Minnesota Camping and Adventure Group

Join in for the spooky fun at our end of year camping event!! The theme for 2026 will be posted closer to the event! Our traditional Saturday night dinner will be lasagna, Caesar salad and garlic bread!! Be prepared for frightening happenings and candy!

Make your reservation on June 21, 2026. You can cancel the extra days later.

Let's spend the holiday at nearby Cleary Point Group Camp at Cleary Point Regional Park. Camping, Swimming, Hiking, Kayaking, paddle boats, golf. We will share the limited access to electricity. Water near our own bathroom. Fire wood included. Our own access to lake. $60 per campsite.

Right on the Gunflint Trail! If you want to go here next year make your reservations quickly. For reservations, call 218-388-2265 to reserve for next year now.
There are campsites with electricity and water for tents and campers. There are cabins and a bunkhouse for rent. Private beach where you can leave kayaks, a restaurant and bar, and a sauna. Take a day to explore Grand Marais. Hiking, swimming and boating available. If full, try again after January for cancellations.

Big Bog State Recreation Area has been called Minnesota's last true wilderness. This two-part recreation area includes a northern unit and a southern unit. The 500-square-mile peat bog, the largest in the lower 48 states, is located in the northern unit. A mile-long boardwalk, completed in 2005, enables visitors to get a first-hand look at the unique plant and animal life of this rare resource. The bog, which has long been a source of medicinal plants for the Ojibwe Indians, represented a barrier to European settlers who tried in vain to drain it. Today, many of the native plants, including yellow-eyed grass, bog rush and two kinds of sundews, are on Minnesota's endangered or threatened species list. From orchids to carnivorous plants to rare birds, visitors will see a mixture of fascinating and rare resources. The southern unit includes a campground with 31 campsites (26 electric sites) winterized camper cabins, a sandy beach, picnic grounds, and great fishing.

Wildlife
This largely wilderness area is home to moose, white-tailed deer, black bear, gray wolves, fox, bobcat and other mammals. The bog also provides habitat for more than 300 species of birds. The great gray owl and Connecticut warbler are two species of particular interest that make their home in the Bog. A number of reptiles and amphibians also inhabit the patterned peatlands of the area, including the snapping turtle, gray treefrog, western painted turtle, blue-spotted salamander and northern leopard frog.

History
Big Bog State Recreation Area was established in 2000. It was the result of a grassroots effort to create a sustainable tourist attraction in Waskish, whose economy was devastated when the Red Lake walleye population crashed in the 1990s.

Geology
The underlying bedrock of Big Bog State Recreation Area is Precambrian (Late Archean) in age, and includes gneiss, amphibolite, undifferentiated granite and metamorphosed mafic to intermediate volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Of particular interest is the sedimentary association of Big Bog's geologic history. The majority of the Northern Unit has a peat sediment association. Ludlow Island is composed of lacustrine sediment deposited from Glacial Lake Agassiz. The Southern Unit rests on lacustrine sediment from Glacial Lake Agassiz as well, and is characterized by beach ridges that have formed over time due to the geologic movement of Upper Red Lake to the west.

Landscape
Plant communities that exist within the boundary of Big Bog State Recreation Area include open sphagnum bog, fen, boreal conifers, boreal hardwoods, conifer swamp forest and hardwood swamp forest. The boreal conifers in the southern unit include a stand of jack pine. Boreal hardwoods in the northern unit include trembling aspen. The stand also includes Balm of Gilead and dogwood shrubs. The conifer swamp forest areas in the northern unit include tamarack and black spruce. In the southern unit, the hardwood swamp forest includes back ash and ground cover of wet grasses and sedges plus a hazel shrub layer.

Drive-in Sites 31 sites
The campground is located along the Tamarac River, just a short distance from Upper Red Lake. There are many docks located in the campground area, available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Pull-Through Sites 1 site
Electric Sites 26 sites
All sites are within 100 yards of the Tamarac River.

RV Length Limit 60 feet
Length is measured from front of tow vehicle to rear of vehicle being towed.

Accessible Sites Two accessible sites, both electric
Lodging
Accessible Lodging 1 accessible camper cabin
Camper Cabins Six camper cabins available year-round
Six rustic camper cabins are available year-round in the southern unit. Camper cabin #1 is accessible.

Electricity, propane heat. Bring your own bedding. No indoor plumbing; cabins are near vault toilets that are open all year, and a family-style modern shower/restroom is available year-round at the visitor center. In the summer, visitors may also use the seasonal shower building in the campground. No pets.

Reserve at Big Big for August 5 and 6.

On the 7th we will visit Franz Jevne State Park on our way to Zippel Bay State Park.

Zippel Bay State Park is a remote, nearly 3,000-acre park on the southern shores of Lake of the Woods in Williams, MN (about 10 miles northeast of Williams). Known for its pristine 2-mile sandy beach, it offers excellent boating, birding, and world-class walleye fishing.

Location & Directions:Address: 3684 54th Ave NW, Williams, MN 56686Directions: From Williams, drive north on County Road 2, then east on County Road 8, following the signs to the park entrance.

Key Features & Activities:Camping: 57 drive-in, nonelectric campsites and a group camp accommodating up to 45 people.Fishing & Boating: Protected marina, stone jetty, 90-foot fishing pier, and a boat launch. Lake of the Woods is highly regarded for walleye, northern pike, muskie, and lake sturgeon.Hiking & Skiing: 6 miles of hiking trails (including the Hiking Club trail to the rock jetties).

Reserve at Zippel Bay for August 7 and 8.

For those interested, we can charter a boat to take us to Garden Island State Park on Lake of the Woods on either the 7th or 8th. Cost would be about $150 per person.