I noticed the discussion about tents and it prompted me to ask...for those of you in the Mpls-St.Paul area who camp, do you have a favorite campground that isn't too far away? I would love to take my son, who will be 1 1/2 this summer to take him hiking and pass on my love of the outdoors. Wait, do you think he's too young yet? Anyway, I'd like a place that's not too rugged but close to good hiking...any suggestions would be fabulous!
I used to go to the KOA on 94-it's just past where 494/694/94 meet on the West, can't remember what town. There's not a lot of woods for hiking, but they did have mini-golf and a small swimming pool. I felt very safe there alone with my son.
Willow River State Park in Wisconsin is AWESOME! We are going there in June. It's about an hour and a half from the Cities give or take. It is a full on State Park so you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere but in realitiy you are probably 20 mins from a pretty good sized city.
Go to www.reserveamerica.com and you can check it out. It has really nice sites, a park and a beach. It has really good trails and also a waterfall that you can overlook via a trail that has really nice stairs and a really sturdy platform. There are some trials that would work with a stroller and also some where it would work better to have a Kelty kid Carrier or something like that.
I have been to a lot of sites in our area and this one gives you the best experience closest to the Cities.
We have been taking our daugter camping sice she was 2 mos old so no 1 1/2 is not too young :o)
Good luck!,
~A.
Within the Three Rivers Park district, there are three parks you can camp at. There is Baker Park, Carver Park and Cleary Lake Park. All three are great places.
http://www.threeriversparkdistrict.org/parks/
Lebanon Hills in Eagan has camp sites. I've hiked there (we love the playground by Jensen Lake) but I've never camped there. http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/LeisureRecreation/Parks/Lebano...
St. Croix State Park is nice too. I haven't camped there with kids but we did do a lot of hiking and mountain biking there. You can get a State Park pass at REI-they're $25.00.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/st_croix/index.html
Afton State Park is beautiful. We haven't camped there-only hiked. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/afton/index.html
Most of these places are close enough that you could just make a day trip out of it-kind of ease your husband into the great outdoors.
Good luck!
J.
S.Mpls too
Hi K.! We go camping quite a bit and we have found that Bunker Hills camp ground in Coon Rappids is pretty nice. They have tent sites and also RV/Camper sites with electrical and water hook ups. They have walking trails, a horse stable for horseback riding or pony rides, a golf corse and a wave pool and a really nice kiddie pool. I love it there, plus the fact that it is close to town and my husband has to work on Saturdays so he can drive too and from work on those days and my Daughter who is 5 and I can stay there and have fun.
