Finland Campground

We tried to camp here in our 38’ 5th Wheel. It looked to us like an older Forest Service type campground constructed before big rigs like ours were made. We parked at the entrance, walked the campground and saw several sites to the left that were long enough and we thought we could maneuver into, one in particular.

The first problem was that we were unable to make the loop corner due to campground posts and the narrow road. After several attempts we ended up backing back down the road. This is when we also noticed that we were rubbing tree branches overhead.

Our second attempt was to back down the lower road on the left to the first spot, but there was not enough room to jockey forward and back to get lined up into the spot due to the narrowness of the road.

So big rigs may find it difficult. We sure did, and we have lots of experience! We had better luck at Eckbeck Campground down the road.

The Finland State Forest campground is just six miles away from Lake Superior and so worth the trip. Several sites back up to the Baptism River. While some sites are only designed to accommodate tent campers, we counted numerous sites that fit our 30-foot travel trailer. Cell service for AT&T ranged from two to four bars. Very mysterious. This is a great find if you’re willing to boondocking with your rig.

Came here at 430pm on a Friday in early August and there were about 8 sites available. After 5pm the remaining sites appeared to fill up rather quickly. Check in was super easy using the self service kiosk. It had just rained so the roads were a bit muddy but totally doable with my small car. Pit toilet was one of the cleaner ones (and most well stocked ones) that I’ve seen which was nice. Considering that all the state park campgrounds up and down the north shore were completely booked, I was happy to snag a site here for a couple of nights for cheap and right near by a lot of great parks. It is nearby a road so there is some light traffic noise. Was able to make calls/texts and do light web surfing.

State and RV campgrounds are crazy hard to get reservations for on summer weekends in Minnesota. We managed to snag a one night, last minute cancellation at a state park but the next night we were out of luck. We decided to check out the nearby state forest campgrounds and they were beautiful! We decided on this campground, a mere 7 miles from the very popular (and beautiful) Tettegouche State Park.

All sites are first come. All sites are dry camping but there are well hand pumps if you need to fill up your drinking water jugs . Pit toilets, which for not having a camp host on site, are strangely clean and stocked.

There are a handful of sites with short paths to the Baptism river but get out to check these sites if it has rained recently, because they can be a little squishy. It had poured recently and all the other sites were totally fine. There is also a separate ATV loop which is placed along the highway leaving the regular campers with quieter sites.

The roads are wide enough for larger trailers and quite a few sites could easily fit a larger class A or 5th wheel...if not in the lower loop, the ATV loop for sure.

There is a walking path in the campground that leads right to the local bars, .25 mile at the most! Local microbrews on tap at both of them.

The only downside is solar could be tough.

ATT service good enough for streaming, unboosted.