Okontoe Family Campground is located on the historic Gunflint Trail. We’re just 28 miles northeast of Grand Marais, Minnesota and the beautiful North Shore—a 4.5-hour drive from the Twin Cities.
Besides our spacious campsites, we offer seven Rustic Cabins, making it the perfect place for your Up North stay.
Our cabins are a step up from most camping cabins in that we offer a full kitchen with a few modern amenities. We call them rustic because they don’t have modern bathrooms or running water.
It’s the perfect combination for singles, couples, families or friend groups looking for an affordable stay in our area of the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota.
Our Rustic Cabins
What’s Included with Our Rustic Cabins
Our cabins are of various sizes. We have three one-room cabins, two two-room cabins that sleep up to eight (our most family friendly cabins), one three-room and one two-story.
Be sure to click on the cabin photos above to see the pop-up boxes with details.
They all include these amenities:
- Fully equipped kitchen including cookware, dishes, mugs, cups and silverware (please bring your own linens).
- A refrigerator with freezer. Those in the one-room cabins are small while the bigger cabins have a full-size fridge.
- Gas oven and stove.
- Coffee maker with filters.
- Beds with mattresses from twin to queen (bring your own bedding).
- Dining table and chairs, couch.
- 4-gallon water jug with spigot.
- Wood stoves and firewood if your nights are chilly, ceiling fan (no air conditioning, as we rarely need it here).
- Knotty pine interiors.
- Covered porch in front. Our two-story cabin has a screen room and private deck.
- There’s a picnic table with our two-story cabin as well as shared picnic tables in the Retreat Center area where the one and two-room cabins are located.
- Each cabin rental includes free use of our canoes, paddles and life jackets. Our chain of three lakes has smallmouth bass, perch, northern pike, crappie and walleye.
- Shower House with hot showers.
- Shared (and very nice!) vault toilets are just a short walk from the cabins. We have a porta-potty that can go inside your cabin if you need that. (You’re responsible for cleaning it after each use and at the end of your stay.)
- None of them are lakeside cabins per se, but they all have close access to our small private lake. It’s easy to bring a camp chair for lake views, especially for the beautiful sunsets.
- We have a small swimming beach on Bow Lake, our private non-motorized lake (no lifeguard on duty).
- Our no-alcohol policy helps us maintain a family-friendly atmosphere.
- Please keep in mind our daily Quiet Hours from 10:00 pm to 8:00 am.
- We can’t promise Northern Lights, but plenty of people have seen them from our property!
See a map of our Campground
Other Details You’ll Want to Know
Rental Season & Prices
Our Rustic Cabin rental season is generally from mid-to-late May (depending on the weather) through early October. Our 2026 season runs May 22nd through October 4th.
Cabin check-in time is 4:00 pm daily and check-out is 11:00 am daily.
We have some of the best prices on the Gunflint Trail for what you get in a cabin—between $75 and $125 per night.
To streamline the booking process for our small staff, we ask for full payment at the time of booking. This includes a 30% non-refundable deposit. Please see our Cancellation Policy for details.
Cell Service & Wi-Fi
There’s no cell service on our section of the Gunflint Trail. We offer limited Wi-Fi at the Camp Office/Shop if you need to connect with someone at home, check the weather forecast, or do other quick tasks.
(White Pine and Pin Cherry Cabins are within Wi-Fi range of the Office/Shop.)
Most of our guests love being internet-free during their time here. Enjoy your media fast!
Our Dog Policy
Up to two well-behaved dogs are welcome with you at Okontoe under the following guidelines:
- Please keep your furry friend calm and close. They should be leashed or under your direct control at all times.
- If they bark excessively or wander and disturb others, we may have to ask you to head out early.
- Kindly scoop your pup’s poop before leaving. The forest thanks you and so do our shoes.
- May not be left unattended outside your cabin, or inside your cabin unless it’s confined to a kennel.
- The northwoods is full of wildlife, and loose dogs aren’t safe. Please keep your pets close and supervised.
Sunday Chapel & Saturday Night Community Campfire
At our heart, we’re a non-profit Christian ministry here in the Northwoods. Many of our return guests consider us their church family away from home!
We’ve always hosted an inter-denominational worship service in our Chapel on Sunday mornings at 10:00.
During our 2026 season, we’re excited to be an official Eagle Brook Church Viewing Group for our Chapel services.
(For those not familiar with Eagle Brook, it’s a multi-campus church in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metro area that supports many viewing sites and groups across Minnesota, Wisconsin and even around the country.)
We invite our guests to join us for these friendly, casual services, as well as friends and neighbors who live on the Gunflint Trail or in Grand Marais, and guests/staff of neighboring lodges.
We stream the current EBC service for that weekend, including worship and a Biblical teaching. We generally end around 11:15, with time afterwards to meet new folks and chat for a while. We serve coffee, tea and water.
A short testimony from one of our Board members: “Our very first Eagle Brook chapel service was this spring. We weren’t even open yet. Staff had just arrived. It was a tiny gathering, just a handful of us, but the Lord showed up powerfully.
“I had been carrying a lot on my shoulders, both in work and volunteering, and the frustrations, anxiety, and disappointment had begun to weigh heavily.
“That morning during worship, I wept. It felt like all the old weight was washed away. A new day. A new season. A fresh wind of hope.”
On Saturday evenings throughout the camping season, we host a Community Campfire at our fire circle on the north end of Bow Lake, between White Pine Cabin and the Chapel.
Roast marshmallows, make s’mores, and enjoy getting to know Okontoe’s staff and other guests (bring bug spray and your own camp chairs!).
Are You a Large Group?
The entire Retreat Center (RC) is available for rent during our regular camping season for a family reunion, retreat, youth camp or other large group. It includes the four Rustic Cabins as well as our Dining Hall.
The RC can sleep up to 20 adults in the cabins. You’re free to bring a few tents if needed for additional sleeping. We can also add Red Cedar Cabin (just a short walk from the RC) to sleep an additional six people, if needed. Bring all your own bedding.
The Dining Hall includes a full industrial kitchen with dishes and cookware, industrial oven/stove, refrigerator and freezer space, serving area and indoor dining room for approximately 40 people. You’re responsible for your own meal preparation, cleanup and removing all food items/leftovers when you leave.
There’s hot and cold running water in the kitchen during the summer months, plus a cold water spigot outside.
Call (218-388-2285) or email us (info@okontoe.org) for more details, availability and to reserve the Retreat Center (no online reservation for either the whole RC or for the Dining Hall).
What To Do In Our Area
You may want to simply stay at Okontoe and enjoy your cabin and our property. Take advantage of the peace and quiet, our small lake along with our two adjacent lakes, our swimming beach, and strolling or biking our mile-long campground road.
But if you want to explore more of what Cook County and the Gunflint Trail has to offer, here are some options:
- We’re on the edge of the pristine Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness which is, of course, famous for its wilderness canoe trips. There are several great day trips not far from us. While our canoes need to stay on our property, we’re happy to refer you to one of several local canoe outfitters if you’d like to head into the BWCAW.
- Enjoy driving to the far end of the Gunflint Trail. This National Scenic Byway is gorgeous!
- Beyond our own lakes, there’s lots of excellent fishing in several of the other lakes along the Gunflint. We can help you find boat or pontoon rental from a nearby resort if you like.
- There are several fine restaurants at resorts along the Trail as well as favorite local shops for some unique shopping.
- Head back toward Grand Marais for a day and enjoy spending time in town and on the shores of Lake Superior. You may even choose to drive to the Canadian Border—it’s about 1.5 hours from camp on Highway 61.
- Gunflint Lodge & Outfitters offers horseback riding and a zip line canopy tour.
See more on our Local Attractions & Activities page
