Echo Lake (Minn)

Very nicely secluded sites. Restrooms were clean and did NOT smell. There is a short trail down to the lake that is beautiful.

The campsite itself was AMAZING! Very well thought out and spacious enough to have a nice long stay with several people! The lake was a bit choppy and pretty busy with motor boats making our canoe trip less than desirable, with wind causing extremely choppy conditions, but otherwise an excellent campsite! Highly recommend!

Our reservation for Boundary Waters EP 14 was cancelled, so our Plan B was camping at Echo Lake. We really enjoyed our time there and used the opportunity to explore the area. We took day trips to Vermillion Falls and to the Voyageurs National Park area. At our campsite, we really enjoyed the little beach, which was a short walk from our site, and paddled our canoe across the lake. The camp host was great and nice to talk with. We enjoyed the quiet and solitude at this campground--while it wasn't the Boundary Waters trip we were hoping for, it was a wonderful experience and we made some beautiful memories.

It is a quiet campground with sites situated far enough from each other. The Campground host did a very good job of keeping the bathrooms clean! He was also very helpful with questions. There is a short hiking trail from the campground to some overlooks and interesting rocks. The lake is shallow which is okay for small children. Older children will not find it much fun as the lake is very shallow overall.

Host was very helpful and friendly, though you never know whether you'll ever see a given host again in the future.

The road in seems well maintained, not steep anywhere and a smooth ride.

My campsite was spacious and private; I normally don't bring my dog when I haven't been to a specific campground before because I'm never sure whether she'll be able to have enough space away from other dogs. This would be a safe campground for even shy or nervous dogs provided (as always) that other dog owners are being responsible. You'd definitely have better luck here than at many crowded campgrounds.

That said, there are signs up that food needs to be secure from bears, so maybe don't bring the dog...? There are definitely black bears in this region though I've never been overly concerned.

There's no getting away from incessant generator noise at any remote campsite. This site is no different. Someday someone will invent air conditioners that can run on solar. Until then...get used to dawn to dark generator noise.

The site has good quality drinking water at a pump shed. The only garbage dump is at a boat landing down the road, not on-site. Toilets are your typical one-hole vault toilet.

The lakefront paths were well maintained and the play area was nicely mowed. There's a small beach as well, though the lake itself is kind of grassy and shallow.

Finally: bugs. It's a forest service campground on a lake in Minnesota. There are going to be lots of bugs. You would be kidding yourself to think otherwise. Bring DEET, Thermacells, everything in your arsenal.

Good on privacy, but sites are big enough for campers but have no power hookup -if you like quiet, maybe find somewhere more rustic or tents-only.

Camp ground is great. The only negative is you need another bathroom by the group campsite.

We love to go to Echo Lake, that being said, the group site is in poor condition. Much of it is in a low lying area that gets wet and swampy. The grass, weeds and brush are usually overgrown. This camp site needs some attention. We're not expecting much, we know we are going to the woods. However, we don't like paying for a group site and then having everyone huddle in one corner of it because the rest is under water or extremely muddy. It needs some fill. Overall, the rest of the campground is good. Love the hiking trails, beach and playground area, berry picking. Be sure to stay away from the playground up by the campsites, its a major deteriorating hazard!