Winter Camping In Minnesota State Parks: How To Survive And Thrive

By Deborah Locke, DNR Information Officer

When Kurt Mead explains winter camping, you feel this urge to magically transport yourself to that snow covered, quiet place with its camaraderie, night sky, and sense of accomplishment. What he describes adds up to an experience unlike any other.

Since 2015, Mead, an interpretive naturalist at Tettegouche State Park on Minnesota’s North Shore, has led a day-long winter camping workshop. The workshop is only offered at Tettegouche State Park; however, more than 25 Minnesota state parks offer winter camping.

One advantage for taking a winter camping workshop is that it gives campers a chance to try it in a controlled setting with experienced Parks and Trails staff who stay on site overnight. For any new campers at Tettegouche State Park who wake at 2:00 a.m. and decide that winter camping is not for them, they can move to the park’s heated shower building and sleep there.

The 20 or 30 people at the workshop hear instructions and advice like the appropriate clothing to bring as well as how to build a snow cave, how to dress for the weather, and supplies to bring like food and equipment. Options are discussed, like whether a camper wants to build a quinzhee ice hut or pitch a “hot” tent with a small wood burning stove.

“It takes planning,” Mead said. “You want the right food and equipment, the right clothes. Maybe you are the type of person who likes a challenge and wants to up your game and take camping to the next level. It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun.”

The workshop gives guidance on creating a quinzhee, an insulated snow cave that looks something like an Alaskan igloo. A quinzhee that sleeps four people might take about four to five hours to construct. Once you are out of the wind and inside, body heat naturally warms up the interior of both tents and quinzhees. Mead remembers one instance where it was ten degrees below zero outside the quinzhee, but 45 degrees on the inside where four people slept.

On average, winter campers stay two or more nights. They ice fish, cross country ski or hike when they ‘re not maintaining the camp site. The entire experience from arriving to departure takes a lot of energy. One outcome is guaranteed. You will sleep soundly after a day at a winter camp.

Here’s another guaranteed outcome: a unique kind of camaraderie. Mead has fond memories of sitting around a campfire after supper, drinking cocoa and talking with friends under a clear winter sky. He pointed out that we humans tend to isolate ourselves from winter, preferring modern amenities over extended time outdoors when the temperature goes south. Winter camping offers a polar opposite experience to inactivity.

“When it’s cold out, everything you do is an effort,” he said, adding that there’s a sense of satisfaction when you crawl into sleeping bag at the end of the day with a fatigue born of hard work. Sleep comes easily. He said that feeling of satisfaction helps him to appreciate winter more in a place where a clear night sky provides aesthetic entertainment. At night up north, away from the urban lights, the sky is bright and close. Snow against boots makes a squeak sound and it’s the only noise around. Following a last meal prepared over the fire, campers may gather in an ice hut or tent for an hour or two of card playing by lantern light.

“Winter camping helps us jar ourselves out of winter hibernation mode,” Mead said. “Twenty-four hours without indoor heat is a rewarding experience.”

Images courtesy Minnesota DNR.

To see a map of where the parks with winter camping are located, go to: mndnr.gov/winterguide. Registration is required. Call the park ahead of time to be sure that the camp area has been plowed. Always check the park website for visitor alerts before you leave home. For information on the Feb. 8, 2025 winter camping workshop at Tettegouche State Park, go to the Tettegouche State Park website and park events. For a listing of all state park and trail events throughout the winter months, go to mndnr.gov/ptcalendar.