Best Campgrounds near Knapp, WI

The website is a bit deceptive. We came up with our camper with the expectation we’d have electric and water hook ups. For the most part we did. The electricity was not for a 30 amp hook up. It’s 50 amp or us an adapter. We used the adapter and blew a circuit breaker when we used the A/C and the microwave at the same time. The fishing on the property is fly fishing only. My kids were pretty disappointed but we tried it out anyway. It was nice to have kayaks and paddle boards to try for free, but everything else is a charge. Feeding the cow is a charge. We’re from a rural area where people will pay you to feed the cows so it was a little confusing to us. We really came for the state park and that’s where we spent most of the day. I think this campground has a lot of potential but there needs to be a lot of work. Sewer hook ups and upgrades to electrical hooks. Shower upgrades, maybe switch to coin opt showers to offset the price. This is a great campground for adults looking for a quiet weekend. Not a lot of kids and people stick to themselves.

The campground is super easy to find and right outside of Durand. 🏕️🌲🌳 There are plenty of places to shop, grab ice or fire wood etc. 🛒🔥🧊 There is wifi from the baseball diamond near by. ⚾📶 There are not showers so make sure to prepare for that. 🚿🚫 I suggest using thr bathroom as it has drains and stalls. 🚽🚿 I used a solar camping shower to heat water. ☀️🚿 All sites have electricity hookups as well. 💡🔌 The public pool is also near by as well as the walking trail. 🏊‍♀️🚶‍♀️ The tent sites are $20 a night and the RV sites are $45 you can pay on site. ⛺💲💰

This campground is really beautiful. It's big with over a hundred sites, some with power. No water at the site. Water nearby at stations. Large campsites, most with thick wooded areas between the sites. Most of the trail heads start at the campground. Walked about a mile to the falls area. This was really beautiful and was only a the head was only a couple hundred yards from my site. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay one night as my cross country trip hit this campground on the Thursday before memorial day and the whole weekend was booked. It was cold and a bit muddy (though packed gound) but with some management I was able to keep the inside of the tent clean

I have long overlooked William O’Brien because I thought you had to drive a long way to get away. I was wrong! We planned this weekend with friends to camp in our matching teardrop trailers. We have never really camped with friends before, so the point was to just go, not to really travel far. We loved the trails. It was easy to takes hikes of varying lengths. There were so many different kinds of birds, and the wildflowers were blooming and ferns were unfurling -so many shades of green! This was the first really nice spring weather, and the Savanna Campground was quite full. Several people seemed to be there in groups, but we had no issues with noise. The pit toilets were cleaned and stocked with TP and sanitizer. The shower house needs some paint, but had been cleaned.

The river side of the park had been closed for months for construction, but had just opened two days before our stay. The Riverside campground appeared quite full, too.

All in all, I would visit again. There were lots of people, but it was easy to take a walk and get some space and some nature.

I stayed two nights in the campground and hiked many of the trails in this Minnesota State Park along the St. Croix River. The draw here is the potholes, but we will get to that.

My site was #24. It was tiny and my neighbors were right on top of me. Even in April the campground was mostly full. Do not pick a site inside the loop (the electrical hookup sites) if you want privacy. A few of the sites along the river have a real nice view and are slightly more secluded. The best site it #25. If there is a next time, I will shoot for that one.

The park is laid out kinda funky, but that is a product of it being on the river. Campground and Park Office are on the south end and the attraction is a 2.7 mile walk towards Taylor’s Falls along the highway to get to some very cool, unique scenery. You can drive it if so inclined. We did.

The draw here is the world’s largest glacial potholes. When the river ran 200’ higher than it does today, tornados of water eroded smooth round, massive holes in the rock. Some are so big that they still to this day have no idea how deep they go. Very cool to take the quick hike through the maze of small trails that show off these crazy formations.

So, the campground is cramped, it has lots of noise from the highway, sites are the smallest I have seen anywhere, but on balance the coolness of the rock formations and great views of the river still make this a park to consider.

Oh, and the Park Ranger Theresa is the best ranger I have ever met. She is part of a multigenerational heritage of MN Sate Park Rangers, and her family has a year-round residence in the park. She is so friendly, thoughtful, inviting and experienced. Extra star on this review just for Theresa!

General: There is a main campground and a bonus sites section; we stayed in the Main campground and this review is based on that. There are approximately 90 sites laid out in typical RV park fashion with the sites close together and no physical privacy between sites. 

Site Quality: Sites tend to be very long and could accommodate even large-size Class A rigs. The “driveways” are a mix of grass and gravel and were not very well defined. Each site has a picnic table on a concrete pad. Our site had water and electric hookups. Our challenge was that we arrived after dark, and the site numbers were posted at the back end of the sites, necessitating a sleuthing operation with my flashlight to find our site. Only a few sites had fire rings that I could see. 

Bathhouse: The women’s area had three “all-in-ones” with a toilet, sink, and shower. They were very clean with hooks, soap, and paper towels. The entire bathhouse appeared to be in a state of remodeling, and it wasn’t clear what was going to happen with the remainder of the space (plumbed but not completed when we were there). Did not use the shower so cannot comment on that. 

We arrived after dark and left the next morning but our stay on a Friday in August was quiet except for the loud trains running along the Mississippi. We heard two around 10 pm and either there were no more until the next morning, or we mercifully slept through them! This RV Park is located in the small town of Nelson and accessed through a residential neighborhood. Although not our preferred camp stay, we chose it since we knew we wanted to eat at Stone Barn Pizza (a must if you are in the area!) which is why we arrived after dark!