South Campground is rustic but you can't beat the location
We stayed over Labor Day 2021 (at south camp #65). I had read somewhere that sites 65 and 67 had direct access to the river--true! But the path does come off the camp road and it really does serve the entire campground, so anyone can use it. It's about 350' from the camp road to the small beach, which provides a perfect launch point for kayaks onto the St Croix. The creek shown on some maps was too dry in 2021 to be even present, let alone to access Lake O’ the Dalles.
Paddle up the river past Folsom Island and the Princess of St Croix all the way up to the rapids at Taylor's Falls. We had some challenge getting past the island with such low waters, but we persevered. If you launch from the River Bottoms Picnic Area boat launch, you can avoid those challenges. (You can also rent kayaks on the MN side to paddle downriver and get picked up.)
Hiking on the WI side is incredible--there are a ton of trails. The main ones are North of Lake O’ the Dalles, and are all well marked. Definitely spend some time there too! It's fun to see the cliffs both from the water, and also from above up top.
The pit toilets in the South Camp were not the cleanest, but it was a big end-of-summer holiday weekend. Some went up to use the showers at North Camp and they said they were nice (strong water pressure). We want to check out North sites 23/24/25 for our next adventure.
Notes on the sites in South Campground:
- we stayed at #65: smallish but adequate, sloped down on (South) passenger side on backing in--needed leveling blocks for our squaredrop. Tentpad was small but workable. Likely the best access possible in South Camp for carrying kayaks to river. One neighbor even asked to leave his kayak alongside ours overnight for convenience!
- nearby #67: HUGE and distanced from others, at end of loop. Short walk to river path too. RVs not allowed on that site(?). Lowest site in camp / private. Would try for that one if only tenting. Would also be great for big group with many cars.
- observations on other sites in south camp: many very small sites, especially on outside / Eastside of loop. Some with very little offset from camp road.
