Writing tonight from a campground in western Montana. As of today we have been on the road for exactly ONE MONTH! We’re still loving it and looking forward to two more months of adventures. But now to pick up the story where we left off…
Heading west from Minneapolis, we stayed one more night in Minnesota on our way to South Dakota. We stopped at a campground in Worthington, MN called Olson Park campground. Olson Park is in a unique location by a lake (Lake Okabena) and a bay (Sunset Bay) that have just a thin strip of land between them – most of which is road. It was a nice, peaceful spot by the water.
This campground was the setting for a great Emelie quote. Emelie, in the shower, said, “Look Mamma there’s a big spider. (Going closer…) No, that’s too big. That’s a crab. Look Mamma, it’s a crab! Can I pet it?” (Spider photo unavailable because, well, we were in the shower. So no camera. Don’t worry though… while it was a large spider, it was certainly not crab-like. And I didn’t let her pet it.)
Here’s a short campground review:
Price: $23/night, only cash accepted. There’s no office to register when you come in (at least not after Labor Day), but you can just choose an available site and the manager will come around in the evening and collect the fee.
Location: It’s right by a lake in a pretty area, and it was just the right distance between destinations for us, but otherwise it’s not really close to anything noteworthy as far as I know.
Facilities: Bathrooms and showers only. The shower had no way to adjust the water temperature, and the pressure came out like a pressure-washer. Doable if you’re an adult I guess, but it was not a good place to shower the kids. The playground was good and even had some equipment adapted for kids with disabilities.
Site Description: Lots of shade and trees, and in early September, a lot of leaves on the ground too.
Neighborhood: There were not many other campers at Olson Park when we were there. It was relatively quiet and we didn’t really talk to anyone other than the manager.
Comments: This was only a short stop for us, so it was great. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed staying much longer though. The facilities left a lot to be desired for a longer stay. Also worth noting, there are spots that are considered “lake front” and which cost more, but the view is largely obstructed by trees and there’s a road between the campground and the lake, so it doesn’t really feel like “lake front” and, in my opinion, is certainly not worth paying any extra for.
