Morning at Itasca State Park's Bear Paw campground comes up slowly under the red pines, the loop road still in shade while somebody's kids are already down at the lake with a fishing rod. Later the whole group drives up to the headwaters and walks the log-lined path to where the Mississippi slips out of Lake Itasca, shallow enough to cross on a row of low stones. Everyone wades across, everyone takes the picture, and then it's back to the site for dinner.
The motorhome stays backed into its site all week, and at Itasca that's what it's for. Rain on the pines means cards at a dry table, the fridge holds a week of groceries, and the kids have their own bunks.
Bear Paw and Pine Ridge at Itasca State Park
Both campgrounds are inside the park, so the lake, the headwaters and the trails through the old pines are all short outings from camp. Summer weekends fill the reservable sites at both, so the site is the first booking and the motorhome is the second. Fall color pulls a second crowd into the park, so check each campground's season before you plan a late trip around it.
Itasca is most of a day's drive from the Twin Cities. Plan the first night at a private hookup park near the metro and head north in the morning with a full tank and a stocked fridge. If a grandparent would rather sleep indoors, the park also rents rooms at Douglas Lodge and the Bear Paw cabins, which keeps the whole family in the same park.
Farther north, the state turns into paddle country. Voyageurs and the Boundary Waters mean portages and open lake water from a canoe seat, with no drive-in rig camping there worth building a week around. That trip, and a two-person trip that wants something smaller than a family motorhome, is on the Minnesota campervan page.
The North Shore, Two Harbors to Grand Marais
Up the North Shore Scenic Drive, Lake Superior stays on your right the whole way, cold and enormous. At Grand Marais, the city's RV park puts the harbor a few steps from the rig. The motorhome week here runs through the towns' own campgrounds: Two Harbors near the bottom of the shore, Grand Marais at the top, and Burlington Bay, which RV regulars rate highest and find hardest to book.
Summer weekends fill those campgrounds and the rental calendars at the same time, so reserve the site first and the rig right behind it. The Duluth RV page covers each campground's hookups and sites, plus Indian Point, Duluth's own campground on the St. Louis River.
Gull Lake and the Whitefish Chain around Brainerd
Around Brainerd, the trip is a resort lake and a week of not driving anywhere. Gull Lake is the area's big hub for water recreation, the Whitefish Chain links a run of lakes to the north, and the Paul Bunyan Trail gives the bikes somewhere to go when the wind is up on the water. The rig parks at a private resort and stays put.
Brainerd is on the way toward Itasca, so a long week can split a few lake nights here with the headwaters at the end. The St. Cloud RV page names the resorts and what each one takes for a rig.
St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park and the rivers near the Twin Cities
The St. Croix runs wide and slow below the bluffs southeast of Saint Paul, and a week at St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park puts the river outside the door without giving a whole day to the drive. It's a good fit for a family on their first trip in a rented rig, or for a week when somebody still has to check in at work.
Washington County runs the park, and the Saint Paul RV page covers its sites along with Wild River State Park farther up the river. South of the metro, the Lakeville RV page takes the Cannon River week at Lake Byllesby, and the Mankato RV page covers Land of Memories, Mankato's campground where the rivers meet.