Canoeing/Kayaking

Canary Beach Resort

6 RV Sites, 12 Cabins, 10 Tent Sites

Canary Beach Resort on Lake Villard in Minnesota offers 6 RV sites, 12 cabins, and 10 tent sites in central Minnesota's lake country, with 30-amp service and rigs accepted to 42 feet. A single back-in category joins a water park, splash pad, outdoor pool, mini-golf, beach, and boat rentals. Six back-in sites carry sewer and electric on 30-amp with site WiFi, sized to 42 feet, with picnic tables and BBQ pits. Confirm water service with the resort when you book, and note that service is 30-amp throughout. One consistent category means no guesswork. Twelve cabins and 10 tent sites make this predominantly a cabin property. A general store, laundry, restrooms, showers, firewood, and RV storage handle the practical side. A water park, splash pad, and outdoor pool anchor the summer, with a lake, pond, and beach supporting boating, paddle boats, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, and inflatable water toys. Mini-golf, a fitness center, clubhouse, game room, walking trails, hiking, biking, a playground, pavilion, basketball, volleyball, shuffleboard, and horseshoes fill the rest, with live music and productive birding. Wine tasting is nearby. That amenity list at six RV sites is remarkable, and the resort has been crafting family vacations since 1920 — more than a century of accumulated hospitality in one of Minnesota's densest concentrations of lake country. Lake Villard sits in the Alexandria chain area, with Glacial Lakes State Park and dozens of fishing lakes within a short drive. Summer is the short, intense Minnesota season. Reserve well ahead for July and August.

from $42/night

Swan Lake Resort & Campground

11 RV Sites, 5 Cabins, 5 Tent Sites

Swan Lake Resort & Campground in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, offers 11 RV sites, five cabins, and five tent sites on Swan Lake in Otter Tail County, with 20, 30, and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted to 80 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Lakeside and woodside pull-through categories, a disc golf course, boat rentals, and an outdoor pool anchor a resort with more than 70 years of family history. Eleven sites run in lakeside pull-through, woodside pull-through, and Northlands full-hookup configurations, carrying water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 80 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Five cabins and five tent sites round out the accommodations. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, with WiFi and recycling throughout. The resort is cannabis friendly. The lake carries the recreation. A boat ramp, boat docks, and boat rentals put guests on the water, with a beach for swimming and fishing, canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, paddle boats, and water sports from the property. An outdoor pool, disc golf course, recreation center, game room, craft room, billiards, ping pong, basketball, volleyball, bocce ball, horseshoes, corn hole, and gaga ball fill the grounds, with walking trails, a playground, and on-site dining besides. Pets are welcome. Fergus Falls sits on I-94 and US-59 in Otter Tail County, which holds over 1,000 lakes — Minnesota's densest lake country and a resort tradition dating to the 1890s railroad tourism era. A state park is nearby. Summer is peak. With 11 RV sites, reserve well ahead.

from $35/night

Ham Lake Resort

5 RV Sites

Ham Lake Resort in Ham Lake, MN, offers 5 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and back-in sites for rigs up to 42 feet. Sites come in two categories, water-and-electric back-in 30-amp and water-and-electric back-in 30/50-amp. There's no sewer at the site, so plan on the on-site dump station. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, and firewood cover the essentials, with cabins available for guests without a rig. Pets are welcome, with a dog park and a playground. For five sites the recreation is generous: boat docks, a beach, walking trails, volleyball, horseshoes, and planned activities, with fishing, boating, paddle boats, kayaking, and swimming on the lake. Ham Lake sits about thirty minutes north of the Twin Cities — close enough for a spontaneous weekend, far enough that the loons at dusk make the point. The Mall of America, Como Zoo, and the Sculpture Garden are all an easy drive. Rates for sites and cabins are on the booking page. With five RV sites this close to the metro, summer weekends go quickly — reserve ahead.

from $65/night

Big Rock Creek

15 RV Sites, 3 Glamping Sites, 1 Yurt

Big Rock Creek in Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin, offers 11 RV sites and four glamping sites and yurts on the banks of the St. Croix River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp electric service and rigs accepted to 45 feet. Back-in categories at both amperages join a recreation center, general store, walking trails, playground, and pond. Eleven back-in sites run in 30-amp and 50-amp categories, carrying electric service with site WiFi, sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Plan around the hookups — these are electric sites rather than full hookup, so arrive with full water and empty tanks and confirm dump arrangements when you book. Two straightforward categories keep booking simple. Four glamping sites and yurts plus cabins round out the lodging. A general store, restrooms, showers, and portable toilets handle the practical side. A recreation center, walking trails, playground, and pond fill the grounds, with the creek and river carrying swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, and biking. Pets are welcome. The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway protects this corridor, and it is one of the most pristine paddling and fishing environments in the Midwest — a federally designated Wild and Scenic River with clear water, sandstone bluffs, and a genuinely undeveloped feel despite sitting less than an hour from the Twin Cities. Interstate State Park is minutes away with its glacial potholes and the Dalles of the St. Croix, and Polk County's rolling farm and forest country surrounds the rest. Summer paddling season drives the heaviest demand, with fall color drawing a strong second wave. Reserve ahead for July and August weekends.

from $35/night

Golden Acres Park

1 RV Site

Golden Acres Park in Stillwater, MN, offers 1 full-hookup nightly RV site with 30 and 50-amp service and room for a rig up to 42 feet. The site is a back-in carrying water, sewer, and electric. Laundry, a general store, and a bathhouse are on the property, and pets are welcome. One site means no neighbors and no queue — you're effectively renting a piece of the lakeshore. Boat docks, a beach, boat and kayak rentals, a pond, and creek frontage support swimming, boating, paddling, paddle boarding, and picnicking, with planned activities through the season. Golden Acres sits on the crystal-clear shores of Square Lake in Washington County, a short drive from the historic St. Croix River town of Stillwater. Square Lake consistently ranks among Minnesota's clearest natural swimming waters. Rates and availability are on the booking page. With a single site, contact the park directly and book as far ahead as you can.

from $70/night

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

River's Edge Campground - Birchwood

River's Edge Campground in Birchwood, Wisconsin, offers full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric, cabins, and tent camping on the Brill River in Washburn County, with pull-through and back-in sites, fire pits, and picnic tables. A man-made swim pond with a beach supplements the river access, and site WiFi reaches the campground. Full-hookup sites carry water, sewer, and electric in both pull-through and back-in configurations, with fire pits and picnic tables. Cabins serve guests traveling without a rig. A dump station, restrooms, showers, and laundry cover the practical side, a general store stocks basics and firewood, and WiFi reaches the sites. A pet washing station is on site — a genuinely useful detail after a day in the river. The Brill River frontage defines the campground. Swimming holes, tubing runs through clear northwoods water, and kayak launches give guests direct river access, while the swim pond and beach provide shallow, managed water for younger children. A dog park, playground, walking trails, sports courts, and basketball spread across the wooded grounds, with a jumping pillow, gaga ball, inflatable water toys, and planned activities filling the family calendar. Boating, canoeing, kayaking, and picnicking round it out. Pets are welcome. Birchwood sits in the northern Wisconsin lakes country between Spooner and Rice Lake, where the Namekagon and Brill rivers and a chain of glacial lakes define the landscape. Long Lake, the area UTV and ATV trails, and historic Hayward are the main draws nearby. The campground runs the northern Wisconsin summer season, with river swimming and tubing driving peak demand from June through August. Reserve ahead for summer weekends.

from $20/night

Camping 109

40 RV Sites, 1 Cabin

Camping 109 in Big Stone City, SD, offers 40 full-hookup RV sites and 1 cabin, with 30 and 50-amp service. Sites come as back-ins and pull-thrus, each carrying water, sewer, and electric with a fire pit and picnic table. Maximum rig length isn't published, so call with your dimensions before booking. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, firewood, and a dump station cover the essentials. Pets are welcome, and there's a playground. Rates are posted plainly: RV sites from $35 daily and $175 weekly, and the cabin from $250 daily. A boat ramp puts guests onto Big Stone Lake for boating, fishing, kayaking, and birding, with wine tasting nearby. Big Stone City sits on the eastern shore of Big Stone Lake in the far northeast corner of South Dakota, at a point where the state line runs straight through the water. Rates are on the booking page. Forty sites next to a boat launch on a border lake — reserve ahead for the fishing season and confirm your rig's fit.

from $35/night

Sandager Park Pool and Campground

19 RV Sites

Sandager Park Pool and Campground in Lisbon, North Dakota, offers 19 RV sites on the Sheyenne River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet. Full-hookup, electric-only, and dry camp categories give three clear price points, with an outdoor pool, mini-golf, ball field, and sports courts. Nineteen sites span back-in water-electric-sewer 30/50-amp, back-in electric only 50-amp, pull-thru electric only 50-amp, and dry camp categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted, sized to 50 feet. Read the category carefully — the electric-only and dry tiers carry no water or sewer at the site and price accordingly, which is a useful range to have. A dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. This is a self-service campground: no check-in is required on arrival, as all sites with electricity need prepaid reservations. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with mini-golf, a ball field, sports courts, tennis, basketball, volleyball, a playground, pavilion, and dog park filling the rest. The river carries fishing, canoeing, and kayaking, with biking and swimming besides. Pets are welcome. The Lisbon Park District operates the campground as a community facility, which shows in the pricing and in the range of public recreation on the grounds — the pool and ball fields serve local residents as much as campers. Ransom County sits in the Sheyenne River valley of southeastern North Dakota, a genuinely scenic wooded corridor cutting through open prairie, with Fort Ransom State Park and the Sheyenne National Grassland close. Summer is the short, intense season. Reserve ahead for July and August.

from $25/night

Hidden Shady Nook

3 RV Sites, 2 Cabins

Hidden Shady Nook on Pike Lake in Cornell, Wisconsin, offers three RV sites and two cabins across 800 feet of shoreline, with 30-amp water-and-electric service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 30 feet. A single water-and-electric back-in category joins a boat ramp, boat docks, kayak rentals, beach, barn, and bar. Three back-in sites carry water and electric on 30-amp, sized to 30 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Two things to plan around: the 30-foot cap rules out most modern coaches, so this suits vans and small trailers, and the sites carry water and electric rather than sewer. Accessible sites are available. Two cabins round out the lodging. A general store, restrooms, showers, boat storage, and on-site dining handle the practical side. For after-hours help, contact the camp host at the number posted at the office. A boat ramp, boat docks, and kayak rentals open the lake for boating, paddle boats, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and fishing, with a beach on the property. A barn, bar, playground, walking trails, and picnicking fill the rest, with live music through the season. Pets are welcome. Pike Lake is a 200-acre, 38-foot-deep spring-fed lake with genuinely clear water and a strong reputation among Chippewa County anglers — the kind of small, deep northern lake that stays cold and fishes well through summer while shallower waters warm. Eight hundred feet of shoreline for three RV sites means the lake is effectively yours. Summer is the short, intense Wisconsin season. Reserve well ahead.

from $35/night