Itasca state Park

[eyemaster]

We have a group of people that are thinking about going to Itasca State Park for the fourth of July. I have a couple of questions.

1 what campground is the better of the two in the park?

2 What are the bugs like on the 4th? We have young kids that are going with.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[IFallsRon]

If you're going with kids, Pine Ridge is probably a better pick. There's a playground that's pretty close to all the spots and the beach is a pretty short walk/bike.

Plus Pine Ridge is usually easier to get in. For the big holidays, you need to be right on the 90-day limit for getting a reservation.

The bugs will depend on the weather. One year we ran out of spray, the next the bugs didn't bother at all.

[PRWoody]

eyemaster,

Ifalls is correct, Pine Ridge is approximately 1/4 mile

from the boat access/bike rental and 1/3 mile from the

beach. Probably less bugs, due to it's not on the lake.

Bear Paw is on the lake, plus has better swimming than

the beach, but further distance to travel from the other

sites. If you get the chance see if you can rent the

cabin on Squaw lake, the only cabin on the lake other

than the group camp.

Good luck,

Woody

[DUTCHMAN]

We have stayed at Pine Ridge a couple of times a year for the last 5 years and have been very satisfied with it. I would highly recommend that if you want that weekend you book it as soon as the 90 day window opens. There have been occasions when the campground reservations (electric site) fill up in a matter of a couple of hours.

[bdavid1157]

I like Bear Paw better than Pine Ridge. We usally take canoes to paddle and Bear Paw is right on the lake. Bear paw also has that older nostalgic feel while Pine Ridge is more modern and larger. Bear Paw has log buildings while Pine Ridge is block.

[Big Dave2]

I would also say that you need to book your site or sites as soon as you can because it fills up fast. Especially for that weekend.

[dustin85]

We will be heading up there for a few days this summer, too. We have never been there before, and will be hauling a 2-place snowmobile trailer with us. Is either campground more/less accessable for us to park, etc. than the other?

[IFallsRon]

Both campgrounds have plenty of parking space at the sites and there's also a couple overfowl parking lots. We take up about 50 feet between trailer and truck and there's still plenty of space around us in most of the spots.

[dustin85]

Thanks for the info!

[MNHawk]

Went up last year for the 4th, more ticks than I have ever experienced anywhere. Our dog was covered with them (despite prescription Revolution and bug spray). Flies and mosquitos were nasty as well. Vowed to only camp at the park between September and May from then on. FWIW, we backpacked it in to the remote sites, so conditions at drive up sites may differ.

[fishing tech]

Remote sites are remote. This park has it all. I had a bear run right in front of me at dusk while bike down a trail. I t never even looked at me just went right to the lake. This place is beautiful. I would highly recommend it.

[Moose]

I was wondering if the Bear paw cabins have paring next to them or if you park in a lot and carry your stuff in? I have a reservation for the 20th of June what is the deal with the 90 day resevation period I reservered mine in Feb.

[minndonn]

Campgrounds are 90 days and cabins are 365 days.

[Moose]

Got it thank you!!

[IFallsRon]

We stayed in one of the cabins a few years back. You can park right next to them. We stayed in late September and the weather was perfect. We hardly had to use the Franklin fireplace. The kitchen area was a bit cramped but it was nice to have the bathroom for the kids. You still have to use the campground showers.

[minndonn]

If you are interested in the cabins the old log cabins are loaded with atmosphere. We rented them over Memorial day for over 15 years. Large fireplaces, old rockers and great screen porches. Also the cabins tend to stay cooler because of the log construction and pine tree shade. No cooking in the cabins but we used crock pots and grills. Also the restaurant has very good food. Unfortunately with several graduations amoung the 4 families we went with, tradition is broken but it was a great run.

[Slade247]

Can you park next to your tent camping site and Bear Paw or do you have to walk in to your campsite?

[PRWoody]

You can park next to your camp site. Probably no more

than two vehicles.

[Slade247]

Just got back from Itasca. We were supposed to camp both Friday and Sat. night but when we woke up Sat. morning it was raining pretty good so we took off and got a hotel. It was a first time camping experience for my wife and I and it was great. The campground was really great and lived up to all of our expectations. Thanks for all the advice and information that I got on this site it made our camping trip easier to plan for and a fun time and because of that I have already started planning our next one, hopefully next time we can make it the whole weekend, and we will probably try to stick it out through the rain. Thanks again

[dustin85]

We just got back from our visit to Itasca. We stayed in Pine Ridge. The campsite next to us had about a dozen children that were up all night screaming as loud as they could and playing games throughout our sites. We tried to spend as much of the next day away from the campsite as possible. The 'coons were feasting off of the nieghbors food and garbage, they wandered into our site once, found nothing and left. Nice park, I would have liked more time(and nice weather) to hike all of the trails.

[IFallsRon]

Five or six years ago, we were next to a family from Detroit Lakes who had twins, triplets and quads that were about 2. It was an adventure. I'm pretty sure that was the year the bugs were bad and we ran out of spray. We saw them again last year at the beach.