As Charming as it's Name
This campground was fine. Not great, but also not bad. THE GOOD: Great location on the Root River within walking distance from downtown Lanesboro. Bike path also runs right along the edge of the campground. There are tubing and kayak rentals on site. No mosquitos, even though there had been quite a bit of rain. Price for sites was fair $25 a night with water and electricity. There is a nice playground area for kids.
We camped June 12-16 2105. We have a pop-up tent camper. Sites were long and narrow. Grassy part was well maintained. On our visit, the campground was not full so we had plenty of room between us and our "neighbors". I imagine that it would be quite tight if the campground got filled up.
THE NOT SO GREAT: You could not easily see the river from the sites even though we had a "river side site". Vegetation is thick. There were a few paths down a steep bank to get to the river, but nothing you would want to send your children to check out unattended. The bathrooms are basic campground bathrooms. Very basic; pay showers-bring quarters! (.50 for 5 minutes, 20 seconds of water), homemade stall doors that are annoying and cumbersome, and flush toilets. It did seemed to be cleaned out each day. There are a lot of people who camp here with big rigs so the bathrooms, for us, and tenters were not very busy at all which was nice.
The Owner, John (I believe he is the owner, or at least the guy that runs the place) is very "hand's off" You won't have to worry about him talking your ear off for sure. In fact you might find yourself looking for him or longing for more information like "Where do I check in?, When should I pay you?, Where should I pay you?, What spot can I take for a campsite?" I made our reservations in March for our June trip and all he took was my name, no phone number, or credit card, nor did he assign a specific site at that time. Very casual. For some people this might be good, but for me I'd prefer assurance that I was going to get a site!
Overall, I felt this place lacked charm, even the name! -Nothing was terrible. My kids (ages 9 & 10) like to explore nature at campgrounds and there wasn't much to explore for them on their own. We did bring our bikes and kayaks for the river and trails, but they were a bit bored at the site. read more