U.S. Forest Service · Chippewa National Forest · MN

Chippewa Loop

ReservableOut of season, no booking; November 23 opens May 23.
Book on recreation.govWe make nothing when you book
Right now
Listed not openA database flag with no reason and no date
A night
$26From, per site
Sites
6345 on recreation.gov
99 ftLongest rig
1,330 ftElevation
784 ftWater · an unnamed pond
15.3 miSE of Bemidji, MN
63%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices

In the agency’s own words

Chippewa Loop is part of the Norway Beach Recreation Area, on the southern shores of beautiful Cass Lake in north central Minnesota. The campground is a perfect location for family camping, with excellent boating and fishing opportunities. Keep reading

Recreation

Cass Lake offers many recreational activities, including boating, canoeing, water skiing and swimming. Anglers fish for walleye, northern pike, perch and trophy muskie. A boat ramp is nearby. Star Island, in the middle of Cass Lake, is a unique feature of the Chippewa National Forest. Six miles of trails wind around the island, which is home to 199-acre Lake Windigo. Hiking and biking trails are available in the area, including the Migizi Bike Trail and the Norway Beach Trail. The Norway Beach Visitor Center is nearby. This building, with its magnificent fireplace, is a monument to the talents and craftsmanship of Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees. Educational programs and displays depict Dakota and Ojibwe heritage and the area's flora and fauna. A variety of special events are held at the center throughout the year. A kid's fishing day is held in June, Bald Eagle Day is sometime in July, and Smokey Bear's birthday party is held in August. Interpretive programs are offered every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Facilities

The Chippewa Loop offers 46 campsites, some of which are available on first-come, first-served basis. Thirty of the sites are equipped with electric hookups. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided.

Natural Features

The campground is situated on the banks of Cass Lake, in a forest of mature red and white pine trees. Some sites overlook the scenic lake. Cass Lake is the largest of eight lakes that make up the Cass Lake Chain of Lakes. The lake covers nearly 16,000 acres and has 27 miles of forested shoreline and sandy beaches.

Nearby Attractions

The town of Cass Lake is four miles west of the campground, offering restaurants, a bank, grocery and hardware stores, a movie theater and museum.

What the agency tells you

Rule

Fee includes one camping unit (camper, RV, pop-up, family tent) per site; additional units will be charged an additional fee

Rule

Click here for more information on the Chippewa National Forest

Rule

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.

Everything else this campground posts · 1
Rule

Northern Minnesota is home to black bears. Campers must keep coolers and other bear attractants locked inside hard-sided campers or in vehicles when not attended, including overnight. Black bears are present and active within the campground area. Feeding any wildlife, including hanging bird feeders, is strictly prohibited. NEW FOR 2025: Chippewa National Forest Campground Food Storage Order

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Tents and rigs

Sites
63
Hookups
45 electric
Longest rig
64 ft
Accessible sites
4
Pets
Allowed
Shade
Every site
Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets
Flush Toilets
“…are equipped with electric hookups. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. Natural…”
Drinking water
Yes
“…hookups. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. Natural Features The campground is…”
Boat ramp
Yes
Camp host
On site
recreation.gov lists “Host”
Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026
Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Beach
Biking
Birding
Boating
Fishing
Historic site
Ranger programs
Swimming
Water sports
Wildlife viewing
Night sky · 66th darkest of 77 in MN
Bortle 3
Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

No reading yet, book on recreation.gov

recreation.gov lists 45 of the 63 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.

No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.

Booking windowOut of seasonOut of season, no booking. On November 23, 2026 at 10 AM ET, availability opens through May 23, 2027.recreation.govAdd to calendar (.ics)
A night$26plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule
A weekend$60DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule
Runs itU.S. Forest ServiceBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record
Watch for a cancellation

Full? Watch it.

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

We’ll write once, when the season that starts Sun, May 23 2027 is open for booking.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.
Book on recreation.gov

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 12

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night$26
Standard Electric$26
These are next season’s rates, May 23, 2027 to Sep 7, 2027. The campground is between seasons now.
The booking feerecreation.gov
Reservation fee, booked online$8
One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.
Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.
What a stay costs
One nightDerived$34
A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$60

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $26 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov
Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10
Cancellation fee$10
Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night
No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

64 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 44 mapped sites
72 ftbetween you and the next site, typically
Least roomLoop CHIP 090 38 ftLoop CHIP 091 38 ftLoop CHIP 098 39 ft

All 64 records

62 of 64 records located
RV / electric44Type not stated17Unnamed record1
SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 63 of the 64 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.

CHIP079standard electric60 ft30 amp45 ft573 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP080standard electric60 ft30 amp76 ft646 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP081standard electric53 ft30 amp45 ft555 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP082standard electric60 ft30 amp84 ft646 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP083standard electric50 ft30 amp96 ft531 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP084standard electric64 ft30 amp96 ft520 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP085standard electric47 ft30 amp58 ft539 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP086standard electric50 ft30 amp58 ft497 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP087standard electric46 ft30 amp75 ft390 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP088standard electric54 ft30 amp62 ft319 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP089standard electric60 ft30 amp62 ft277 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP090standard electric54 ft30 ampyes38 ft325 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP091standard electric63 ft30 ampyes38 ft329 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP092standard electric55 ft30 amp56 ft272 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP093standard electric62 ft30 amp62 ft266 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP094standard electric58 ft30 amp62 ft255 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP095standard electric61 ft30 amp53 ft283 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP096standard electric48 ft30 amp53 ft276 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP097standard electric62 ft30 amp49 ft369 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP098standard electric60 ft30 amp39 ft379 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP099standard electric60 ft30 amp49 ft409 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP100standard electric56 ft30 amp39 ft417 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP101standard electric60 ft30 amp76 ft770 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP102standard electric60 ft30 amp103 ft870 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP103standard electric60 ft30 amp72 ft857 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP104standard electric58 ft30 amp72 ft801 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP105standard electric57 ft30 amp133 ft664 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP106standard electric54 ft30 ampyes75 ft677 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP107standard electric50 ft30 ampyes75 ft604 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP108standard electric53 ft30 amp76 ft735 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP109standard electric53 ft30 amp$26
CHIP110standard electric30 amp75 ft529 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP111standard electric30 amp75 ft485 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP112standard electric30 amp89 ft399 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP113standard electric30 amp79 ft237 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP114standard electric30 amp79 ft240 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP115standard electric30 amp76 ft410 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP116standard electric30 amp84 ft249 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP117standard electric30 amp72 ft338 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP118standard electric30 amp81 ft269 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP119standard electric30 amp72 ft367 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP120standard electric30 amp81 ft289 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP121standard electric30 amp108 ft371 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP122standard electric30 amp53 ft456 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP123standard electric30 amp53 ft479 ftCass Lake$26
CHIP124type not stated30 amp561 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES109type not stated154 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES110type not stated166 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES111type not stated140 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES112type not stated136 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES113type not stated76 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES114type not stated81 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES115type not stated88 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES116type not stated102 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES117type not stated97 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES118type not stated103 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES119type not stated101 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES120type not stated91 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES121type not stated88 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES122type not stated173 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES123type not stated193 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITES124type not stated200 ftCass Lake$26
MANAGEMENT SITESXXXunnamed record99 ftyes198 ftCass Lake$26
S&PStandard S&Ptype not stated53 ft30 amp$26

The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It types it MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

25 of 64 listed

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Coordinate47.38243, -94.50851
The phone218-335-8600
The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Getting there

From Cass Lake, Minn., take U.S. Highway 2 east for 4 miles, to the Norway Beach Recreation Area. Turn left and follow the campground road until the signs indicate the Chippewa Loop.

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon47°Sunny
Tonight35°Clear
Saturday59°Sunny
Saturday Night45°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Cass Lake, MN

Typical weather

Typical October night 34°F, day 52°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night -4°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

90°32°-10°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: CASS LAKE, MN (USC00211374), 5 miles away and 34 ft lower

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

Roadless country, and what’s coming for it

Roadless
Potato Island10 acres · 5 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Who answers for this land

Pete Stauber, official portrait

Chippewa Loop is in Minnesota’s 8th congressional district. Its representative, Pete Stauber (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: U.S. Forest Service’s own recreation database flags it not open and publishes no reason and no date. That’s a flag, not a notice: the number below is the only way to be sure.
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Cass Lake, MN, 2.9 mi E. Straight line.