Frontenac State Park

This is one of my favorite Minnesota state parks for hiking.

First, the campground: There are four loops with 57 individual campsites and a separate group camping area. If it's not busy and you can score a spot away from others, privacy isn't an issue, and some spots have quite a bit of foliage. But when all the campsites are full, some of the sites are very close to others back-to-back. If there are a bunch of openings, I recommend showing up without a reservation to scope out a spot and book from your phone/tethered laptop once you arrive.

Loop 1 has eight sites with electric, Loop 2 has 11 sites with electric, and Loop 3 and 4 have no electric. The restroom and shower building is in the second loop, which adds noise and traffic. There's a vault toilet with a dedicated parking area near Loop 4. Each loop has one spot to get water from (no hookups at campsite).

Site 1E has probably the best view of all the electric campsites, but with little privacy because it's adjacent to the road and parking area. 17E is probably my favorite spot for being a little bit secluded. Be careful on 19E because there's a makeshift trail along side it and nobody respects the privacy of the campsite. 23E is the only pull-through spot, but it's high traffic because the official trail entrance is right next to it.

In September 2016, unboosted Verizon LTE was three bars at 17E, and 17E had working 15A power. In March 2017, unboosted Verizon LTE at site 3E was three bars / 60ms ping / 20mbps down / 12mbps up; and unboosted T-Mobile LTE was 92ms ping / 38mbps down / 4mbps up. 3E had working 30A power @ 122v, and working 15A power.

Hiking! The entrance to Upper Bluff Trail is between campsites 20 and 22, and I highly recommend doing a loop (going west toward In Yan Teopa Rock, taking the Lower Bluff Trail, and then around Point-No-Point). There's a spot where you can walk down to the river on the Lower Bluff Trail, too. It's about 2.5 miles of rough trails round-trip (rocks, branches, elevation changes) - so plan for a good three hours and bring water. I wouldn't go down to the lower trail if it has been wet recently. Cell service is a little spotty once you get down by the river. The trail is not suitable for road bicycles or wheelchairs, but there are some paved trails near the campsite suitable for both.

A daily permit, annual permit, or State Parks license plate is required at this park. Dump station is open April 15-November 15, and dumpsters are there year-round. I paid $25/night on a weekend.

We stayed here one night on 4/16/2017 still early in the season for Minnesota but no bugs ! Trees have not leafed out so we could see the river. Nice state park it was quit only three other campers here but think things will pick up as the summer go's on so book early. Also should say not a good place for 5th wheel campers most sites are small no pull though sites. Many tent sites with some cart in sites for tent camping with carts there for you to use. We paid $5 to enter park and $17 for a none electric site total $22.

Sites were a mix of electric and non-electric in same loop, with the non-electric on the outside of the loops and some might consider to be better, as they are closer to the bluffs and views of the water. Clean bathrooms and showers and well marked hiking trails. Sites were a little closer together than some MN state parks we’ve been in but fairly spacious. In our camper van, we had no problem. Bring your bug repellent- you will need it!!

This is a basic non electric site and it wasn't very level, we needed to use all of our leveling blocks to bring one side of our RV up a good 4 inches, but once we were set up we had a nice stay. I wouldn't recommend this particular site for tent camping because it hard to find a level spot. There wasn't a dedicated tent pad on this site, however some of the others nearby had very nice ones. The neighboring campers were a bit close with not much tree coverage in between. I prefer to be a bit further away or at least hidden by trees for privacy. the spot was nice and shady with acorns falling--watch out. We didn't use the bathroom facilities as we were social distancing, but in the past the bathrooms have been pretty good. Our friend used the vault toilet once and said they were not good. She has used vault toilets in the past with no complaint so I'd say stick to your RV bathroom or the regular bath house. Site 53 across from us looked to be very level and had a large level tent pad on it, however it was only partially shaded. If you stay here check out the Sand Point trail. It's an easy walk/hike from the parking area you can walk along the lake Pepin shoreline for a bit.
Nightly rate is $24 for the campsite, but there is a $7 reservation fee to book online.

Most trails are narrower, not paved, and with inclines and declines along bluffs. You’re able to see some incredible views without venturing too far onto the trails. Rock quarry trail was worth seeing.