namakan island

We visited the park from July 26th to 29th, 2012. I thought if we went there on a Thursday that we wouldn't have a problem finding a campsite. All the campsites are first-come, first-serve. We didn't get the boat in the water until after 3:00 that day. After finding all of the sites nearby on Namakan lake full, a kind soul told us about a spot on a bay, very level and grassy, that would be perfect for camping. I won't say where it is here, if you want to know, you can message me. So... we went there and set up camp. Even though the campsites were full (it was a peak week in MN), it didn't see "busy" on the lakes at all. We boated up to Kettle Falls Hotel and mapped out a couple good fishing sites. Very quiet and beautiful. No bear sightings, but we did hang our food from a tree. There was a snake that lived under the firepit that came out every once in awhile. Highly recommend if you want to experience true nature. Bugs were out, but not terrible, typical Minnesota.

Good time to be alone, catch up on sleep and getting some sun. Quite and peaceful with very few boaters, just us and the critters :)

We stayed at the NE Namakan Island large group site. Some thought it was roughing it and some thought it was heaven, I thought it was somewhere in between. There were three couples in our group and each couple had a tent and we all shared a big screen tent to sit in when the bugs came out or it rained. The site was spacious and had big smooth rocks for sunning on and easy access from the rocks to the water for swimming. We were also able to bring the boat in to load and unload our supplies. The bear lockers were plentiful and the privy was not to long of a walk. The site was on a small bay that had access close by to a sandy beach were we tied the boat up and then had a short 30 second walk from the boat to the site. We didn't come across any bears or moose on the island, but we did set left over food on the rocks and watch the gulls come in for scraps. The boat ride from the Ash River was about 10 minutes and Kettle Falls was about 20 minutes. One day it rained and we went to Kettle Falls to dry off and have some lunch. We also did some fishing one day and spent time exploring the island and lakes.