Exploring Minnesota Through Camping

Minnesota is the land of 10,000 lakes and has a diverse landscape. From Lake Superior, the river bluffs of the St.Croix River, to the headwaters of the Mississippi in Itasca, you can find some wonderful places to camp in Minnesota. You can find rustic camp sites in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) to camping near the Twin Cities about 30 minutes from the Mall of America you can find it all.

Minnesota State Parks

There are dozens of state parks to choose from in Minnesota. They offer quiet retreats near some of Minnesota's most beautiful lakes, rivers and landscape. They don't often have full amenities and many of the RV sites lack full hookups. You will want to leave your firewood behind, because there are state laws against transporting your own personal firewood into state parks. This is the slow down the spread of tree diseases. Most state parks sell firewood locally for 3 to 5 dollars a bundle.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA)

Plan at least a week if you are going to camp in the BWCA. You can only bring in non-motorized watercraft into the over 1 million acres of the BWCA Most people travel by canoe or kayak and there are many outfitters up there to set you up with the appropriate gear. You will need to make reservations, especially during the summer months at www.recreation.gov. If you bring your own canoe, you will need to license it either in your state or in Minnesota.

Private Campgrounds full of amenities

Besides state parks and the BWCA, there are a lot of private campgrounds where you can camp in Minnesota. These often offer the most amenities like pools, playgrounds, game rooms, laundry and much more. You can also use discounts like Goodsams, AAA or other camping discounts at some of these locations. Be sure to call ahead on the discounts. They often tend to be a bit more expensive because of the amenities. A good area to camp in the Twin Cities is an Anoka County park called Bunker Hills Regional Park. In the park is Bunker Beach where they have a playground in a pool, wave pool and other fun activities. Bunker Lake is located near a golf course and other park like amenities. They have a limited number of sites, so some of them are spread out and offer some privacy. Another fun place to camp is at www.kieslers.com or www.kampdels.com. They both have great pool areas and plenty of activities for kids and adults.

Minnesota has a wide diverse area to explore. Minnesota's 87k square miles is full of prairie land forests, state and national parks, 10k lakes(including Lake Superior), and other places to explore.

www.bwca.com

www.exploreminnesota.com

http://www.northshorevisitor.com/lodging/campgrounds.html

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/index.html

http://www.anokacountyparks.com/

http://www.bunkerbeach.com/