Camping at Kilen Woods State Park

MN State Parks (partially) opened for camping on June 1st, so I booked a night with my boys at a park we hadn't been to before. We spent Wednesday night at Kilen Woods about 3 hours southwest of the Twin Cities.

Earlier this spring, I saw that you couldn't reserve any campsites until July (COVID-19 precautions), and that MN State Parks were saying they would partially open in June. So on June 1st, many parks opened for reservations this month. Some filled up QUICKLY. Little ole Kilen Woods far from the Metro had a ton of spots open.

Driving through rural MN in June is fantastic.


It was a quiet drive.




There were 2 SMALL camping loops at Kilen. This is "A loop" along a field.


And here's our spot at the back of "B." Only 1 other family was there when
we pulled in - their pop-up camper is right in the middle in the distance.


Henry helped for a moment.


With my ass against the trees, looking across the campgrounds.
I booked the far back corner on purpose.


Running down a hill (120' vertical drop) to the Des Moines River.


At the river. Muddy, with no beach to play on. Shucks.




A chilly stream running to the river.


Not used to seeing signs like this.


A selfie by the river.


Headed up to an overlook.


About 110-120' above the Des Moines River (with farmland on the right).

This was going to be a simple camping trip. I didn't bring my pan for cooking over the fire. We were just going to get pizza from the Pizza Ranch in Jackson (about 18-20 mins away) because somehow we've turned a trip to the local Pizza Ranch a camping tradition. There are worse traditions to have. We drove through a windmill field on our drive there:

Pizza by the campfire. Sweet.


Charlie used his pocket knife to carve me a heart out of a map.
(I think he used the mini-scissors if you're wondering.)


Henry made a crescent moon with a face.


Teamwork to make the perfectly toasted marshmallow.


For me, THIS is perfection.


Lots of oaks.


The boys played in the sandbox in the middle of the campgrounds.


Winding down for the night.


A selfie before some stories.


Some reading before bed...


... for Charlie too.

So besides the family of 4 in the pop-up, 3 more couples showed up in RVs or trailers. So there were 13 of us in the park that night, which I think is the quietest park I've been in overnight in the summer. (We stay overnight in a camper cabin at Lake Shetek State Park 2.5 years ago on a cold winter's night with only 1 other couple, so that's our quietest night in a park ever.)

We were all passed out by about 9:30, and we all slept well. I heard NOTHING from the boys. I'm typically restless for a few hours every night we camp, and that night it was 1-3 a.m. But then I woke up feeling great at 6. This was my view:

He crawled in with me around 6:30.


Outside on a beautiful morning. (Whittling with his pocket knife.)
We heard turkeys calling off in the distance! That was new!


Herny laughing at his book. He could lay and read all day!


Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast.


Goof.


There were lots of inch worms! This is Frankie (top) and Inchy.


As the boys played, I took a quick hike off the "A loop" through some grass.
We saw a flock of turkeys in this area the night before.


Tetris skills at work while packing up.


Changing in the shower into their suits so they could splash in the creek for a bit.


Running back down the big hill.


In the creek. The water was clear when they weren't stirring up the mud.






The little daredevil up top.


Showering off before heading for home. Note the "legs only" shower head option!

So regarding COVID-19 precautions, the park office wasn't open (you had to pay for wood on the honor system) and half of the bathrooms and showers were closed. But that was all. It felt pretty "normal" as far as camping goes. (Although we miss talking to the park employees because they usually give us such good tips like "oh, you boys would LOVE to go see [this]!")

It was a small park, but the boys liked the bridge and the creek. We had a good time! But because it was so small, we hiked a decent percentages of the trails:

My boys don't really like to hike, so this is decent for them.


The little (closed) park office.


We stopped off at Blue Earth on the drive home to see
the 55' high Jolly Green Giant. (The boys are between his feet.)




A quick stop at my parents' place for a go-kart ride.


And then this trip ended the same way it began.

So Kilen Woods was our 55th stamp in our "State Park's Passport" in just under 3 years. Maybe we'll hit all of them by the end of next year??... We're not pushing, but it could be possible.

Basically, we have 4 to hit just SW of home, 4 farther out west,
3 straight north (that we'll get this fall), and then the north shore.