Upper Campground

I have reservations in the lower campground starting tomorrow, but I arrived a day early to Alexandria and since the site I have tomorrow isn't available, I reserved 46E in the upper campground after the office had closed. The upper campground is very nice, and I enjoyed walking my dogs down to the lake and the lower campground on a hiking trail. There are lots of tall, shady oak trees, which lead to a strange sort of noise as the falling acorns hit my motorhome's roof. Kind of fun, actually. The big complaint about the upper campground is that many sites are far from level. That may not be a big deal for a site with no services, but a site with electric hookups will often be used for an RV, and site 46E is way of level.

If I could give this campground 4.5 stars, I would, as there's only one drawback. I'll begin with the positives:

1) Both the park staff who checked me in and our campground hosts were very nice and helpful. The camp hosts greeted me immediately and regularly patrolled the Upper Campground to ensure all was well. Five stars for both.
2) A previous reviewer made negative comments about the sites. Yes, they're gravel, but mine was reasonably level and spacious. The electric hookup worked perfectly. Note that this site is electric only, no water/sewer hookups. There was also nice shade from the trees, making it pleasant to sit outside.
3) The campground was peaceful and quiet. I was informed that the Lower Campground was noisier due to proximity to the lake, so I chose the Upper Campground. By 10 pm, all was quiet and I slept great even with the trailer windows open.
4) Yes, there were a few bugs, but c'mon, it's summer. I noticed fly strips tacked to some of the trees, so the staff are making an effort. I didn't have a screened tent and had no issues eating outside.
5) There are two nice shower/bathroom houses. They were clean and everything worked perfectly. Trash and recycling disposal were convenient, as was access to potable water.
6) No road noise at all. The park is located a bit off the beaten path, which limits any outside noise.
7) Good Verizon cell service.

My only gripe was the quality of the water. It was very high in iron and didn't taste good. It's fine for washing and showering, but I recommend bringing some drinking water.

I would definitely stay here again. Thanks, Minnesota!

We were staying at Lake Carlos State Park in the Lower Campground but walked up here to check it out.

There is a bit more privacy here than the lower campground. No lake views. Two shower houses, trash and recycling. Some sites have 30Amp, others are dry camping. Reservations needed for all.

The area actually looks pretty unused with vegetation growing on most of the gravel pads but it was still kept up. There were a handful of campers here mid-week in July.

Aside from lake views, the main difference were the insane flies. Some deer flies. Most people had screen houses set up. We walked a bit faster to get back to the Lower Campground.

My opinion is if there are sites open in the lower campground, stay there. It's a bit less private but lake views and few bugs make up for it.