Ninemile Lake Campground
- Right now
- Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
- A night
- $18From, per site
- Sites
- 2726 on recreation.gov
- Season
- May 9 – September 30Open May 9 through September 30
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 8 notices
In the agency’s own words
Ninemile Lake Campground is perfect for people wanting to do some exploring while camping. A boat ramp leads to Ninemile Lake, complete with islands and hidden bays. For birders and hikers, there is a trail through boreal hardwoods, beginning across the road from the campground entrance, with 0.5 miles of maintained hiking trail. North of the campground, on County 7, is access to Echo Lake, a portage access to Goldeneye Lake. Keep reading
Recreation
Ninemile Lake is close to 300 acres in size. It is a popular fishing spot for walleye, northern, bass, and pan fish. The surrounding National Forest offers a wide variety of recreational opportunities, including hiking in secluded woodlands, canoeing, and hunting.
Facilities
This is a moderate size facility, with 13 first come, first served campsites and 13 reservable sites that are private and close to the water. Trash collection, solar powered water pump, and restrooms are provided.
Natural Features
The area is scenic and easily accessible. Superior National Forest is known for its boreal forest ecosystem, numerous clean lakes, diversity of plants and animals, and colorful cultural history.
Nearby Attractions
Numerous outdoor recreation opportunities lie within Superior National Forest's 77 lake access areas, 13 fishing piers, 10 swimming beaches, and 22 picnic areas. The forest is also home to three scenic byways. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (218) 663-8060.
Charges & Cancellations
Rules and Reservation Policies
What the agency tells you
Campground host to be determined
Maximum of nine people per site. There is space for one vehicle and one towed vehicle (such as a boat trailer). Additional vehicles on the site require additional half fee and must park on the spur. No vehicles may park on the grass or where they impede traffic.
Please use facilities provided such as fire rings, tent pads, and latrines.
Everything else this campground posts · 5
Dispose of waste in containers provided.
Water faucets are for drinking water only, do not use as wash areas. Hose hookups are not permitted.
Noise limits enforced, respect your fellow campers.
Store your food so wildlife can't get to it. Bears and other animals will eat food that isn't stored securely.
RV Camping - Sites are pull-in and not specifically designed for RVs. Most can accommodate a moderately sized vehicle, some may not be suitable for an RV.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 27
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 8 of 28 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 8 of 28 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 8 of 28 campsite records, DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 8 of 28 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 8 of 28 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 8 of 28 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, Beach
- Accessible Swimming
- Auto Touring
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Mountain biking
- Mushroom Picking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Paddling
- Picnicking
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
recreation.gov lists 26 of the 27 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.
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.
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 make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 16
What you actually pay
“Additional vehicles or trailers on the site require an additional $9.00 fee to be paid.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own fee record
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $18 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.
“Rules and Reservation Policies” · this campground’s own terms
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 · 7
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
28 records
All 28 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 26 of the 28 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Ninemile Lake | 1 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 10 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 11 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 12 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 13 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 14 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 15 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 16 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 17 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 18 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 19 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 2 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 20 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 21 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 22 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 23 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 24 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 25 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 26 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 3 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 4 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 5 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 6 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 7 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 8 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | 9 | standard nonelectric | $18 |
| Ninemile Lake | Host | host pad | |
| Ninemile Lake | Overflow | type not stated |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It names it a host pad. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 28 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Wilson Lake Rustic Campground & Backcountry SitesSuperior National Forest · 5.7 miHarriet Lake Rustic CampgroundSuperior National Forest · 5.7 mi
Divide Lake Campground & Backcountry SitesSuperior National Forest · 8.8 miWhitefish Lake Rustic Campgd & Timber-Frear AreaSuperior National Forest · 9.8 miNinemile Lake Campground is off County Road 7, northwest of Schroeder and northeast of Finland.
- From MN 61, at Schroeder, turn on Co.1 (Cramer Rd.)
- Follow Co.1 (it will turn to Co.8) about 10 miles to Co.7.
- Turn right on Co.7, and go 4 miles.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Finland, MN
Typical weather
Typical May night 40°F, day 60°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical May night 40°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Ninemile Lake Campground 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 →