Pay to CAMP???

[Jarrid Houston]

Anyone else PO'ed that it now cost a lot of money to go roughing it in the wilderness?

[eyeguy 54]

what you talkin bout willis??

[bfisherman11]

I don't camp on my fishing trips but I believe the new reservation system to camp at Voyagers or other parks is the issue. I heard something about it a year ago on my last trip to Kab.

 

By the way, the campsites on Kab are awesome. We have used open ones for shore lunch on Kab and county one (I think) in Black Bay on Rainy. They have a dock, tent area (sand pit), bear box and an open privy. Honestly not sure what they charge but it has value in how nice they are. Again, I have not done it but would love too.

 

Bill

[Jarrid Houston]

So ya the new regs require a camping permit for tenting.  The bigger the site the more expensive the cost.  And the have a 10$ reservation fee included as well.  Around Duluth here, we have many opportunities to camp on some nice wilderness lakes north of the City.  It is always a first come first serve deal, but it is free.  Well this year, we want to get out to town and we have never done rainy and wanted to try it.  All said and done, for my wife and I and 1 other person (2 tents) small camp spot, it is 50$ for the permit (2 nights).  I just think that is steep and wonder where our tax dollars do.  I understand that it is beauty and sweet serenity surrounds, but honestly we really cant afford it.  And furthermore, it should be free, this is America land of the FREE?  right...... LOL  awe well we will eat it this time, but there goes our bait money..

[eyeguy 54]

got it. we have always stayed at campgrounds and have always paid for the tent and now for 4 years the camper. showers for the mrs is a must. lol  Did camp free at Paul Bunyan st park in the early 80's once but probably had to buy a park sticker. cant remember.

[Xplorer]

Can you tell me of any other National Park where you can camp for free?????

Do you think those tent pads, docks, bear boxes, firegrates and picnic tables just appear on the islands all by themselves??  

None of those sites in Duluth have any of that, nor is anyone cleaning up the carp left behind at them by others like is done at VNP.  The sites on the reservoirs around Duluth are dump compared to the ones in VNP.

$20 a night or $24 for a large site is miniscule.  For a 5 day stay I pay less than 1 night at a resort for my family of 3.  When we do our guys trip it costs all of $21 each for our 4 day stay.  And its great to be able to reserve a site in advance, no more driving around for how-long/how far to find an open site.

Its amazing that there has been no cost for so long.  I've have been camping in VNP since 1997 and will spend my 400th day camping in the park next week, and I dont mind it a bit.  I am already seeing the improvements made to many sites that most likely wouldnt have been done without the fee structure.  Just last week they added two really nice tent pads to the Fox island site that were badly needed.  And every site has had the number of bear boxes at it doubled in the last year (small sites now have 2, and large have 4)

 

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Xplorer

[dillon]

I can't understand how anyone could expect the campsites to be free. Someone has to pay for them, so I would rather see the actual users pay.

My wife and I just got back from spending three days at the Fox Island site that Xplorer mentioned. The addition of the tent pads makes it a much nicer site. The campsite was closed for over a week for improvements, so I'm sure the park service spent more than a few bucks on the upgrade. 

[Xplorer]

They were working on it the whole week of the 4th.  One day there was 3 park boats working there, including the barge that had all of the gravel/sand for the tent pads.  When we left on the 10th, we went by the site and it was all done.

Dillon, were the blueberries ripening on Fox?  We found just a few on the east end last time.  We're headed back up on Saturday AM for 5 more days, staying on the East WolfPack.   

[dillon]

The blueberries were starting to ripen, but the mosquitos back in the woods were horrible.

[Jarrid Houston]

Okay, back to civilization now,  It was indeed awesome, pretty clean.. except for a cig butt, empty beer can and a piece of plastic scattered throughout the site when we arrived.  Other than that, it was not bad.  We stayed at Jack Pine Bench and liked being isolated from the main lake.  The bugs were especially bad, but we figured that was going to be the case, so therma-cells and bug spray!  The bear boxes were pretty cool except they got pretty warm during the day and melted ice at an increased rate.  The fire pits are cool with the cook grates.  The bathroom facility was good as well.  And it was nice to reserve the site and not worry about someone else being there.  And of course the picnic table and the tent pads were neat!  All said and done, it was all good.  Still would prefer to NOT pay, but can now see why they do have the system in place. It was much better than scenery than that of the reservoirs and of course the fishing was much better as well!  And at least they did not charge for a vehicle sticker and or parking...

 

[Xplorer]

Jarrid,

  If you want some input on some really nice sites on Namakan and the east side of Rainy let me know.  Guessing your spot was nice but there are some really sweet places to camp out there.  And if you are looking for big fish, the east end of Rainy in August can be just killer.  We're up there for 5 days in early August almost every year and have had some outstanding fishing with really good size.  

[Mike Walerak]

I personally like the reservation system although I know some do not. My wife and I were camping there one time and thought we were going to be sleeping in the boat as we could not find a spot until we were almost to Kettle Falls. We hit them all looking for one.  On the other hand, I believe you can stay on an unoccupied site for free but if a paying customer comes, you are to give it up and leave. 

Canada also charges you a permit fee to camp on an island and those sites are not maintained or improved.  

 

[h8go4s]

9 hours ago, Mike Walerak said:

I personally like the reservation system although I know some do not. My wife and I were camping there one time and thought we were going to be sleeping in the boat as we could not find a spot until we were almost to Kettle Falls. We hit them all looking for one.  On the other hand, I believe you can stay on an unoccupied site for free but if a paying customer comes, you are to give it up and leave. 

Canada also charges you a permit fee to camp on an island and those sites are not maintained or improved.  

 

I don't think so. From the VNP website:

Frontcountry Tent Camping Requirements

• Advanced reservations must be made at least 1 day prior to the day you want to occupy the site.
• Visitors are required to print their permit prior to arrival and place at site, inside water-proof box, located on the bear-proof food locker.
• Check-in is 3:00 pm or later at the campsite.
• Check-out is by 12 noon at the campsite.
• Permits are non-transferable.
• If a permit does not accompany you to your site, your reservation is void. No refunds will be given.

This might be what you are thinking of:

Is day use allowed at reservable sites?

Yes, if the site is unoccupied, visitors may Day Use until 2:00 pm.

There are 26 designated Day Use sites in the park that are designed for picnicing. Please try them first.

Edited July 27, 2016 by h8go4s

[Mike Walerak]

Must have been. Our crew is large enough that we try to stay at one of the large group sites when we come.  Been staying on the islands since I before I can remember.  Can't wait to get back up there!

[CHM]

For me, it's great that I can make a reservation.  In the BWCA I spent the better part of a day paddling and portaging through 3 lakes and then back to the starting lake trying to find one open campsite.  That's part of the adventure (I guess).  Just not much fun for me.

My wife and I are going up to VNP for our first time this fall and being able to reserve a site was huge in that decision.  I can understand that the price could be a hardship for some, but I'm sure it's doable by planning ahead.

[SledNeck]

Lol, of all the costs associated with going up and camping, how can anyone whine about $50. My liquor bill is double that.

[Poutwhacker]

Copy that, Sled Neck. Reservation system is great. It's a User Fee, which is the fairest way to charge. You only pay if you use it and if you do use VNP, you support it's upkeep with the fees you pay. People who bitch about paying $20/night to have a whole island to yourself, should go to a KOA once. Almost everything I do costs more than the camping fee.