Jay Cooke State Park Campground

stunning scenery, featuring a dramatic gorge and the iconic Swinging Bridge. The park offers opportunities for camping, hiking, and wildlife viewing, making it a perfect destination for nature enthusiasts and outdoor adventurers alike. It's also home to historic sites and connects with the Willard Munger State Trail.

Went to a tent site. But our rv fit, wouldn’t take anything big to the sites in the 30s. Little distance between sites, but you can see people. Trails around. Nice staff

Very pretty and secluded! It was pretty buggy and ticks were bad, but that's to be expected. Bog/marsh was beautiful with some wildlife and was generally a very pleasant place to camp. Had a bear box as well which was great! It did rain quite a bit while I was there.

such a fun backpack site! The hike in was muddy and buggy as there was quite a bit of rain in the weeks prior to our camping trip. Picnic table, fire ring, and bear locker provided. Site offers great vies of a little beaver pond where you may get to see some wildlife! Site was able to fit 4 backpacking tents, most of which were 2 person size tents, so it is good for a small group. Private latrine a short walk into the woods.

The campsite was perfectly good: nice and spacious over looking the river. It is well off the main hiking trail and quite private. The view of the river is heavily obstructed and there really is no easy and safe way down the cliff to the river. Still it is nice to hear the river. You need to bring on drinking water, otherwise you need to go about 1/8 of a mile to a small creek to get filterable water.

The hike in is easy, but once you are off the main trail (the first mile) the trail is grass—be prepared for lots of ticks.

As a tent camper, i prefer quiet and private sights. The circle this site was part of, was just that. The walk to the updated bathrooms (with showers) is pretty pretty. It was buggy (mosquitoes) but fire and bug spray kept it manageable. The pit toilet next to site 18 had an occasional waft of smell but nothing too lingering or bad.

The site was nice a secluded but still close to water and bathrooms. The downside to this specific site is that it is close to the group camp so it was pretty noisy.

The park is a little off the beaten path so quiet on the whole. Jay Cooke has many miles of walking trails and the swinging bridge (St. Louis River) is a must see and a must cross. Campsites are fairly secluded and heavily wooded. Spend a few days at Jay Cooke, there is much to see.

Never fails this campground is perfect. Lots to do and honestly I have grown to really enjoy coming here in the winter. Yes water is shutoff and you don’t get to us le the awesome shower house but there are hardly any people here! Always enjoy this campground and the area surrounding. Lots of good hikes!

Excellent hiking and camping experiences here. Stayed for a weekend and returned after for many, many day hikes. Plenty of wildlife to see, a newly rebuilt “swing bridge” over the rusty rushing of the Saint Louis River. And the locals are pleasant, heck, it’s Minnesota! Buggy in summer due to all the water, bring excellent hiking shoes for the rocks yer gonna wanna climb around on. Excellent autumn photography options for all occasions. Camping is is a more secluded area where most day-hikers don’t come across ya.

This campground has it all: sites for families to reserve by one another, campsites with more privacy, RV specific loops. With newly updated facilities, it can feel like glamping. Good proximity to bridge and nearby hikes. I highly recommend finding the cedar forest near the CCC Trail on the north side of campground.

Jay Cooke is really a must experience state park within easy driving distance to other parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Positives:

• Amazing hiking and water play
• photogenic
• Some open site options for camping with other families or friends and many private sites
• Very clean and large shower/restroom facilities
• 15 min to small town grocery store
• Standard fire rings that you can grill on too
• lots of bird watching Negative:
• MOSQUITOS!!!! Bring bulk bug spray or extra blood.

Jay Cooke has always been one of our favorite places to camp. It has gotten so busy it’s not even that enjoyable anymore. It’s always well maintained and clean!! We booked a walk in site ( 83 ) which was beautiful! The down side was it’s very close to the camper cabins and many families with children running around unattended. They ran into out campsite yelling and screaming with flashlights and banging bat’s against the trees  while the parents did nothing even after my husband asked them nicely.  We had planned to have a quiet getaway from the city and zone out peacefully.  I have not been back since. Busses and busses of kids pulling up the the park and a 25 minute wait to cross the swing bridge.  But it is absolutely gorgeous there despite the hoards of people.

Stayed for 2 nights mid-week in October 2021. Wooded sites. New restroom/showerhouse. Clean. WiFi. 3 bars T-Mobile. Popular state park, busy campground. Fantastic hiking trails throughout state park. Helpful staff in park office. Water. Trash. Would stay here again.

We found a great walk-in site that was off the beaten path, with plenty of space to spread out. The swinging bridge is a great attraction, although very crowded. The hiking thins out as you venture further away from the bridge. Overall a great park with many updated amenities

North east Minnesota has some very beautiful country. Highly recommend this spot. 

Nice wooded sites with just a short walk to the river or water falls and although we visited in early June, there was surprisingly no bugs! Camp sites were clean and it was a very enjoyable stay.

Great hiking and mushrooming

The campground offers a lot of choices. We stayed one night in a non-electric site then were able to move over to an electric site. It was a pretty full campground, but they did not have everything open. We had some great neighbors that were tent camping next to our camper. The showerhouse was clean and they had just turned the water on so we were lucky. The reason you come here tho is the hiking and the views. I can tell you that no matter the weather the parking lot will be full but mid afternoon so best to get up early and hike. I was able to have something…wolf/coyote cross the path in front of me on one of the early morning hikes. This was a really great location and a great campground. This would be a great location for families with kids of all ages. Loads to do and experience here.

You can spend days hiking and exploring.

Great hike-in site and terrific snowshoeing (highly recommend the grand portage trail)

I fully enjoyed staying here. Scenery was amazing and you are close to many activities in northern Mn.

We were coming back from a camp trip up north and wanted to spend another night out near Duluth. We needed to find somewhere fast before sunset and this was an easy find. Lots of sites to pick from. Very large and clean bathrooms, and private shower stalls. Sites a pretty close together so not much privacy, however. Beautiful trails and river just a couple minute walk away.

We began our 2 night trip crossing the Swing bridge and headed to the left for 2.7 miles until we reached Ash Ridge, our backpack site. The hike there was easy and fairly flat. Once you are closer to the site you walk through grass and weeds that are about 4 ft tall, so be sure to check for ticks!

The campsite was very spacious and right on the St. Louis River. To get to the river you have to walk down a steep hill right next to the campsite. There are two picnic tables, a fire ring, a bear safe box, and a latrine near by.

I did not rate 5 stars due to the fact that we could hear the highway.

We have stayed in a camper cabin in the winter and RV site in the summer. We have explored so many trails on our snowshoes and cross country skis in the winter and have enjoyed many hikes and mountain bike rides in the summer months. The accommodations were well maintained with very clean campground area. The shower room is very new and the bathrooms were very clean. The cabins are pretty basic with bunk beds and a small table with chairs. The cabin we stayed in was heated with base board heaters that you have control of the temperature. We have also brought our canoe to explore the river and went fishing. There are so many trails to explore so we plan on camping here again and again!

Alright, just kidding. There’s so many different trails to be had here. There are beautiful sights to be seen and a wonderful lodge near the bridge that had a fire going as a warming shelter.