William O'Brien has two campgrounds at two heights on the St. Croix. Riverway puts the van on the bank, close enough that the water is the night noise. Savanna is up on the bluff, looking down on the same bend.
Riverway is the loop you want if the water is the point. Savanna is the loop you want if you prefer the view of the water to sleeping next to it. Either one still gets you the bluffs in the morning.
Take two or three nights and stay put. Walk the bluff, drop down to the bank, and let Stillwater be the town run if you want a brick main street. Hudson, across the river, is a Wisconsin night if you want the other bank.
Summer weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day take the electric sites first. Spring and fall are the same river with lighter demand. Outside the fair's late-August run, those shoulder months are when a river site is easier to get.
Electric sites run on both campgrounds, and the park's RV length limit is 60 feet. Reserve the site first. Minnesota state park campgrounds open 120 days ahead, and a vehicle permit is required.
Minnesota State Fair campground
You can sleep on the fairgrounds during the Minnesota State Fair's twelve days in late August. The campground gate opens onto 322 acres of midway, so breakfast is already inside the event. In the morning you walk straight in.
The loop delivers 20-amp electric only, with no full hookups, as of September 2026. The campground sells out with the fair, so lock the overnight before you book the van.
Late August is already peak on the St. Croix. The fair and the river parks pull on the same vans and the same weekends, so treat that stretch as one crunch.
Interstate State Park and the Dalles
At Taylors Falls the St. Croix has cut a gorge through basalt, glacial potholes worn into the rock. You walk the Dalles along that cut with the river below, then come back to the park campground for the night. Weekend traffic here is about that gorge.
The RV length limit is 45 feet, and the campground runs early April through late October. If you need more sleeping space or a longer rig than the river parks allow, Saint Paul RV rentals cover those layouts. Wild River State Park and St. Croix State Park at Hinckley keep the same river going for a longer run up the valley.
Lake Elmo Park Reserve
At Lake Elmo Park Reserve the campground wraps around the lakes, a Washington County reserve with a modern loop. Washington County lists full hookups on the developed loop, as of September 2026, and the season runs late April through mid-October.
Afton State Park is a day on the prairie ridge, a bluff overlook above the river. Camping is hike-in only, with no vehicle access to the sites, so you do not overnight the van there.
Trips that stay west of the Mississippi belong on the Minneapolis campervan page. The Saint Paul side of the metro is the St. Croix valley.