Category Archives: Camping Destinations

The beauty of nature is all around us. We just have to take the time to enjoy it.

Three Minnesota State Parks To Visit This Summer

January 16, 2021

January is about the time of year I get the “itch.” Winter just seems to drag on with it’s cold and dreary, and I long to be at a Minnesota State Park. So, while I dream of summer days, here are three Minnesota State Parks on the must-see list for this summer. Check out our review for Itasca, Glacial Lakes, and George H. Manitou.

The cascades at George H. Crosby Manitou State Park from the bottom

1. Tettegouche State Park

Tettegouche is a Minnesota State Park gem. The waterfalls here are Tettegouche’s claim to fame, with a few along the Baptism River and lots of gorgeous cliffs. While there are multiple waterfalls in the park High Falls, at 60 ft, is the biggest waterfall and a tourist draw. The landscape also makes Tettgouche a great stop for Rock Climbing, which would be an adventure on its own. While waterfalls themselves are enough to put this state park on my list, the wildlife is a bonus. Home to Peregrine Falcons, the fastest birds in the world diving up to 224 mph. One may also get a chance to see a Northern Flying Squirrel while on the trails in Tettgouche State Park.

2. Minneopa State Park

Minneopa translates to water falling twice, referencing the two-tier waterfall in the park (apparently there is a theme of waterfalls here). The pictures of the hilly terrain covered with woods and river cutting through looks straight out of a fairy tale. There is also the Seppmann windmill that was completed in 1864 and used to make flour out of wheat. This windmill is designed after the windmills in Germany and a very cool piece of history. While windmills and waterfalls are reason enough to give this Minnesota State Park a visit, Minneopa has it’s very own Bison Conservation Herd. A Bison Conservation Heard is reason enough to check out this state park in southern Minnesota. Currently, this Bison herd has about 25 members and 331 acres to roam! There are special days and times to take the Minneopa Bison Drive so take a look at the schedule before you go.

3. Soudan Underground Mine State Park

The coolest part of Soudan Underground Mine State Park is that you can get a tour of Minnesota’s first iron ore mine. Aside from that attraction, there is a lot of wonderful wildlife to be on the lookout for such as black bears, timber wolves, and fishers. The Soudan Underground Mine State Park buds up to the Kabetogama state forest. While there are lots of places you can camp in state forests there is a special campsite here. Hinsdale Island is a primitive campsite only accessible by the waters of Lake Vermillion.

Let me know what are the top three state parks on your list to visit this summer? Which activity on this list excites you most? Let me know in the comment section below.

I can’t wait to get out this summer hiking among waterfalls, gazing at buffalos, and touring an iron ore mine!

Outdoor Vitals tent set up at Itasca State Park

Glacial Lakes State Park in Minnesota

June 3, 2019

Glacial Lakes State Park

Arriving

Two weeks ago we loaded up the jeep and headed to Starbuck, Minnesota. We were prepared for a camping experience a little out of our element. For the reason that Glacial Lakes State Park is a magical place where Minnesota prairie lands (only 1/10 of 1% of the original prairie remains) and the central hardwood forest meet. Also, Glacial Lakes State Park is located in the Leaf Mountains.

Hiking In

In order to get to the hike-in sites, you will park at the horse camp. Along the edge is a large map showing all four sites, we chose Kettle. The park has 16 miles of hiking trails, it is about 2 miles to hike to Kettle Lake. The park is very hilly and being prairie there is no shade, making it more difficult than your normal 2-mile hike. While mosquitos and biting flies were not bad, the ticks were awful, we had to stop along the way to pick some ticks off ourselves and the pupper. Along the trail prairie dogs, ducks, geese, Great Egrets, and even a garter snake greeted us. Coyote scat was along the trail, and they are known for being in the area. However, we had no sightings of them.

Kettle Lake Campsite

Upon arriving at the campsite you will note a small, newer portapotty close by and that the campsite is pretty open to the trail. This could cause some privacy issues, but this is a quiet park and we did not experience that. In fact, we did not encounter anyone else along the trail. Further, the campsite is nestled along the bottom of hills along Kettle Lake. This creates a beautiful, serene view from your chair or tent. While enjoying the beauty of the lake, you will see many of Kettle Lake’s residents. This includes a busy muskrat who spends all day swimming back and forth, geese, ducks, pelicans, and more Great Egrets.

Enjoying Camp

Turkey Dinner Mountain House was our very filling and delicious supper. You have the choice of ordering wood delivered to your campsite, but since this is a prairie we just used our canister stove for all meal preparation. Kory got to try out his new water filtration set up, and we used Kettle Lake as our source of water instead of hiking in the extra weight. We enjoyed playing with our dog, each other’s company, and just the beauty of nature before heading off to dreamy slumberland. Mid-May is still fairly cold at night, temperatures were around 40 degrees. We woke up early with the help of our dog, Mora, made a quick breakfast and broke down camp.

Heading Home

The hike back to the jeep seemed a lot quicker than the hike in. Many waterfowl still made their appearance in the morning, and the ticks were not quite as bad. We found the temperature was great for hiking out, around 60 degrees, the sun was bright and we were gifted a few small breezes to help keep us cool. Leaving the park was as easy as coming in. Once we were home we combed through ourselves and Mora and found quite a few more ticks.

Final Thoughts

Glacial Lakes State Park is a beautiful and unique park. Lakes fill this magical crossroads of prairie and hardwood forest. Trails in this park are moderate because of how hilly they are. You will find entertaining wildlife at camp and along the trail. We will definitely visit Glacial Lakes State Park again, truly the only downside was the plethora of ticks (so make sure you have your bug protection like permethrin.) Overall this park is a 4 out of 5 from us!

Shingobee Recreation Area

February 1, 2019

An Adventure in Winter

Lately, it has been too cold out for adventures in the woods, I’m talking really cold…feels like -66* cold. It leaves me longing for a wonderful trip we took last year, in search of a winter camping spot. This search led us to Walker, MN at the beginning of Chippewa National Forest to Shingobee Recreation Area.

To start out our day it was a long and beautiful road trip, the first road trip with our pup, Mora. It’s tucked to the side of the highway and has a nice big sign to mark the entrance, we went down the drive a bit and parked. We could already see another group there, who had brought their dog along as well. We were right by an information bulletin, which was handy so that we could line up our map with the one posted. Once we figured out where we were off we went on our adventure to find the campsite.

Hiking In Shingobee

The trek to the campsite was a lot more intense than I was expecting. The trails to the camp are intermediate but adding the snow to that was a whole new level. This was the first time I had gone winter hiking add a 6-month-old pup into the mix, it was hard (side note: the waist leash I mention *here* is a lifesaver). The Forest Service does a wonderful job with Shingobee though, and they maintain the trails even during winter. This led to easily marked trails, that were grated in some areas to really give you a break.

The hill-filled, 2-mile hike was extremely rewarding when we found the campsite. A primitive site tucked back off the trail and nestled under some giant pines. Absolutely beautiful when snow covered. A quick break for us and the pup and we were ready to head back up the hills. We needed to make it back to the car by dark, which thankfully we did. A wonderful end to the perfect winter adventure.

Final Thoughts

Shingobee is a nice little spot in the forest. The area is open all year round and offers so many activities! Just a few of which are hiking, cross country skiing, a sledding hill with a warming hut, primitive camping, bird watching, and hunting. Pretty much anything for an outdoor enthusiast any time of year. Shingobee is a truly beautiful recreation area, taken very good care of by the Forest Service. If you end up near Walker, MN it is a must see…better yet make it a destination.

Itasca: The Original State Park

August 22, 2018

This month’s adventure took us to the Mississippi Headwaters, Itasca State Park! Itasca is known as the “Original State Park” and was founded in 1891.

Starting out in Itasca

Itasca State Park is actually not too far from our home, about two hours. We missed the first entrance, but caught the second one and made our way to the Jacob V. Brower visitor center. Everyone who stays in one of the 45 overnight sites will check in here. Plan to stay and enjoy this visitor center that is packed with historical information, exhibits, pamphlets of the area, as well as a cute little gift shop. Once we checked in, we made our way down by Douglas Lodge, which is a full-service restaurant (this park has everything!) and parked in the lot off to the side. From there we made our trek which was between 3.5 to 4 miles down the Deer Park Trail, our destination was Back Pack Site 5 on McKay Lake.

The Campsite

The hike to the site is moderate, you do go up and down a lot of hills. There are two shelters along the way and you also will pass the trail that will bring you to the fire tower, which is an attraction that draws a lot of people in (we had the pup so we did not break off course to see this). Once you get to site number five, you go into the woods a bit and there it is, your secluded oasis for your trip. I do mean secluded, it is the only campsite on all of McKay Lake, you will, however, have the company of loons, trumpeter swans, and some pelicans.

We stayed for one night and enjoyed really being alone with nature. There is a tiny “beach” on the campsite that the dog loved diving into, however, there were leeches so you have to be very careful and make sure to check between their toes. We called it a night decently early, and the loons could be heard calling all night.

In the morning, we took a short hike around past McKay lake, made it back to camp and cooked up a quick breakfast. Then we were on our way to the other side of the sprawling, 32,000 acres park to the Mississippi Headwaters. We hiked back to the jeep and drove about 8 minutes to the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center. On the way, we did pass the Itasca Lake boat access which offers Kayak, paddle board, bike, canoe and other rentals.

The Headwaters

After passing a few historical sites in the park such as the Pioneer Cemetery and Preacher’s Grove, we came to a parking lot in front of a massive building, which is the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center. This visitor center has educational stops outside, a large gift shop with fresh fudge, as well as a cafeteria-style restaurant with hand scooped Blue Bunny ice cream. Once we made our way past all of these eye-catching things, you cross over a bridge and come to the Headwaters of the great Mississippi River.

Itasca State Park is truly a wonder of Minnesota, and you can tell why it is one of the most popular! We were there for one day, and while I feel we did so much, there is still so much more to do there! Two more interpretive exhibits: Forest Inn and the Picnic Area Museum, I definitely need to climb the fire tower, I love to Kayak and of course, there is about 35 miles more of trails I haven’t seen (Dr.Roberts Interactive Trail is a must). We will definitely be making a few more trips back to this park, and hope you make it part of your #ExploreMinnesota adventure!

George H. Crosby Manitou State Park

July 27, 2018

It started out a long drive to get away from it all, up the North Shore to George H. Crosby Manitou State Park. We were on a mission to see a waterfall.

Arrival at the park

Once you get to the park, you really are away from it all. There is no cell service and the 21 campsites are only available if you hike in, the closest being 1.5 miles to the furthest being 4.5. You are not greeted by a ranger, but a self-service station at which you register your reservation.

We checked in, loaded up our packs and headed out on the Middle Trail. We had chosen site number three which is about a 2.5-mile hike. The Superior Hiking Trail runs through the park as well, so make sure you have your map and know what trail you need to take to get where. We got to a trail intersection at one point, and almost turned right too early, which would have taken us to an overlook instead of our site. We took a small break and studied the map, we kept on the correct trail and got to our site, which is after the cascades, nestled right along the Manitou River.

Site number 3 is rather large and split into two sections. There is one part when you first walk in that has the campfire ring and a large space to pitch your tent, but not a view of the river; however if you go past that just a bit there is a second part of the site which has a wonderful view of the river and a large space to pitch your tent.

The waterfall

We set up camp and got back on the trail, we were on a mission to see the waterfall. Hiking to the cascades was muddy and steep, but worth it. The falls are truly a thing of wonder.

The hike back to camp was good and we spent the rest of our time enjoying the scenery. We love this park and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to escape the chaos of normal life and just enjoy the beauty of nature.

Camping On The River 4 Day 3 Night Camping Trip

July 28, 2017

Caroline and I went on a camping trip right on the river! The trip was a 4-day 3-night camping trip right on the river! It was beautiful watching the river. We had rain 2 of the 4 days but it didn’t slow us down we had a ton of fun! Please make sure to check out our YouTube page for more outdoor videos!

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