was easy and as disabled veterans, we got a free Minnesota State Park Vehicle Pass. We then proceeded to the Sherlock CG, which is the camping area and site 106E. Site 106E is a long pull through with FHUs. Pulling in was super easy and utilities are placed in the middle of the long pad. The utilities worked great with water pressure at about 50 psi. We got two bars on Verizon. There are trees in and around the sites, but we were able to get a clear north shot for Starlink. The sites in our area were well spaced apart, which we really liked. We were on the back row where the cement walking/bike trail is located far enough away that you still have privacy. There are a lot of sites in this CG mostly pull throughs but there are back-ins. They are serious about the vehicle permits and you cannot just lay the pass on your dashboard. It must be adhered to the windshield. We went to the office to clear our ticket, which didn’t cost us anything as we were prompt to respond. The office also has t-shirts, which we purchased. There was not a formal dog park, but plenty of areas to walk. Red River is one of the better CGs we have stayed at in our 5 years of“Most Timing.”

Lovely hiking, somewhat close campsites but good amount of tree/brush coverage separating them. Fantastic services (bath house, visitor center, etc).

Of everywhere I have been this is by far the cleanest, most comfortable campground my wife and I have been too. We will definitely be back.

If you're like me and hate camping 10 feet from a million campers in a crowded campground, then this island site is for YOU! The campsite itself is a double occupancy. We had 4 adults and 5 kids and had plenty of space for two big tents and all our stuff. The canoeing is a quick 15 minute paddle from the lakeside campground on the far east side of the lake. (I wanna respect everyone's ability to paddle a canoe, but this is a level 1/easy peazy/if my 9 year old can do it then so can you kind of paddle.)

The island is filled with tons of old oak trees and has plenty of space to string up a hammock or two in the shade. The tent pads aren't the most level, but they aren't the worst I've pitched on either. The dock is nice and low so getting in and out with your gear is a breeze. We camped over the 4th of July and even with the busy holiday boat traffic still felt pretty secluded, especially at night. The vaulted toilet was nice to have on the island too. We had to canoe in our water in portable jugs, but that's how we usually camp.

It would have been nice to have a food locker of some sort in the campsite as both nights we stayed we had a big old fat raccoon in the campsite trying to get into our food. We ended up putting our totes with all the food/garbage wedged under the bench of the picnic tables in order to keep them out. Still didn't stop them from dragging a cooler of ours into the woods one night. (Darn trash pandas.)

The only reason this didn't get 5 stars is because the area around the island is all weeds and muck. You'll have to paddle west into the big part of the lake (10 minutes) and dock your canoe next to the swimming beach if you want a muck and weed-free swimming experience.

The campground is really nice. It's full of regular repeat campers every week. Not really a place, I would come and stop for a night or two. There's a tiny lake and it's very pretty, but it's not really. A place designed for travelers or overnighters, you could do it. There was a price on the wall, but I think most of the people here are people that are here every weekend.

The campground is tiny but there are showers, bathrooms and water readily available and I think it is a lightly used park. Good trails, nice exhibits and a surprising amount of wildlife. The river was very high and overall very wet summer so far but green.

I stayed at the campground last fall and I found a really nice spot in the back where the trees also line the river.  Privacy was most important as I brought my 2 dogs with me.  I am now going to digress for a minute---how many pet owners know that when they cross the borders, they MUST have a dog passport with them with strict rules and regulations to follow?  I don't know about Canada but for sure if you cross the border into the States.

Anyways, the camp host was a little annoyed that I showed up without a reservation,but when he saw me pull out the exact amount of the fee --------  It turned, out he was a nice guy!

This year I spoke to a female camp host.  She said this was her first year, and I think some of the responsibilities  were overwhelming. We verbally made a reservations for 4 nights ..... the same spot as last year, with her and said I would email our discussion.  I emailed to the address that was shown on your web page and got a very curt reply telling me they didn't take care that.  I am disappointed as  I thought I did what I was supposed to do, so she probably won't even remember my call to her, or get my email.

Not going to say anything that everybody else hasn't said in the reviews but I thought it was charming there's space between the campers and well there's no privacy there tends not to be in city campgrounds. Also it's right on the River trails so if you're a biker it's fun to do the loop that goes from both the North Dakota and the Minnesota side. The bike trails also connect you to the larger city and there's several other very charming parks and downtown neighborhoods or downtown houses to see. The walk-in sites near the river are quite nice I wouldn't come here if you wanted to be in a quiet state park but that's not the intent of the park and it's a good use of the green space. I'm fully self-contained so I didn't use the bathrooms I've heard their little bit older but there's water there's sewer there's electric sites their sites with electric only and then their sites for just camping also group sites.

A handful of camp spots in a row and what looked to be a reasonable bathroom. For campers it was full service water sewer and electric. Need to contact the staff or the campground host to rent a spot look like the place was pretty empty when I was here. Really nice beach really nice access and fishing down below there's a two and a half mile pave trail in to Park River that you could walk or bike which I thought looked quite nice. Otherwise though that's the extent of the activities if you're not a Fisher person.

I saw this from the freeway and thought I would stop and look. It's a sizable campground for people who work on the sugar beet in the fall but available the rest of the year. They're all full hookups you need to call the phone number to get a spot but it's well shaded and very few permanent campers here right now.

One of the other reviews is very comprehensive to the activities so I'm not going to try to repeat that. The park is nice has lots of trees. There are two camping areas and a tent area each camping area has hookups. Both areas are very much in the sun so during high summer might be uncomfortably warm during the day. I agree with the other review there's lots and lots of things to do very close and it's centrally located to a state forest and the pembina gorge which will soon be a state park and a campground on its own but for today if you want to see it this is the closest place to be.

I spent a week here working and exploring the area. There's just so much to see and do both within the park and in the surrounding area. There's the museum across the street The hikes in the park the beach the boating the lake. If you play golf that's right around the corner and has a paved trail that takes you there and down into cavalier. And if you can drive a little bit there's the Pembina River gorge, the state forest and those hikes and those lookouts, Walhalla with its historical sites. There really is a little bit for anyone who might be interested and close to the area. By the way I was here the week before Memorial Day week and for most nights I was the only person in the park it was quite nice.

The camping is free I haven't quite figured out who is the owner of the land or the dam. It isn't a spot with definition or services it's literally just a place to park but it's also a place that you will probably have to yourself the entire time you stay there. There's nothing formal about it there's a handful places to camp some with pretty great views if you have a vehicle that can get to them. I was here in April it was very windy very cold We parked up on the hill as you can see in the picture so that the wind break behind us with the trees kept the blow off of us. I plan on spending a quiet afternoon here and a quiet night hopefully enjoying the Coyotes howl.

I can't imagine camping here. I'm here before the campground is open and there's a striking amount of annual campers here. Most of the campers sit in the sun which I think would be hot in the summer. The park is cute The arboretum is nice there's some nice walks but overall I can't imagine sitting in the sun during the summer in North Dakota with high humidity and finding that pleasant. I did stay in the campground at the state park that has lots of shade I would recommend somebody stay there but come here if they want to go to the beach which is quite nice.

We spent 3 nights here and it was very cold and snowy but the bathroom was open and warm and clean and the campground has a ton of short but very nice hikes. Lots of deer and squirrels and I'm guessing really busy in the summer but was delightful to share all the trails with just wildlife.

Camped at Lake Bronson the first weekend of June at site 47 beside the lake.  Our site had nice shade (beware - quite a few lake side sites are full sun), a necessity on the unusually warm June weekend. All amenities were very well maintained and close to our campsite. Unsure of how close sites were at the Two Rivers campground but Lake side were very close and multiple people were up until late into the evening. Not an issue for us, but if you're looking to get away in a more secluded location this would not be for you.

With temps in the mid 90s we enjoyed plenty of time in the lake, hiked to the top of the WPA observation tower, listened to trumpeter swans & watched the sun set over the lake .

One thing of note - our campsite was CRAWLING with ticks. Upon waking we had over a dozen hanging onto the outside of our tent, and picked more than we could count off of ourselves during our 24 hour stay. Unsure if it was a banner year for the buggers or if the location of the camping sites in grass next to a tree line was a perfect breeding ground but it was truly remarkable.

Nice enough campground, but appears to be a bit dated. Has full hookup sites or just electric like my site. Both pull thrus and back ins. What I did like most was the site I was in is well separated from others. Located right in town, so of course there is road noise. But restaurants and bars within a block is nice. There’s a Cabellas a couple of blocks away. The bads are no dumpstation on site, older showers and pit toilets, and appears not enough help here to keep the grounds cut and trimmed.. but was still a nice stay with shopping and banking nearby.

Site 42 is on the lake and is a long, breezy spot. However, there is little shade during the morning and afternoon. •Picnic table •Fire ring with grate •Flat site •No hammock trees •Across the campground from the bathroom/shower and privy •Close to playground •Boat/motor/canoe rental •Helpful and nice staff •Well maintained