Blue Mounds State Park Campground

What an amazing time! We stayed at site 54E which was pretty secluded our first night there. We got there a little late in the afternoon to do anything but get set up after which we got our grill going and enjoyed a delicious steak dinner. The next morning we went on a couple trails and just enjoyed the beautiful fall colors and we lucked out because the buffalo were close to the ranger station. It was quiet our entire stay and the weather cooperated except for some wind and a little rain. Definitely will be coming back!

Stayed at Blue Mounds on one of the hottest weekends this summer! We booked site 12 initially based off of reviews from the Dyrt suggesting riverside sites. Site 11 and 12 were NOT good. There's a dumpster in the middle of the two sites, absolutely no privacy, and no shade. Thankfully, there is good cell service (and free wifi!), and we looked up what other sites were open. 13 was open! And boy did we luck out with this. Even though it's just adjacent, 13 had a nice little secluded area for our tent, and a *private* riverside walk out to the cliffs overlooking the river! No direct river access- it's about a 15 foot drop to the river. The moonrise from this site was gorgeous. Had a spooky visit from the Starlink satellites. We drove in the morning to the bison area and saw about 12 of them roaming near the fence.  Bathrooms were decent. Close by to Luverne for any last minute needs while camping.

We stayed at Blue Mounds at the very end of July and it was a great first tent camping experience! We stayed in site 73E which was a little secluded from the rest of the campground but was across from the parking lot.  We stayed on a Sunday night so being at the entrance of the park/across from the parking lot wasn't really an issue at all but I could see if it was a Friday/Saturday it might be.  We only stayed one night so didn't use the showers but the bathrooms were very nice and clean. We weren't able to hike as much as I would have liked but my kids 5/9 still made it about 3 miles on one of the loops and we found our hiking club password. We didn't have any issues with bugs. Luverne is super close and we hit up Tasty's Drive In for supper and it was great!

Very well maintained park! Good easy hiking trails. Bison tour was super, was brought up close to the bison and educated about them and the prairie. Quarry was neat to view from on top and from inside the quarry. Many great views looking over the prairie.

Campsites are spaced apart fairly well, all open between sites. Many nice trees in the campground for shade.

Bathrooms are SUPER CLEAN and there are two different bathroom and shower buildings. The older building Mens showers we prefer because the water temperature isn’t scalding hot. The newer bathroom showers are well designed like at the other newer MN State parks and have nice handicap bathrooms and showers.

The sites were nice and clean. Ok size. We weren't on top of anyone but would have been nicer if they were just a tad larger. We loved the fire ring! Not to large or deep that we couldn't see our campfire in the evening.

Great state park. Bathrooms are nice and clean. There's a little library near the restroom. Layout for getting water and dump station is a little odd. Would love to come back and do some rock climbing here now that I learned there are spots!

Well maintained even, grassy trail circling the campground + huge ample restrooms

The campground is grass and trees, with gravel pull outs. Sites are reasonably spaced, but not very private. Sites at the end of loop A have a view of the prairie.

Bathrooms and showers are clean and modern.

This campground is a gem. Tons of trails to see the Bison. Only walk in trail or biking not vehicles allowed. Extremely decent cell service.

Spots are private and shaded. Bathrooms are clean and up to date. The state park itself is beautiful with a lot of wonderful hiking.

Pulled into this park on a whim after a day of driving along I-90 and so glad we did! This was an excellent park with great amenities. We camped in the cart-in sites overlooking the prairie. The sites were back in the woods, but the park had carts you could use to haul your stuff back. Lots of bird watching, and we even spotted the bison herd on the range! Spectacular views on a clear night too. I will definitely stop there again when I’m nearby!

We had a great time at this park. The site was nice and big. A bit muddy but it's been a wet spring. Trails right from the campground. Newer shower house and bath house.

Well maintained and monitored. Bathrooms and showers are clean. Beautiful areas to explore here and nearby. (Pipestone National Monument)

We camped here in July and had a blast. Buffalo, an old rock quarry, a mulberry tree, prickly pear cacti and more! The view from the ridge goes for miles, you can actually see Iowa. Site #9 is partially shaded and very level with just a slight walk to the restroom facilities. Take a short drive to see the Pipestone National Monument if you have time, you only need about 30 minutes to see the monument itself. This park was definitely worth the 4 hour drive we took to get there. Luverne, MN is a cute little town to visit as well.

Bathrooms are pristine. Private shower rooms. Paved bike path through prairie and beside rock ridge.

Stayed at a tipi site. Camping was great, room enough for family of 4. Trails were nice, a 5 mile loop. Bison herd viewpoint across the street from campground.

Blue Mounds State Park campground is located on tree-lined paved roads tucked in between a prairie and farmers' fields. It's quite peaceful and relaxing, especially with most sites unoccupied during the week. 

While the sites don't offer a ton of privacy, they are well-spaced for the most part and some of the loops have foliage behind the sites so you have a bit of a buffer there. The loop we were in (on site 28) has a relatively new bathroom and shower house that is very nice. The other loop has the older-style bathroom and shower house that looked clean but is showing its age. 

Even though you probably could rely on your cell phones here due to good and great signals (Verizon and T-Mobile respectively), the campground also offers WiFi that is actually quite good. The transmitter for our loop is on the bathroom building and we have been able to work, including video calls, all week without any issues. 

The sites themselves have gravel pads and decent-sized grassy areas to set up screen tents, etc. The park itself offers several things to do, including watching for the protected bison herd out on the prairie, as well as hiking and biking trails that can lead you to a historic quartzite quarry and some great vistas of the area around you. At night, it's nice and dark so you can see a lot of stars -- if you walk a short way down one of the trails from the campground you can even see the Milky Way.

If we are in this area again, Blue Mounds would certainly be a place where we would check for openings.

Stopped here on our way back from the badlands heading to Indiana. Quiet place with nice bike and walking paths. Electric only 30amp water close by. Full dump station.

Beautiful campground! The showers were the cleanest I have ever seen. Hot water and flushing toilets were nice. Campsites had fire rings and picnic tables. Our site was level and easy to drive into. My only complaint is with finding the climbing areas for recreation. That was a bit of a pain, but the campground itself is beautiful.

This is a small but beautiful park on the prairie. We stayed in the cart-in campground as it offered more privacy between campsites compared to the drive in campground. We stayed in site 6, which is down a path way and makes you feel like you are not close to any of your neighbors. The bathrooms in the cart-in campground are vault toilets but the building is kept very clean. My girls enjoyed the variety of birds and seeing the bison in the park. The flies and ticks were horrible while we were there so be prepared for them!

We stayed at Blue Mounds for one night on a cross country trip. It’s a beautiful park and the campground was quiet and pretty. Sites were private enough. Ours looked over a beautiful meadow. Bathrooms were very clean and had showers but no hot water. Very kid friendly with easy hiking trails and a playground not far away.

This was a very nice park with hiking trails and bison viewing areas. We were in site 73e, it was nice a quiet. Had great AT&T cell coverage.

I reserved a site fairly last minute after seeing the unusually nice April weather forecast. The check in was seamless and firewood is readily available ($6/bundle when I went). Each site has a picnic table and fire pit with a cooking grate. I ended up selecting a site next to the river and had a cool access point directly from my site to sit on a rock riverside. There didn’t seem to be any obvious access point into the river itself but it was too cold to go in anyways. The sites next to the river don’t have much for shade but other sites seemed to have better coverage. The sites are quite close to one another and if the campground was fully reserved you wouldn’t have much privacy at your sites.

The main park hiking trail starts a mile ish away from the campground. Beware there is NO SHADE on the trail. The quarry is worth the adventure!

Photo included of morning sunrise!

Easy to reserve and check in, firewood for purchase. Clean bathrooms, showers and spaced out campsites. Not too busy and everyone was friendly. Right next to a Buffalo conservation. You can hike and see Buffalo right in the area which is super cool

We had a cart-in site. One of the few state parks in Minnesota that had sites open the weekend we went. It was a long drive for my sons and I but we enjoyed it. Our site was closer to the bathrooms than I’d prefer (pit toilets in a nice building) but it wasn’t too bothersome. There were plenty of trees in our sites and though we could see some of the other cart-in sites it was pretty quiet and relaxing.

A bit of good hiking in the park. But most is shade-less prairie hiking, so on summer days it can be quite hot. The bison are neat to see. There is a dammed up part of the creek, but it didn’t look like water you’d want to wade or swim in. We drove into Luverne to “The Lake” to swim and cool off.

I find writing a review for this state park and campground to be quite difficult. The park itself is great. It’s very beautiful, very serene, and not crowded. There’s a little more action around the rock climbing area, and the play area can get quite rowdy with local children as well as campers.

My problem totally lies with the campsite. First and foremost all of the campsites are extremely cramped and extremely open. Even the ones that look like they are hidden in trees and bush, are actually mere feet away from the next campsite. And therefore there really is no privacy or feeling like you’re out in the country.

This campsite, as a whole, from what I could tell on my visit, is used by people whose primary objective is to sit outside with their friends and drink. This is not a campsite to serve people who are coming primarily to enjoy the park. This means that there are a lot of screaming children, rowdy late night conversations, and more than a few misbehaved pooches (the dog in the site next to me —to my right by 20 ft—was territorial and growled at everyone who walked past).

I would come here again to enjoy the park, but I definitely would not camp here again. It felt more like a Boy Scout jamboree, but with adults and alcohol.

Really beautiful landscape with a late check out time so we could explore the park for a while in the morning. Bathrooms could have been a bit tidier but they weren’t terrible. Pick spots deeper in the loops of the campground for a bit more privacy. You pay for the site as well as per car, but it is a very reasonable price.

The cart in sites are close to the parking lot pretty secluded. Amazing area at night so open. You can stand by your car and see so many stars. We saw the neowise comet here. This is a beautiful park definitely worth the drive.

Couldn’t ask for any better. The climbing is great too

Beautiful park. Trails to hike are great with beautiful sweeping views.

Our campsite was not as great. We are a family of five and we are crammed in here. It’s also stuffy with no air flow and wafts of the pit toilet.

There are some other cart in sites that looked a little better. Overall I like the hiking but not the camping.