Iron Lake Campground

Of all the campgrounds in the Superior National Forest, it's not even in the top half. But Iron Lake is beautiful, and the surrounding region is incredible. If you plan to head out on some day paddles on the lake or perhaps go hiking nearby (Magnetic Rock Trail is a great hike), this is a great basecamp. Otherwise, I'd just rather stay at Trail's End.

Note that as of 2022, there's a bit of cell service in the area now. There's strong AT&T LTE around Gunflint Lake, and at Iron Lake I got 1-2 bars of LTE on both my AT&T and Project Fi (T-Mobile, I believe?) phone. There's zero Verizon service on the Gunflint Trail. You will lose Verizon service about 10 minutes after leaving Grand Marais.

We stayed here for two nights and got one of the only sites left.

Some water sites were reserved but people never showed up. The campground is small and needs some attention. The campground is in an area recovering from a wild fire some years ago. The grass in the sites was tall and need some brushing. There is a carry down boat landing. There is water and a dumpsters in the campground.

We had good fishing for Northern. We saw a cow and calf moose on a peninsula across from the boat landing.

Iron Lake Campground is small, and not used all that much (judging by the vegetation from in each site, but it seems to be a worthwhile place to hang if solitude is your thing. I didn't see any water in the campground, although that may have slipped past me in the quick visit I did. Cool lake accessible from the campground.

No cell service