MANKATO — Great American minds think alike once again as families flock to area campsites for the holiday weekend.
Nothing says Independence Day like a grilled hotdog and a campfire. That’s why lots of families head out to state parks and nearby campgrounds for the long weekend.
With so many families looking to escape the cities and take a break by roasting marshmallows and hiking trails, campgrounds often get busy over the Fourth of July weekend.
Ryan Thilges, public works director for Blue Earth County, said sites were filling up fast in area parks.
“For Bray Park, all RV sites are booked for a total of 34 sites,” Thilges said. “Most tent sites are booked, too.”
Thilges mentioned other nearby places such as Daly Park near Mapleton are filling up quickly too, with only five to 10 RV and tent sites available per park.
Minneopa State Park, a hotspot for camping near Mankato, tends to gain a lot of traction especially on long weekends like this. With its main attraction being the bison grazing and the park’s two waterfalls, Minneopa workers typically anticipate a full house for the Fourth of July.
“We would expect that our campground would be completely booked,” Park Manager Ashely Steevens said. “It tends to fill as the holiday approaches, for folks that are making some of those last-minute plans that maybe were waiting to see what the weather was going to be like.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Minneopa was about 80% full for Thursday and beyond; however those spots are expected to be filled by Friday. Steevens said that the majority of campers tend to come a day early before the holiday to get in a little extra fun.
“Many will come in on Thursday and some wait to come in until Friday night,” she said. “But the majority of our registered campers are staying for the long weekend, coming in on Thursday.”
At Minneopa, most families said they just wanted to get away for the weekend. Others said camping was a tradition for them over Independence Day.
But while those families were pitching tents or rolling their RVs into Minneopa’s campgrounds, others were packing up.
Bill and Jeanne Croteau, of Brooklyn Park, like their peace and quiet when they camp, and because they expected the Fourth crowds to be large, their stay ended when most others began.
“We like to come during the week because there’s fewer people,” Jeanne Croteau said. “You know, usually the weekends get busy with a lot of people, a lot of, you know, a lot more noise.”
The Croteaus are campers who tend to travel around and try new parks. Although it was their first and last stay at Minneopa, the two said they came for bison and waterfalls — and got just that.
“So we had heard about the bison and we didn’t see them until we came to the very front (of the park), and then we’re like, ‘Is that them?’ but not a good view,” Bill Croteau said. “But then when we were leaving, we saw like 15 of them.”