Lake Carlos State Park - July 4th, 2010

Entrance to upper campground


Lower campground sites


Upper campground bathroom


Our campsite - upper campground


Lake Carlos - view from lower campground

Lake Carlos State Park is located 10 miles north of Alexandria. They have 2 campgrounds. The lower campground is right on the lake. All of the roads in the lower campground are tarred and there is a tarred bike/walk path to the beach from this campground as well. In addition, the boat landing is next to this campground and the visitor center is just around the corner. There are 2 bath facilities with showers at each end of this campground. The pluses of this campground are that you have lake view sites, the tarred roads for biking and the proximity to the beach and boat landing. The downside of the lower campground is that when it's windy you'll definitely feel it and you can't use your awnings. The lower campground fills up very fast.

The upper campground is much woodsier. The sites are a bit more spread out. There are 2 bath houses in this campground as well. When it's windy on the lake, you can come to the upper campground and barely notice so if you like more privacy this is the campground for you.


This past weekend we stayed at the upper campground - only because the lower campground was full. It ended up being a good choice as it was extremely windy 2 days and we notice that you couldn't keep anything out in the lower campground or it would blow away.

Bunker Hills Campground - Memorial Weekend 2010

Bunker Hills is an Anoka County Park. They have the campground, 2 golf courses (1 18 and 1 9 hole), a water park and a riding stable. Each of the extra activities cost money (you don't get a discount for camping). There are 8 miles of bike trails that meander up and down through the entire park. The campsites are very far apart so you don't see your neighbors. The bathrooms are located in the middle and the campsites are spread out in a circle around. They have 2 loops of campsites for a total of about 40 sites and 27 of them are electric. They are in the process of adding more sites (all electric) and it looks like they'll have another 15 by the end of the summer.

playground at the park


Veteran's Memorial site (chairs set up for a Memorial Day program)

Another photo of the park/picnic/pavilion area

Tunnel on the bike trail

View of the golf course

Bike trail photos

Our campsite (#15) We had one of the few campsites that was out in the open. Most are wooded.

View of the campground road from our site (the closest site was the empty one on the right side of the photo)

Bike trail right off our campsite.

Fort Ridgely State Park May 13 - 16, 2010

Fort Ridgely State Park is located in Southern Minnesota about 6 miles south of Fairfax. It's a very small park with only about 35 sites. They have 2 campgrounds - 1 doesn't have any electric sites and for some reason 6 of the sites were blocked off and the bathrooms were closed. The only flush toilets are located across a bridge and up stairs from the campground. The campground with electric is one long road of sites.

There is a golf course owned by the state park and if you stay 3 nights you get a free days worth of golf. It's a very hilly course and there are dandelions and mushrooms growing around it, but it's not bad. They don't allow any riding carts so you need to walk it and it's a long course. A good workout.

There is a historical site that is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day. You can go in the building for a small fee. They also have posts all around the site that you can read on your own.

They have a horse camp with 25 sites and this is also where the dump station is. It's about 2 miles from the campground and the dump station is on a hill.

Our campsite


Golf club house

Golf course

bathrooms

Bridge to cross to get to bathrooms

hiking paths

River next to campground

Fort Ridgely monument

Bike trail into Fairfax - runs along the road

View from top of upper scenic trail

Myre Big Island State Park May 10-13, 2010

Myre-Big Island State Park is located just outside of Albert Lea, Minnesota. There are 2 campgrounds. The upper campground is newer, the sites are more grassy and the bathrooms are fairly new with the family style bathrooms. However, the sites are more open and if it's windy you will definitely feel it. The lower campground is on an island - the sites are very wooded. There is a walking path that you can take to walk around the entire island and they have tarred bike/walking trails that take you to the picnic area. They used to have an intrepretive center, but that is closed up.

Our campsite

bike trail to the picnic area

campground road on the island

Bathrooms on the island campground

The Spam Museum is located in Austin, Minnesota. It's an interesting place and the museum is done very well. It's very hands on so for children, they have quite a few activities.

Whitewater State Park May 8-9, 2010

Whitewater State Park is located in southern Minnesota about 25 minutes east of Rochester. It's in a valley so we didn't get cell service and we only got 1 channel of TV. The campground is beautiful -big sites, lots of hiking, fishing and biking. This park doesn't have any mosquitos so that's a real plus too!

bridge in the picnic area


bathrooms in the picnic areas



Picnic area

Campground sites in the lower campground (no electricity here)

Whitewater River that runs through the park

View from the top of one hiking trail - it's a big climb, but the views are worth it (plus you can get cell service)

Steps going up or down from the top of the hiking trail

Picnic area

Bird viewing area from inside the ranger station. You can hear the birds inside and watch them. They also get a few raccoons in the evening.

Our campsite