Myre-Big Island State Park — Attraction in Albert Lea

This review is mostly for the group camp, though parts of it are for the regular campsites too. Its a fine park, it just needs some minor upgrades to get a better review.

Pros:

1. Its a beautiful state park with plenty of space.
2. The hiking was nice. Not as much of the main trail was next to the lake as you would like, but it was still a nice hike.
3. Staff was very helpful and nice.
4. Group camp was wonderful. It was plenty spacious. We had 7 adults and 5 kids and two dogs, with 4 tents up and there was plenty of room . Plus the view of the sunset across the lake from the group camp was amazing.

Cons - where to begin:

1. The group camp is not marked with any signage and can be tough to find. When you actually get to parking for where the group camp is, you are not sure you are in the right place (and yes, I can read a map , and was certain I was in the right place. But every other group camp I have been in, especially when it is a hike in, is marked with some kind of signage) The only sign that is there is a sign that says 'Toilet'.
2. Because there is no signage except for the Toilet sign, everybody thinks its a trail. We had over 10 different groups of people come into the group camp thinking it was a trail, only to find people already there, trying to enjoy themselves. Its not the biggest deal, but when strangers walk into a group camp, it causes dogs to bark, which wakes kids from naps. Not the end of the world, but solvable by putting in a sign that says "only group camp site residents" or something. Anything.
3. There is not specific parking for the group camp. The parking is shared with the parking for the canoe rental boat launch and the fishing dock. It wasn't a problem the first night, but the second day, there was a group of about 50 people renting all the canoes, and they brought about 20 cars. They double parked most of us in, so we couldn't even get our cars out. That isn't the parks fault necessarily, but its a problem none the less. We could only get one car out, and that car was used to go get more firewood and ice. When we came back, there was no where to park. The hike in is far enough when carrying bundles of wood. Now you have to walk like an extra quarter of a mile because you have nowhere to park. It was a huge con.
4. Because the canoes and docks are so close to the group camp, you get all that noise. If those groups are making any amount of noise, you will hear it. And they wouldn't think they need to be silent, especially in the early AM, because there is no damn sign to let any of the non group campers know there is a group camp there. When the large group was there the second day of our trip, we could here their noise all afternoon. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it wasn't exactly peaceful either.
5. This one grinds my gears . There is no water or trash at the group camp. I can understand water, fine, I will travel to the regular camp sites to get water. But no trash? How is there nothing? Seems poorly set up to not have anything, especially since the parking around is also for the boat rental and fishing docks. How isn't there a single garbage can/ dumpster for all those people using that space? It doesn't make any sense to me.
6. Its a hike in group camp. Not the worst, but about 600 feet. I measured it using GPS on my phone. I can easily walk 600 feet. But it can get annoying when you have to make many multiple trips. Its not the biggest con in the world, but its not fun making multiple trips carrying bundles of wood. Especially when that short hike in becomes much longer, because you can't actually get a parking spot in the group camp lot.
7. This con is subjective and not fully researched, as I only went into the regular campgrounds to get water and dump trash. But the sites didn't seem to have much between them. And quite a few sites seems right on top of each other with nothing separating the sites.

Overall, a fun but average...

I had a wonderful time at this park! I stayed in backpack site 3. There is a mix of lakeshore, forest and prairie here. When I visited there were no garbage receptacles at the picnic area and the restrooms were closed (I think likely because it's after labor day) but the vault toilets were fine, and I did find dumpsters at the main campground. If you're doing the hiking club trail, it's a longer one compared to most of the other parks so be prepared for that. I did a few sections of it and never did find the password (it must be in one of the parts I didn't get to). The trails are mostly flat and wide. There are portions that overlap with a bike trail. The signs are adequate to get around without having to have a map in hand or on your phone.

The backpacking sites are a ways from the campground but not too far. 1 and 2 are closer, but spaced out from each other, and 3, 4 and 5 are on the outer edge of the park right off the lake (I believe you can also paddle in, at least there was a portage sign in site 3). Make sure to get water before proceeding to the backpacking sites. The only downside to my site was that I could hear highway noise. I think 1+2 are farther away from the road.

The bird watching in the fall is incredible. I saw or heard over 30 species of birds, including 2 kinds of owls at night. If you visit the backpack sites you'll be treated to hundreds of pelicans, ducks, geese, herons, and...

Myre-Big Island State park is awesome!all the deer that come up to the camp sites is amazing! I love seeing all the nature! I would not recommend this place to anyone who needs electric hookups or wants to run a generator! We were kicked out of the State park with no given reason, The park warden later said "I'm glad you found someplace that suits your needs better!"

The only thing we needed was some electric when it was cold and some ac when it was above 75. But that was to much for the state park! Anybody else could run a generator but we could not! The showers at the state park are so hot they scold you I have taken showers there and had to be treated for first degree burns from the water being to hot! My mom got told she cold not park in front of our camper crosswise because it would kill the grass! Other people did it and they said nothing to them! Not suppose to take wood from the woods and burn it but we saw a whole bunch of people doing it! The state park in Albert Lea MN has its favorite people and they allow them to do whatever they want to do and it spoils it for everyone else that visits there! We got kicked out because we lived there from November 1st 2021through December 2021, came back in February for a week then back in March and kicked out memorial...