Willow River State Park

Willow River is a fine all around recreation park, especially now that the lake is back. The falls is the star of the show, and they are very popular. The trails are well worn and easy to walk, although you'll do some work getting down and up the ravine when seeing the falls. Data reception is excellent for workampers, and the park and surrounding area is rich with geocaches.

There are 3 campground loops. The 100 loop, where we stayed, doesn't have many shaded sites, but that was fine for us at this time of year. It was actually to our benefit as severe storms pounded the park the first night we were there. Had we been under trees, there was a good chance of taking a limb on the rig. And while there wasn't much cover, the sites were well spread apart and surrounded by pretty thick ground cover that gave us good privacy. The 200 loop was similar, with perhaps more shaded sites, and the 300 loop had the most shade of all, although it's a little more difficult to maneuver in and the sites were smaller. The shower building in the 100 loop is of recent design and features individual shower rooms.

Willow River is conveniently located in Hudson, with easy access to the Twin Cities across the river. I really can't find anything wrong with this park. It's a winner.

This was a very nice state park. There were a lot of hiking trails, a falls, and a lake. Some sites are electric but many are primitive. We had a non-electric site in loop 2 which is more open than loop 3. The sites are roomy and quite private. We felt loop 3 would be a little claustrophobic.
Showers were available but at loop 3 which required a drive. If out of state, its more expensive than a lot of parks because there is a handling fee with your reservation and a $14/day out of state visitor stay. The best thing about the park was Hudson, Wi which is right there and has great restaurants and can be a break when on a long camping trip.

Sites are large, private and flat and have electric hook-ups only. Campground 200 has no showers. Campground 100 and 300 both have showers. My low review (3 stars) is due to the lack of clarity on the website and throughout the park on the amenities, paths, and connections between campgrounds and these components. It was difficult to discern from the park website what the differences were between the campground loops so we ended up in 200. After a late evening hike (more on that next) we found ourselves having to wander around to figure how to get to the other campground loops on foot to get a shower. The park map given to us when we entered the park showed no connections between campgrounds so after wandering around hoping to find one we ended up having to walk the main road in the dark with no sidewalks, about a mile round trip, just to get a shower. Husband refused to unhook to drive us over.

Back to the hike. The park map also showed no connection between the campground and the hiking trails, but after wandering around we found several connections that were not shown on the maps. It seems like such a basic thing to show these connections on the paper map, website and the way finding signs. The trails themselves were fine and the river and falls were very pretty other than being dirty/polluted.

Finally, it was overpriced. $40.00 nightly rate plus $7.75 reservation fee plus $13 entry fee = about $60 for one night of electric only and a mile walk for showers.

We stayed here in late June 2021. The description of our site claimed 'partial shade': this was untrue. There was shade but it was a small amount over the picnic table late in the evening. That was it besides a few other random spots that were of no help with mid-80 degree days. We noticed our loop (the 100's) and the 200's loop were all the same: very little shade. 100's and 200's perfect for spring or fall and cooler days. The outer sites without electric did have some shade in these loops. The 300's loop was the only loop that had real shade and for some sites full shade or at least real 'partial shade'. Be careful in the 300 loop though, some trees hang down low and can scratch your roof. Our site was fairly level and in the 100's loop most seemed to all be the same good levelocity. The sites themselves are very nice. They all have privacy from neighbors with plenty of outdoor space.

The only dump station/fill station we found was at the 300's loop.

We hiked down to the falls which was a steep hill but worth it to see the pretty water falls. We also hiked other trails and the trails are nicely cleared and taken care of well.

We had no trouble with our cell reception through Visible/Verizon.

We were in the 100 loop, and it was just fine. Big sites with adequate privacy. Excellent bath houses with private showers that are clean and have benches and hooks... real showers not push button and you can adjust temp.

After driving through other loops, I think 300 or 200 would be preferable to 100. More wooded and further from entrance and highway.

The Falls were way cooler than I expected, though it is a tough climb back up the road...very steep asphalt road back up to parking area. But it’s very doable and the river and falls are stunning!