Boating

Lake View Lodge

9 Cabins

Lake View Lodge sits on the shores of Shagawa Lake in Ely, Minnesota — a lakeside cabin resort in the Boundary Waters gateway community that has provided fishing, boating, and wilderness vacation experiences for over 18 years in a setting where the Shagawa's 2,000-plus acres of walleye, northern pike, bass, crappie, perch, and bluegill habitat provide the kind of multi-species fishing variety that sustains a full week of angling without returning to the same spot twice. Ely's position at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness gives the lodge a dual character — a fully comfortable lakeside fishing retreat in its own right, and the most practical staging base for the BWCAW wilderness canoe travel that draws paddlers from across the upper Midwest. Each cabin at Lake View Lodge comes fully equipped with a complete kitchen, a contemporary bathroom with shower, and air conditioning — the amenity set that ensures guests can focus on the lake and the wilderness rather than the management of basic lodging logistics. The pontoon boat furnished with each cabin unit gives guests immediate and highly accessible watercraft from the moment of arrival, removing the equipment-sourcing step that typically requires a separate marina transaction. The combination of full kitchen, A/C, and included pontoon boat gives Lake View Lodge a practical self-sufficiency particularly suited to multi-generational fishing groups and families with children who benefit from the lodge's comfort infrastructure alongside the lake's recreational depth. Shagawa Lake's fishery reflects the productivity of the Canadian Shield lake environment — clear, cold, oligotrophic water over a granite and glacial till basin that supports the forage base for healthy year-round populations of walleye, northern pike, bass, perch, and bluegill. The lake's connectivity to the broader BWCAW watershed means the fish populations benefit from the wild corridor of protected lakes and streams extending north from Shagawa into the Boundary Waters, maintaining the wild character of the fishery in a lake immediately accessible from town. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited wilderness area in the United States, encompasses over one million acres of lake-and-portage canoe country along the Minnesota-Ontario border — a network of over 1,000 lakes connected by portage trails where motor travel is restricted or prohibited and the experience of extended paddling travel through a genuinely intact subarctic wilderness ecosystem is available within paddling distance of Ely's outfitter row. The International Wolf Center in Ely provides the most comprehensive public wolf biology education program in North America, with live ambassador wolves and interpretive exhibits that connect the lodge's wilderness location to the ecological significance of the species that defines the BWCAW's predator community. Lake View Lodge operates through the northern Minnesota outdoor season, with ice-out in May launching the open-water fishing season that runs through freeze-up in November. The BWCAW canoe season peaks from June through early September, and the fall fishing calendar for walleye and northern pike provides particularly productive angling as the water cools and fish activity increases ahead of winter. Reserve cabins well ahead for the prime summer and fall fishing windows, when Ely's lodging inventory fills from the BWCAW outfitter and fishing tourism market that defines the community's visitor economy.

from $220/night

Royal Oaks RV Park

89 RV Sites

Royal Oaks RV Park in Bemidji, Minnesota, offers 89 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 48 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Premium and buddy pull-through categories join back-in tiers at each amperage, with a recreation center, playground, dog park, and bike and pedal cart rentals. Eighty-nine sites span 30-amp back-in full hookup, 50-amp back-in full hookup, 30/50-amp back-in full hookup, 30/50-amp pull-thru full hookup, 30/50-amp pull-thru full hookup buddy, and premium 30/50-amp back-in full hookup categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with cable TV and site WiFi, sized to 48 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The buddy pull-through suits two rigs traveling together. A recreation center, firewood, and complimentary WiFi handle the practical side. A playground and dog park fill the grounds, with boating and a river nearby, planned activities through the season, and productive birding across the lake country. Wine and beer tasting and a state park are close. Pets are welcome. Bemidji sits in Beltrami County at the headwaters region of the Mississippi, where pine forest, spruce bog, and hundreds of kettle lakes make the character of northern Minnesota's most historically significant river country. Itasca State Park and the Mississippi headwaters are a day trip, the Paul Bunyan and Babe statues stand at the visitor center, and the Loop the Lake trail circles Lake Bemidji. Summer is the short, intense Minnesota season. Reserve well ahead for June through August.

from $53/night

Mont du Lac Resort

20 RV Sites, 16 Cabins, 14 Tent Sites

Mont du Lac Resort in Superior, WI, offers 20 full-hookup RV sites, 16 cabins, and 13 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 60 feet. Sites come as standard and deluxe back-ins, each carrying water, sewer, electric, and cable TV with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. One thing to know before you book a cabin: the slope-side cabins are rustic, heated by a wood stove, and do not include indoor plumbing or a kitchen. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, firewood, and on-site dining cover the essentials, and pets are welcome with a dog park. The resort runs year-round on a single hillside — a downhill ski and snowboard hub in winter, and a disc golf, mountain biking, and hiking property the rest of the year, with a marina, beach, water park, and walking trails for swimming, boating, fishing, and corn hole. Superior sits on the Wisconsin side of the St. Louis River, overlooking the Duluth-Superior harbor and the western tip of Lake Superior. Rates for sites and cabins are on the booking page. Confirm what your cabin includes before booking — the slope-side units are deliberately rustic.

from $20/night

Pine Mountain Campground

4 Tent Sites

Pine Mountain Campground on Devil Track Lake, ten minutes east of Grand Marais, Minnesota, offers lakeside tent and RV sites with water hookups, a dump station, a marina, and a fishing pier on Cook County's North Shore. Fire pits and picnic tables sit at the sites, with swimming and boating directly from the lake. Back-in sites carry water hookups with fire pits and picnic tables. This is a modest, lake-focused campground rather than a full-service resort — there are no sewer hookups, and a dump station serves RV guests. Restrooms are on site. Guests should arrive prepared for simpler infrastructure than a commercial park offers, which is much of the point here. Pets are welcome. The lake carries everything. A marina and fishing pier give direct access to Devil Track Lake for boating and fishing, with swimming from the shoreline. The setting is the amenity — quiet water ten minutes off the North Shore's main corridor. The surrounding geography is exceptional. Grand Marais sits on Lake Superior, where the Sawtooth Mountains' basalt ridges descend to the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness begins its million-acre lake-and-portage interior nearby, and the Gunflint Trail's 57-mile corridor reaches into the most remote accessible wilderness in Minnesota at the Ontario border. Grand Marais itself holds an established art colony, the North House Folk School, and southern trailheads for the Superior Hiking Trail. The campground runs the short North Shore season. Summer is the peak by a wide margin, with fall color drawing a second wave — reserve ahead for both.

Two Rivers Campground & Tubing

112 RV Sites, 1 House

Two Rivers Campground and Tubing in Royalton, Minnesota, offers 112 full-hookup RV sites and a house rental at the Mississippi and Platte River confluence, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet behind a gated entrance. A Paw Pen pull-through category for guests with dogs joins patio back-in and deluxe pull-through tiers, with an outdoor pool, mini-golf, jumping pillow, and river tubing. One hundred twelve sites span back-in full hookup 30/50-amp, back-in full hookup patio 30/50-amp, deluxe pull-thru full hookup patio 30/50-amp, Paw Pen pull-thru full hookup 30/50-amp, and pull-thru full hookup 30/50-amp categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. A Paw Pen — a private fenced run at the site — is genuinely uncommon. A house rental and cabins round out the lodging. A general store, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. Rates cover one RV or two tent units with two adults and two children; children under two are free, an additional tent is $30 a night, and holiday rates apply. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with river tubing as the property's defining activity — the Platte's gentle current and accessible float corridor are what most guests come for. Mini-golf, a jumping pillow, gaga ball, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, horseshoes, corn hole, walking trails, biking, a beach, playground, pavilion, and dog park fill the rest. The address is 5116 145th Street Northwest in Morrison County. Summer is the tubing season. Reserve well ahead.

from $36/night