General: Located on Lake Superior (with access to the lake from the campground). The main draw to this campground is the five waterfalls that are accessible via a paved bike path, riverfront trail, or you can drive to the Visitor Center parking lot and explore from there. During the summer of 2021, drought conditions made the falls less spectacular but still worth seeing.
Site Quality/Facilities: The sites are all heavily wooded which provides more than sufficient privacy; although you can hear your neighbors, you won’t see them (at least during months with full foliage). The sites all have gravel drives and are very generous in size. Site 54 is just slightly sloped sideways, a small challenge for sleeping in our van. Each site has a very generous-sized picnic table and fire grate (although there was a strict fire ban due to severe drought in Minnesota in the summer of 2021). There is a large Visitor Center and store, and you can park here for two hours without a pass which is required for all other activities (including camping) in the park. The pass is $7 daily or $35 for an annual pass. Good cell service throughout the park.
Bathhouse: The bathhouse closest to our site is a CCC marvel. Very clean with three stalls, two sinks, and two showers. There was a bench by the sinks which was very handy for holding toiletries. The shower had good water pressure (almost too hard) and although it took a few minutes to warm up, the water was warm. You have to repeatedly push the button (every three minutes or so) but there is no extra charge for the shower. Although the campground was full our entire stay, I often had the bathhouse to myself.
Activities: Hiking and biking! The Gitchi Gami paved bike path winds through the park and if you want to go further, it continues all along MN 61. You can hike to the falls from the campground (approximately a three-mile roundtrip to see the Upper and Middle Falls (the Lower Falls were completely dry due to the drought conditions when we were there). Access to the lake for water activities.
This is a nice state park on the North Shore. We drove two hours north to Grand Portage State Park and back with a stop at another state park for a full-day trip, making Gooseberry Falls a good jumping-off point. Make reservations as soon as you can as this is a popular park!
