Bear Head Lake State Park

Making a reservation online is usually easy but was impossible on the iPhone this date. The call center would hang up instead of take my call. There is no way to check in at the park after 5. As such, I finally got through by call by hitting the emergency button. The woman on the other end was deaf or ignorant. Still, I got the reservation. There were plenty of sites open midweek in the fall. None of the sites are on the lake (the map makes it look like some are). All the sites are a short walk from the lake. The road was paved until you reach the campground and then it was gravel and the sites are all gravel. The site required leveling blocks but was not too bad. Electric service was 30 amp. No antenna reception and AT&T had only 1 bar (barely enough for any email or texting). Every site had a picnic table and a grill. There is a large beach with many picnic tables, a pavilion and an indoor area with clean flush toilets. Pit toilets are close to every site. There is a dump station near the exit. There are boats and kayaks to rent

This park would be great with some updates. It is pretty but the basics are too old to enjoy it fully. The sites are spacious with plenty of trees and shrubs surrounding them to add privacy. They have electric service but NO easy access to water. There are two spigots in the campground but you can’t reach them unless you are staying on the site where they are located. Even if you are that close, the water is brown and smells like rust. The shower house is centrally located and new, but the water has a high iron content because my skin and hair smelled like rust after a shower. There is also no heat in the shower house or a way to control the temp of the water. Coldest shower I’ve ever taken in May! The only place to get clean-ish water is at the dump station and there is only one spigot. Also, there aren’t any dumpsters in the campground, they are at the dump station 3/10ths of a mile away.

We got one bar on AT&T and two bars on Verizon with an antenna. This park was isolated and disappointing enough that we probably won’t return especially since they also charge an additional $35 park entry fee on top of the campground fees.

There is NOTHING in the surrounding area. If you need gas, you can travel down to the town of Tower but if you need groceries or anything else, it requires an hour trip to Virginia. We stayed here to visit Voyagers National Park but you cannot do much there until mid June.

Hiking was great. They have easy trails and more strenuous trails. If you’re up for 8-9 miles of hiking, Blueberry Lake Trail is absolutely beautiful. The campsite and bathrooms were like your typical state park. Lots of extra trails in the woods between the campsites made exploring fun. Internet with AT&T was 1-2 bars, depending where your at. 4 bars with the Weboost. We’ll definitely be back!

If you like to canoe, kayak or some easy going fishing with campsites docks, you will love this place. Nice beach and picnic area too. RV dump sites. Bring bug spray in the summer. I don’t like that they closed the shower rooms for COVID19.... aren’t we mandated to wash ourselves??? Still a nice place, would come back when it’s cooler in fall.

Unlike a lot of Minnesota state parks that usually have a some non-reservable sites, all of the sites at Bear Head Lake State Park are reservable. I was in the non-electric loop, some of the sites will not fit a big trailer either due to the site length or the fact that you will have to navigate between trees to fit. So the spaces do vary quite a bit. The reservation web-site does provide photos so look at those before booking you site. Because I was in Minnesota in late September when the sun is not great for solar unless you are in a open area, site #5 wasn't the greatest for solar as it is fairly shady. Solar wise, it was fine for 2 nights and may be better in the summer. Mostly got 3G on Verizon without booster.

The campground road within the sites is fairly narrow. If you can tent, the backcountry sites that sit on the Lake are really sweet and private. There is a Dump Station. Also you can rent paddle boats and kayaks for use on the lake.

Bear Head Lake is very pretty especially at sunset.

Ely, MN is about 15 miles away and Soudan Underground Mine is about 8 miles away.