Trails End Campground
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $22–$24Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 33All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
Trail's End Campground is located next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in a remote area of Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota. It is a wonderful place to sit and enjoy life, or get out on the water to canoe and fish. Berry picking and wildlife viewing are also great fun. Keep reading
Recreation
Trail's End includes four entry points (54, 55, J and K) into the BWCAW, offering plenty of boating, canoeing and fishing opportunities. Overnight, day use and boat motor permits are required for entry, and horsepower limits are in effect. Day use and overnight permits are available at the campground. Wildlife viewing is exceptional for bald eagles, osprey, loons and moose, and fishing is good for walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass and lake trout. View recreation guides and maps of hiking trails and canoe routes in the national forest.
Facilities
Many campsites are walk-to sites designated for tent camping only. Some have a view of or access to water, while other have steep drop-offs. Other campsites can accommodate equipment ranging in size from tents to 45-foot RVs. The campground is routinely patrolled by the County Sheriff and campground host. Commercial services include canoe rentals, outfitting, showers, groceries and gear. Long and short term parking for the BWCAW is also available.
Natural Features
Trail's End sits along the Seagull River and provides access to Seagull, Gull and Saganaga Lakes. Numerous species of wildlife live in and around the campground, and blueberries grow abundantly on the forest floor. White and red pine, aspen and birch trees grow in the forested parts of the facility, providing shade. The fire burned a mosaic pattern, reducing some areas to ash while leaving others untouched. Many trees survived and burned areas have begun to grow again. This is a great opportunity to see a young forest rejuvenate after a fire. Post-fire soils and young trees are delicate, so caution should be taken while walking in the forest. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (218) 387-1750.
Nearby Attractions
The nearby Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is a great way to spend an afternoon with the family. Many nature trails crisscross the center's 50-acre grounds. The BWCAW is by far the most popular nearby attraction. Over 1 million acres in size, the Boundary Waters extend nearly 150 miles along the United States-Canada border and contain over 1,200 miles of canoe routes, 12 hiking trails and over 2,000 designated campsites. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Additional sites of interest
What the agency tells you
Additional fee for campers arriving in a second vehicle collected on-site for second vehicle
No off-road vehicles allowed
Be bear aware; keep all food out of sight in approved containers or locked inside a hard-sided vehicle
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Click here to learn more about Superior National Forest
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.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 33 · 15 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- WATER SPIGOT on 13 of 33 campsite records
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · darkest of 77 in MN
- Bortle 1
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $22–$24 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.
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 Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
33 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 33 mapped sitesAll 33 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 33 of the 33 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 33 of the 33 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.
| TEND | 014 | tent only nonelectric | 107 ft | 152 ft | 224 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 015 | tent only nonelectric | 103 ft | 113 ft | 204 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 016 | tent only nonelectric | 103 ft | 68 ft | 247 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 017 | tent only nonelectric | 171 ft | 141 ft | 184 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 57 ft | 72 ftSea Gull River | 364 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 019 | tent only nonelectric | 57 ft | 65 ftSea Gull River | 411 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 020 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 233 ft | 242 ftSea Gull Lake | 513 ft | $22–$24 |
| TEND | 021 | tent only nonelectric | 115 ft | 90 ftSea Gull Lake | 785 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 115 ft | 51 ftSea Gull Lake | 786 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 023 | tent only nonelectric | 177 ft | 59 ftSea Gull Lake | 658 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 024 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 59 ft | 59 ftSea Gull Lake | 494 ft | $22–$24 |
| TEND | 025 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 52 ft | 52 ftSea Gull Lake | 435 ft | $22–$24 |
| TEND | 026 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 52 ft | 99 ftSea Gull Lake | 422 ft | $22–$24 |
| TEND | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 67 ft | 33 ftSea Gull Lake | 260 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 028 | tent only nonelectric | 67 ft | 53 ftSea Gull Lake | 204 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 029 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 300 ftSea Gull Lake | 129 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 030 | tent only nonelectric | 46 ft | 255 ftSea Gull Lake | 117 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 031 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 116 ft | 176 ftSea Gull Lake | 69 ft | $22–$24 |
| TEND | 032 | tent only nonelectric | 92 ft | 79 ftSea Gull Lake | 161 ft | $22 | |
| TEND | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 92 ft | 43 ftSea Gull Lake | 225 ft | $22 | |
| TRAI | 001 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 211 ft | 197 ft | 97 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 002 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 211 ft | 176 ft | 147 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 003 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 186 ft | 225 ft | 241 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 004 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 107 ft | 306 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 005 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 114 ft | 304 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 006 | standard nonelectric | 15 ft | 68 ft | 104 ft | 334 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 007 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 41 ft | 89 ft | 387 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 008 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 41 ft | 74 ft | 405 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 009 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 63 ft | 76 ft | 416 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 010 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 92 ft | 62 ft | 432 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 011 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 118 ft | 248 ft | 170 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 012 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 118 ft | 307 ft | 56 ft | $22–$24 |
| TRAI | 013 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 122 ft | 266 ft | 85 ft | $22–$24 |
25 of 33 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Iron LakeSuperior National Forest · 14 mi
Sawbill Lake Campground - Superior National ForestSuperior National Forest · 21 miBaker Lake Rustic CampgroundSuperior National Forest · 22 mi
Crescent Lake (MN)23 miCrescent Lake Campground & Backcountry SitesSuperior National Forest · 23 mi
Flour Lake CampgroundSuperior National Forest · 24 miFrom Grand Marais, Minnesota, take Gunflint Trail (County Road 12) 57 miles north. Gunflint Trail ends at Trail's End Campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Lutsen, MN
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 49°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night -6°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Trails End 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 →