Minnesota National Parks

Minnesota attraction reviews

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El Rancho Manana, Inc
Oct 5, 2009 by Lisa from Lester Prairie
Overall Rating: 2

• Great kid activities.
• Bad management.

“I've had the same experiences at ERM. We were first year seasonal and it should have been a red flag to me from the start when I couldn't get a call back from the owner for weeks on information on our seasonal spot. We received a bill on Friday with charges that were not told to us up front. We feel totally mislead on costs associated with a seasonal at ERM. As the previous review indicated, we feel nickel and dimmed to death at El Rancho. We pulled out on Saturday and will not recommend ERM to anyone.”

Bluff Valley Campground Inc
Sep 9, 2009 by Anonymous from Twin Cities, MN
Overall Rating: 4

• Activities, staff is helpful & nice, all you can eat is Pancake breakfast.
• Bathrooms were outdated and not enough flushable toilets or showers, drinking.

“September 2009 - I had a very disappointing camping trip at Bluff Valley. They do offer many activities but they really need to upgrade the bathrooms and the pool. At night there is no real accessible bathroom for the upper level other than a port a pot. I think I probably shared a bathroom with 200 people over Labor Day weekend! I do have to say that they do dump & sanitize very regularly. However, after 2 days it does get pretty ripe in there. I would not recommend camping in a tent here at all. It is set up more for RV's than tents. Finally, last comment about Bluff Valley is that it is a party campground. People were drunk all over the place. Drinking & driving on the campus all over the place. As for Zumbro Falls - nothing to do or see there.”

Beaver Trails Campground
Jun 30, 2009 by D from Wisconsin
Overall Rating: 3

• Clean showers and restrooms.
• Overpriced, fees for everything!

“We were overcharged and never told about it. Although the campground has activities to do, it is not all inclusive. The pool is included, but you have to pay extra to use the bikes, water slides, mini golf, paddle boats, feed the pets, etc. This is understandable so the items are available to use for those who pay to use them, but the fees add up fast for a campground that brags they can charge higher prices because they have so much to do. The staff seemed crabby almost all weekend with the exception of a couple of friendly folks. When asked about the additional fees we had paid for having our children camp with us, we were told it is in their brochure. I'm sure we had fun and the price we paid was worth it.”

Greer Lake Campground
Apr 4, 2009 by Grandma from Minnesota
Overall Rating: 5

• Fishing is still good.
• Too much negative conduct especially at night.

“Fishing remains good, but the campground itself has gone downhill in recent years. (I've gone there for 30 years.) The major problem is the really bad conduct of many of the campers. There is no respect for quiet hours and way too much drunkenness. People appear to come there not for the camping but simply as a place to get drunk, fight, make noise etc. It is sad to see this all happening; this used to be a great place for family camping but not now.”

Sandtrap Golf Course
Mar 23, 2009 by David from Cass Lake
Overall Rating: 5

• Risk/reward holes, beautiful mature Norway pines.
• Not challenging, mediocre green complexes.

“The Sand Trap is a decent course for the elderly or for beginners, but doesn't pose any sort of a challenge for intermediate to accomplished players. It is very short (just over 3,000 yards), has no water, and despite the name it does not have many bunkers. It does have an interesting mix of holes, with two back-to-back risk-reward par 5 that can yield an eagle or a double-bogey, and two reachable par 4 (for big drivers). What the Sand Trap does have are trees. Many of the jack pines were lost to some sort of insect blight the past few years, but many Norway pines have been planted in strategic spots to add a little more character and better frame a few of the holes. The ownership has also done a terrific job of getting rid of the dense underbrush that made finding wayward shots a nearly impossible task in past years. The greens are very small, requiring an accurate approach to give yourself a putt, but there is no rough to speak of, so you are not penalized if you miss a green. Though there is still a lot of work to be done, the Sand Trap has come a long ways in the past dozen years or so. The owner, has installed irrigation, reworked a couple greens, reshaped some bunkers and added a couple more, and added much needed length to several holes. All in all, it's good to play when you're in town, as long as you go in with realistic expectations.”