About South Kawishiwi River
Number of accommodations: 21
Campground Amenities
-
Potable Water -
River Access
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Sites & Availability
21 Sites Available
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Site Details
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21 Sites Available
No available sites
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Reviews (116)
What Guests Are Saying
South Kawishiwi River is a beautifully maintained campground with well-spaced, clean sites and friendly camp hosts who ensure excellent upkeep, including impressively clean vault toilets. Visitors appreciate the peaceful atmosphere, great water access for canoeing, and lovely swimming spots nearby. While there are occasional issues with mosquitoes and site sizes, the overall experience is highly positive, making it a favorite destination for campers.
What Guests Are Saying
South Kawishiwi River is a beautifully maintained campground with well-spaced, clean sites and friendly camp hosts who ensure excellent upkeep, including impressively clean vault toilets. Visitors appreciate the peaceful atmosphere, great water access for canoeing, and lovely swimming spots nearby. While there are occasional issues with mosquitoes and site sizes, the overall experience is highly positive, making it a favorite destination for campers.
Review Summary
Paul B
VerifiedJune 26, 2025 • Stayed at: 026, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
This campground is a diamond in the rough: beautiful sites (several of which have a dedicated path to the riverside), 10 miles from Ely, super quiet, not technically a dark skies park but weather permitting, you will see some beautiful stars. Vault toilets were SPOTLESS. Camp hosts friendly. No dump station or showers but both are available in Ely. Will definitely stay again.
Jonathan W
VerifiedJune 12, 2025 • Stayed at: 012, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Host was friendly and the site was level. Even though the campground was full, the atmosphere was rather quiet except for the birds chirping and wind gently blowing through the trees. Been to this campground before and will continue to stay from time-to-time.
David W
VerifiedOctober 6, 2024 • Stayed at: 023, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
I travel and seek out USFS campgrounds to camp in. The vault toilets at this campground are by far the cleanest and most well maintained that I have ever been in.
Janna K
VerifiedAugust 18, 2024 • Stayed at: 026, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Lovely setting. The camp hosts are great - friendly, helpful, the restrooms are very clean, and reserved sites are clearly posted and up-to-date.
Lisa P
VerifiedAugust 15, 2024 • Stayed at: 029, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Beautiful river to swim in. Clean bathrooms, excellent sites. Very well kept campground.
Dave M
VerifiedJuly 28, 2024 • Stayed at: 001, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Clean vault outhouse and really nice campsites with a lot of privacy. The state person that was in charge stopped by to see how we were doing and tell us a little about the area. Hope to visit this place again.
Paige W
VerifiedJuly 21, 2024 • Stayed at: 012, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Amazing camp ground. Nice beach, toilets are very clean and well maintained. We would definitely stay here again.
Pam H
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: 026, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
We’ve waited awhile to get reservations. Could never get in on weekends so had to wait for retirement and go during the week.
Definitely worth the wait! So quiet, peaceful, great fishing and wonderful weather.
Michael G
VerifiedJuly 16, 2024 • Stayed at: 009, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
Gnats and Mosquitos were so bad you couldn't open your mouth outside, and not anyone's fault it rained all three days.
Sites ( driveways) very small. Our in-laws couldn't even put their awning out. With rain, not convenient.
Nancy Z
VerifiedSeptember 30, 2023 • Stayed at: 005, Loop: SOUTH KAWISHIWI RIVER
This campground is along the S. Kawishiwi River and provides great access to the water. It is very clean and well kept.
The outhouses are always clean. The sites offer a fair amount of variety whether tenting or using some sort of RV.
Dan, the campground host, will go out of his way to help you. He is quite conscientious about his duties and will take extra effort to assist you. He does an evening check to keep a quiet, well-kept campground.
This campground is a hidden gem.
Location South Kawishiwi River
Address:
Kawishiwi Ranger District
Ely, MN, 55731
United States
From Ely, Minnesota, travel about 10.3 miles south on State Highway 1 toward Lake Superior. Turn left onto the campground road.
Latitude & Longitude: 47.8156 / -91.7314
Elevation: 449 feet
Policies & Rules
| Category | About |
|---|---|
| General |
Traveling within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness requires a permit; day use requires a self-issued permit; overnight use requires a permit from the quota system. |
| General |
Beach and picnic areas open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. |
| General |
The South Kawishiwi River Campground holds a pavilion for rent (site 33) that can accommodate up to 26 people. The site also has an outdoor cooking area with a large grill and two picnic tables. See site 33 for more information. |
| General |
Off-road and all-terrain vehicles not allowed during camping season. |
| General |
During the walk-in season please contact the Superior National Forest for information. |
| General |
Please Note: One towed vehicle per single camping unit will be allowed for no extra charge if it can be parked completely on the surfaced area and does not create a safety hazard. Examples of towed vehicles include a boat trailer or a car towed by a motor home. Two motorcycles are considered one vehicle.
|
| General |
Reserved Sites will be held until check out time (NOON) the day following your arrival date. Sites must be occupied by the checkout time of that following day to hold a reservation or the site will be forfeited and released to other guests. Once your reservation start date has begun, neither the Recreation.gov Contact Center nor the campground manager will be able to modify your reservation. |
| General |
Refunds: Refund requests made through www.recreation.gov will be charged a $10 processing fee. This fee is retained by the reservation service contractor along with the non-refundable reservation fee. All requests for the return of the non-refundable reservation fee and the cancellation fee will be declined by the campground concessionaire as they did not receive these fees (these are the fees retained by the reservation contractor, a different entity). |
| General |
Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information. |
| General |
superior Click here to learn more about Superior National Forest. |
