Best Glamping near Alma, WI

The cart in sites all have a fire pit with a grill, picnic table, and are a short walk from the primitive toilets. There is a water spigot in the parking area. They have 4-5 wheelbarrows to use as carts to get your stuff to the site. Each site could comfortably hold 3 to 4 tents. They are on a path for an out and back hike so expect some passers by. Cart in 1 and 2 are fairly close to the parking area and are less secluded from each other. 3 and 4 are more secluded. Site 3 offers more shade and 4 looks to have recently had some trees cut down and is fairly open air. Overall the trails are well maintained and accessible from the cart in area. They provide some nice views of the river and you can easily hike the area in a day. It’s by no means a secluded area if you’re looking to get away from road noise or other people. All in all it makes for a nice weekend getaway.

Chester Woods is a county park just east of Rochester, MN. It has a campground and man-made lake (created when Bear Creek was dammed for a flood control project) with hiking trails, a horse trail, picnic shelters, a beach, and a playground. The campsites have nice, soft ground for tents, and electrical outlets are available. It can get noisy on the weekend, but the sites are nice along the edge of the campground.

The lake offers the opportunity to fish for panfish, catfish, and bass. There are a lot of submerged trees from before the Creek was dammed that provide good habitat in deep water, and there is also good shoreline structure and weed beds. There is a fish cleaning house next to the campground which has electric lighting, but no running water.

We stayed for 2 nights at Whitewater State Park with a group of 4. Site 53 was close to the showers and water spigot and it was a big enough spot for 2 tents while being private. It was a 10-20 minute walk to anywhere else. We hiked up chimney rock for some great vistas, swam at the sandy beach, bought ice cream sandwiches at the nature store, and enjoyed talking with the visitor center staff. There were a lot of picnic spots, pavilions, and fire pits for day trips. There were a lot of fresh black berries all around the state park which were fun to gather and eat. The Elba Firetower was a quick 3 miles down the road by car and was a nice little outing. Whitewater was a bit spread out for our liking and unfortunately the woman's shower/bathroom had toilets that were pulled off the entire weekend so you could see and smell raw sewage. Once they fix the bathrooms it'd be a 5 star knowing you'd have to walk a bit. We would stay again at 53, but sites 62, 63, 64 or the walk in sites looked awesome since they were along the river. They are expanding the state park camping which will be a welcomed update and addition.

What's Appealing?

This campground is nestled in the woods above the Mississippi River. There's a beautiful view from King's Bluff Overlook which is about a 2.5 mile roundtrip from the parking area. You could make it about 5.5 miles if you hike from campground. There are also short walks to a few other overlooks.

We were just spending the night but I'm not sure there's anything else to do. The information sheet says there are 7 miles of hiking trails, but there really isn't anything interesting other than the overlooks. It was a quiet place for a one night stay.

I think fall would be the best time to visit after the mosquitoes are gone and when the leaves have turned. Winter would also be good. There are 9 miles of groomed X-country ski trails; you need a MN Ski Pass.

The Basics

There are 31 pull in/back in sites (38 is the highest number but some numbers are skipped), 4 cart in sites, and 5 sites for bicyclists (off the Great River Road bike route below the campground across from the Mississippi River). The sites are spacious and shaded and have a picnic table and fire pit.

Very Basic Campground

There's a bathroom with toilets, showers, and sinks. The showers are push button so you get no heat control and the water shuts off after about 30 seconds. There are also pit toilets that may be closer to your site. Drinking water and trash dumpsters are near the bathroom.

Cost

It's $19 plus the $7 MN state park fee. There was no camp host on site, but I saw a ranger drive through. We have a MN parks sticker on our window and paid online the day we came in because the office was closed. There was no online reservation fee when we paid online on the day of our stay.

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I enjoy camping away from the hub bub of the family campground and opting for the backpack or cart in sites. Luckily, Great River Bluffs has some of the nicest cart ins I have encountered.

The 5 sites are well spaced out with lots of trees, nice flat tent pads, a newer clean vault and good fresh water both within a short distance of all the sites.

The surrounding hiking trails feature incredible views of the Mississippi River valley, high upon a bluff. The sites are away from the heavy foot traffic of picnic areas and primary hiking trails, though during the day there will be a few hikers walking the trail down the middle of the cart site trail to get to a fantastic lookout site. There weren't tons of people but it might bother those that don't want to see anyone while there.

There are two vault toilets. One at the parking lot and one between camp site 3 and 4. If you want a shower, you have to drive up to the family campground which is a good half mile away.