Nerstrand State Park is one of the closest parks to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul that offers camping facilities. The park is sited on roughly 1400 acres of land originally platted as 20 acre woodlots for the farmers who settled the surrounding area. The land is unremarkable except for a small waterfall on an unnavigable river. Recent park management has emphasized development of the trail system. The campground is unchanged since the 1970s except for the removal water supplies to individual campsites in accordance with current statewide park policy. Electric is 30a only. Sites are more closely spaced than most other state parks. The park is located away from major roads and provides a quiet, secluded environment with a trail system that crosses a variety of ecological niches, prairie and forest. Despite the lack of a focal point and the somewhat dated campground design and facilities, the park offers an enjoyable weekend getaway close to the cities. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

This is a State Park that has so much to offer. It has miles of hiking trails, a nice water fall that is just a short hike from the campground. It has a playground and geo caching. It is very quiet and wooded. We stayed in site 7 because we did not have reservations but it was a nice site and would stay there again. We will be back. If you are planning on a weekend in the summer make sure you have reservations or get there early enough to get a non reservable site. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.