Best Tent Camping near Walhalla, ND

Tent camping options near Walhalla, North Dakota include two primary established areas: Crystal City Park Campground and Matejeck Dam Recreation Area. Crystal City Park offers tent-only sites approximately 30 miles east of Walhalla, while Matejeck Dam Recreation Area provides drive-in tent access near Fordville. Both campgrounds maintain primitive setups with limited infrastructure, typical of the remote North Dakota landscape in this region.

Both tent campgrounds function with minimal amenities and require self-sufficiency from campers. Neither location provides drinking water, toilets, or trash collection services. Matejeck Dam Recreation Area accommodates pets while Crystal City Park does not permit animals. Neither campground offers picnic tables, designated fire rings, or reservable sites. Campers should bring all necessary supplies including water, food, and waste disposal bags. The campgrounds maintain primitive tent setups without modern conveniences, making them suitable for experienced campers comfortable with backcountry practices.

The tent sites in this region offer genuine isolation from developed areas. Areas farther from town provide deeper seclusion and less noise. Both campgrounds lack electrical hookups, showers, and sanitary facilities, creating authentic primitive camping experiences. Matejeck Dam Recreation Area features drive-in access, allowing campers to park near their tent sites while still maintaining distance from RV areas. The landscape surrounding these campgrounds provides access to local natural features and wildlife viewing opportunities. Most visitors choose these areas specifically for their undeveloped character and the authentic backcountry tent camping experience they provide, rather than for amenities or convenience.

Best Tent Sites Near Walhalla, North Dakota (2)

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Tent Camping Reviews near Walhalla, ND

31 Reviews of 2 Walhalla Campgrounds


  • G
    Oct. 27, 2020

    Homme Dam Recreational Area

    A life saver in the cold months

    This is a nice campground, I’m sure it would be more enjoyable in the warmer seasons. Has everything you need to have a pleasurable stay except for laundry facilities. Full hook ups for the RV’er, tent camping, boat ramp with docks, playgrounds, restrooms with showers, personal garbage can picked up weekly, friendly staff, fire rings and bbq grills. All this comes with beautiful views that over look the reservoir and best of all open year around. For the cold weather campers the shower floors are heated! Can’t believe I got all this for $500 month plus $35 vehicle fee.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jul. 3, 2020

    Icelandic State Park Campground

    Quiet nature and hisotry on the prairie

    This is a small quiet state park in northeast North Dakota that offers a nature preserve with rare plants and birds in a cool bur oak-basswood  stand with spring fed fens around it. A nature trail with little footbridges carries you through. There is also a native prairie restoration, and historic exhibits about the different cultural groups who made their homes here from prehistoric times to today.  A nice little oasis! The campground is set on a pleasant little reservoir, as we are tent campers we loved that the tent area was in the so called "primitive" area  with only tents, with sites all along the shore and close to the nature preserve. It was a weeknight, and no one else was there so it was very peaceful! Fo folks who have campers or rvs, there are three well set up loops with hookups and all the amenities. We also appreciated that they have a dog park on site! I havent seen that in a state park before. The staff was really friendly and helpful. Due to covid restrictions there are more rules to follow and limited programming etc, but you can still swimm and fish and boat on your own. The only drawback is that you can hear road noise from trucks on the highway nearby which is noticeable at night.

  • Janet R.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jul. 13, 2020

    Walhalla Riverside City Park

    Wonderful stay at Walhalla!

    This is a jewel of a city campground located along the Pembina River and adjacent to the Pembina Gorge State Recreation area. Although the Gorge is administered by the ND State Parks program, there is no camping within the Gorge itself as it is a nature preserve and protected paleontology site. So, the nearby Walhalla city campground is the only option for camping right in the vicinity, and it is a great option, and is a good place for a family vacation in and of itself. 

    The campground is located within Walhalla’s beautiful city park, and the extensive campsite options include spacious riverside campsites with full hookups if desired, wooded standard campsites, and a spacious lush shady and grassy primitive tenting area that is wuiet and comfortable. All sites have easy access to a couple if canoe or kayak launch sites, as well as a beautiful sparkling swimming pool, brand new playground, outdoor amphitheater for summer programs, historic settler cabins, picnic areas, and easy walking distance to cafes and shops in town. The bathhouse and restrooms are very clean, the grounds are beautifully maintained with gardens and stately trees, and the community clearly takes tremendous pride in this beautiful park. 

    A very short drive will take you to gorgeous scenic overlook areas nearby, with picnicking high above the river, and a few minutes further away you get to various canoe and kayak launch sites for the Pembina River whitewater paddle trail, or trailheads for myriad hiking trails in the Terault State Forest or the Pembina Gorge. The Gorge also offers regularly scheduled fossil dig expeditions that the public can sign up for. The gorge region also has miles of backroad OHV trails and horse trails. At the FrostFire section of the park, on the south side of the Gorge, is a state park headquarters that includes a winter center for both downhill and cross country skiing, and a summer center with hiking trails and extensive mountain biking trails, with the option of a chair lift ride up or down the gorge for trail access or just a view. There is an equipment rental shop here (skis, kayaks, mountain bikes etc) , a cafe and dining room, and an outdoor summerstock theater that presents musicals. There is a beautiful golf course located between the town and the gorge as well. 

    A family would easily find a weeks worth of activities to do right in the vicinity of the campground, all while staying at a city campground that is of state park quality. Best of all, since it is a bit “off the beaten path” at the end of the Rendezvous River Regional History Trail, there are not hordes and crowds of people here and it is so peaceful and enjoyable.

    Primitive tent sites are $15 a day. Standard sites for tents or RVs with hook up otions are $25 a day. The tenting area is quiet and lightly used, and set apart from the other campsites. If you want a standard campsite right on the river, we highly recommend sites G or F. If you want a quieter spacious standard site back towards the woods, site 7 would be good.

    Useful links for local activities: 

    Pembina River Water Trail (kayak access at campground): https://www.ndtourism.com/walhalla/attractions/pembina-river-trail

    https://www.parkrec.nd.gov/pembina-gorge-state-recreation-area

    Palenotology Digs: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndfossil/digs/2020/2020_Pembina_Gorge.pdf

    FrostFire Park of the Pembina Gorge: https://frostfirepark.org/

    FrostFire Summer Theater: https://www.facebook.com/frostfiresummertheatre/

    Pembina Gorge Horseback Riding: https://rendezvousregion.com/activityhorsebackriding.html

    Rendezvous Region HisNatural Hisotry and Cultural History Trails https://rendezvousregion.com/

    Tetrault Woods Hiking: https://www.ndtourism.com/walhalla/attractions/tetrault-woods-state-forest

    Walhalla scenic overlook and picnicking: https://www.ndtourism.com/walhalla/attractions/masonic-scenic-overlook

    Walhalla Country Club: https://www.facebook.com/Walhalla-Country-Club-905429276174089/

    Other general Walhalla area info: http://www.walhalland.org/

  • Jennifer  B.The Dyrt PRO User
    Aug. 11, 2022

    Icelandic State Park Campground

    Clean older campground

    Very quaint old campground with clean facilities. Boating and hiking facilities, with a small snack bar/concession stand at the boat launch area. Lots and lots of groups of campers family camping with their travel trailers and large dogs. This is a hunting area with a labrador retriever breeding farm next door, so many labs off leash kept us on guard of our 2 small dogs on leash. We had a level pull thru half circle site, just stayed overnight on the way to cross into Canada. Would stay 1 night again. Paid 25.00 plus 5.80 online booking fee.

  • Teresa T.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 17, 2024

    Icelandic State Park Campground

    Very likely the premier State Park for North Dakota

    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.

  • Denis P.The Dyrt PRO User
    Jun. 28, 2025

    Icelandic State Park Campground

    Clean Facilities, Great Host, Crowded on Weekends, No Privacy

    We stayed at Icelandic State Park Campground and were very impressed by how well-kept the place is. The restrooms and showers were genuinely clean— no bugs, no bad smells, and consistently hot water... unless someone next to you opens a faucet. Pro tip: the family shower room has reliably hot water at all times. 

    The campground host was excellent— friendly, helpful, and clearly takes pride in the place. 

    The grounds are large, clean, and well-maintained— freshly mowed and very tidy. That said, there’s almost zero privacy at most sites, so don’t expect any seclusion. We were there on a weekend, and the place was fully booked— it's clearly a popular destination, so reserve ahead. 

    Note: in addition to the campground fee, you also pay a park entrance fee($7 per vehicle per day, or per entry— not entirely clear). 

    Our Starlink connection worked perfectly— open skies made for a strong, stable signal.

  • B
    Sep. 29, 2024

    Leistikow City Park

    Park is beautiful but utility hookups are horrendous!

    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.

  • Teresa T.The Dyrt PRO User
    May. 19, 2024

    Fort Daer

    Cute convenient camp spot

    Agreed with the other reviewers Small full hookups in the sun and close to town. If your boat or a fisher it's well set up to do that. Also has a frisbee golf course and is right on the street when you walk across the bridge. I stayed one night while traveling through quiet and safe.

  • carrie H.
    Jul. 8, 2021

    Icelandic State Park Campground

    Beautiful!

    Great campground with large, mostly shady sites. Very large (150+ sites) but doesn’t feel that big. Some sites are quite uneven so be sure to have lots leveling equipment if you aren’t familiar with your site. I did notice poison ivy in the wooded area surrounding our spot, so be aware for yourselves and any children. Bathrooms were recently remodeled and are super nice! The beach is large and very nice with soft sand and shady picnic areas. Rental kayaks and paddle boards for great prices and a concession stand as well. Lots of trees perfectly spaced for hammocks and to hang clotheslines!


Guide to Walhalla

Walhalla, North Dakota camping options extend beyond developed campgrounds into rustic, primitive areas suitable for tent camping enthusiasts seeking solitude. Located in the northeastern portion of North Dakota near the Pembina Gorge, this region features rolling hills, river valleys, and forested areas distinct from the state's prairie landscape. Seasonal considerations significantly impact camping conditions, with summer temperatures averaging 75-85°F during days and winter temperatures frequently dropping below freezing.

What to do

Water recreation: Crystal City Park Campground provides access to small waterways where campers can enjoy kayaking and fishing during warmer months. The area requires personal watercraft as no rental options exist on-site.

Wildlife viewing: Matejeck Dam Rec Area offers opportunities to observe local wildlife including white-tailed deer, foxes, and various bird species. Morning and dusk provide optimal viewing times, particularly near water sources.

Seasonal foraging: During late summer and fall months, the wooded areas surrounding tent camping locations contain wild berries and mushrooms. Proper identification guides and permits may be required.

What campers like

Natural isolation: Crystal City Park Campground attracts visitors specifically for its minimal development and distance from populated areas. The lack of facilities creates a genuine backcountry experience.

Fishing access: Matejeck Dam Rec Area provides fishing opportunities with seasonal catches including northern pike and walleye. The small dam creates relatively calm waters suitable for shore fishing.

Star viewing: The remote location of both campgrounds offers minimal light pollution. Summer nights provide clear visibility of the Milky Way and meteor showers, particularly during August when the Perseid meteor shower peaks.

What you should know

Weather preparedness: The best tent camping near Walhalla, North Dakota requires preparation for rapid weather changes. Summer thunderstorms develop quickly, and spring camping often faces muddy conditions from snowmelt.

Supply planning: No provisions exist within 15 miles of either campground. Campers must bring all water, food, and emergency supplies. The nearest reliable cell service occurs approximately 8-10 miles from camping areas.

Insect considerations: Mosquitoes remain prevalent from May through September, particularly near water sources. Ticks present hazards during spring and early summer months throughout the camping regions.

Tips for camping with families

Site selection: When tent camping with children near Walhalla, select locations at least 200 feet from water edges due to mosquito concentration and safety concerns. Higher ground provides better drainage during rain events.

Activity preparation: Bring activities suitable for primitive camping environments. Bird identification guides, constellation maps, and simple fishing equipment provide engagement options when electronic entertainment remains unavailable.

Safety protocols: Establish clear boundaries for children at undeveloped campsites. The lack of designated campsite markers means establishing visual boundaries using natural landmarks for younger campers.

Tips from RVers

Alternative options: For RVers seeking options beyond the primitive tent camping near Walhalla, North Dakota, the nearest developed RV facilities require traveling approximately 30 miles to access hookups and dump stations.

Road conditions: Access roads to both camping areas deteriorate significantly after rainfall. High-clearance vehicles fare better than standard passenger cars, particularly when accessing more remote tent sites.

Seasonal timing: Spring access often proves problematic due to mud and seasonal flooding. Late summer and early fall provide optimal conditions for reaching remote camping areas while maintaining reasonable temperatures.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Walhalla, ND?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Walhalla, ND is Crystal City Park with a 0-star rating from 0 reviews.