Lake Carlos State Park — Hotel in Alexandria

I'll start off by saying that this State Park is beautiful, the facilities are top notch, and its on a very nice lake with good fishing. We had good experiences with launching boats and talking with the DNR. We even had some nice chats with the maintenance people at the park in passing. The reason I'm writing this review and giving the park a poor rating is solely because of the park management.

Every year we plan a large group camping trip with 6-10 friends (age 25-35). We're well behaved, respectful, and have never had an issue at a state park. From the moment we arrived we were questioned about alcohol and they felt the need to drill the rules into us. The questioned who was staying in which tent and had an issue with two couples that were not immediate family staying at a single site in the same tent. We did end up buying another site for the weekend, as they have a strict one tent per site rule, which is listed on their website. I haven't encountered this before, but we worked with them on that one. A total of three sites for ten people seems more than adequate. I'll reiterate by saying these were all fairly reasonable and posted, but the tone of the management was very disrespectful and accusatory. The ongoing joke was that it felt like a prison camp.

Once we were settled in our campsites we were harassed a few times every day for something really minor. We weren't allowed to hang a hammock from a tree. (although other sites had clothes lines and tent anchors on trees). We were asked to move our chairs away from the fire "in case the wind comes up later", and a few other excuses to walk closely though our campsite looking for alcohol. The park rangers patrolled the campground, ticket book in hand, and seemed very unpleasant when we offered a friendly hello. They were constantly hunting for violators and made us all feel very unwelcome.

So I have no issue with the facilities or maintenance crew at Carlos. The DNR is accommodating and helpful. The management and park rangers, on the other hand, seemed unpleasant and unwelcoming. We I've been to about 10 state parks, and have never had such a poor experience with people at them. This park is a very poor representation of the management of the Minnesota State Park System. We have no...

This was one of my favorite state parks to camp! We camped here early in September and while the campground was full, it did not feel crowded. There is a lot of room to spread put and enjoy the shore and the lake. The kids spent hours playing in the water and skipping rocks. We stayed in the lower campground. The water spigot were tricky to locate as they are in the middle of the campsites instead of along the road. Its best to locate these while its still light out and not while you are ready to put out your fire. The bathrooms were clean. In the women's bathroom near the boat docks the water pressure was a little low and showers took a bit to warm up, but thats camping for you. The sites at the lower campground are close together so you are cozy with neighbors. It is a great MN vibe though and we felt safe there. The park ranger patrolled regularly. The upper campground is more wooded and spread out but farther from amenities. The staff was so friendly and the office is open later than others in the state. We visited the center that had coloring sheets for the kids and some fun information about the lake and area. We enjoyed some of the trails but ran out of time so we...

Lake Carlos State Park is skin deep dive into nature, mostly reserved for RV campers, boaters, and cabin camping aficionados. Now don't get me wrong, the park is really nice in general, with modern amenities and friendly staff, but don't come here expecting to immerse yourself in the wild and feel secluded from society: this park is always busy (in the summer). Focusing on the lake that is its namesake, the park has a distinct lack of extensive trails. The trails that are here are enjoyable at best and offer easy to medium difficulty ratings on mostly flat terrain. They are not "destination trails", meaning they do not take the hiker to a scenic goal, but instead offer a look into the woods and the wildlife that lives there, while not inherently bad, leaves the hiker with a distinct "lack of adventure" feeling. That being said, the boat access is nice and the park allows boaters to leave them landed on the beach during their stay, allowing for quick and easy trips out onto Lake Carlos and the whole chain of lakes that make this area famous, which is the real reason anyone comes to camp at this park (and maybe the...