Camden state park

[FarmerBEN]

Can anyone give me a little info on the trails @ camden? length difficulty etc... any help would be appreciated.

[SprocketHead]

It's a very nice park with about 5 miles of "OK" mountain bike trails... It's not really what you consider singletrack, more like doubletrack with some climbs and decents and some flat prarie trail.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to camp and ride off-road. It's just not the sweet rolling singletrack like some of the terrific trails we have here in the cities.

[jaybird]

Stop by and talk to Dave or Corey at the Bike Shop in Marshall - (507)532-3633. They can also give you info on any upcoming group rides if/when you're in the area.

[beagle92]

I was just out at Camden last weekend and thought I'd add a couple more comments for people that are heading out this way.

The map for the park lists the trail length at 4.2 miles. The map is available here:
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_parks/spk00127_summer.pdf

The trail is not a loop. Both ends of the trail start off with a rather long, sometimes steep climb up dirt trails that are often quite rocky. Most of the rest of the trail is double track along the edge of the park. Quite a bit of the trail is riding on short grass right next to farm fields or open prairie, almost like riding across a mildly hilly lawn. There are some short hills but nothing terribly challenging.

I didn't see many other riders at the park. The bikers I did see seemed to start at the South end of the trail and head North. We rode the trail both directions and the descent on the South end of the trail was a little more fun. Many of the riders we saw seemed to do multiple loops of the trail going for speed. It is pretty easy to get some decent speed going through the middle of the trail.

I brought my 13 year old son along. He is relatively new to off-road biking, and I am terribly out of shape. We only had to walk our bikes up the longer hills a couple times, but I'm sure anybody with experience would have no problem. We did enjoy the trails although I think my son would prefer a shorter, more challenging, adrenaline pumping single track. It was a good workout though with more scenery and wildlife than the local trails.

The campsite was very nice, although somewhat open. There were very few trees between sites. We stayed in the Lower Campsite which is very close to the railroad tracks. Both nights trains came through. I think the first night there were four trains. However they are moving pretty quick and I was asleep again before the train was even completely past. When there were no trains and the crickets calmed down it was pleasing to hear the stream bubbling over the rocks nearby.

One last comment. We did see some people on trails that were not marked for biking. The literature clearly states that this is not allowed and could result in a $78 fine. It also mentions that abuse of non-biking trails could result in the park no longer allowing mountain bikes. I don't know if they were serious about this or if we missed any cool trails, so I can't comment on other trails.

So overall we had a good time. Just don't tell anybody from Colorado that you were mountain biking - this is strictly off-road biking.

[axebiker]

Camden is a great park. I worked there in the mid-90's, and grew up in the area. There was a problem for a while when MTBing got big, and riders weren't being the best citizens at the time. Of course, Camden was about it for places to ride in the area. Trails were being eroded, and there were encounters with hikers. With that said, horses were a bigger issue IMHO. The park tried to work with the riders, but there were issues on both sides in the way of "give and take". I got stuck in the middle of some bad situations, as I was an employee and also a rider.

Some of the better trails are no longer accessible via bike. Too bad, because they were a lot of fun to ride. Now it's kind of a milk run.

I happen to really like that campground, and the train coming through at night can be kinda cool if you don't get bugged by that kind of thing. The lower campground is definitely the place to be - it seems to always be a busy place. It's "open", yes, but it a state park! People don't camp with tents any more - everyone has a giant RV or 5th wheel, so what do you expect?

BTW - people can and do get fined out there. The closure of the park to riders has been a standing threat for a long time. I believe it is a legit threat as well...I wouldn't put it past them.

[Tim Wegner]

Time to give Camden a bump. Was out there today with Tom Hoff, Bill Dineson and David the resource dnr guy. We flagged several new routes for trails, acutally just reflagged some stuff that we did 1-2 years ago.

I believe that we flagged about 2 miles of new trail and believe me there is some major climbing involved on the new sections. There is one sustained climb of about 1/2+ mile of 10% average grade. There will also be some really great stuff for nice flow with some great views of the ravine. I can't believe how steep the side slopes are going down to the ravine.

This park is really a beauty and is worth a trip down into the area to visit and once the trails are built well worth taking a ride there as well. And of course that leads to the question---when will the trails be built.

I think we are closer than ever this year. Bill Dineson was talking about getting a contract out before June. He has some $$$$$ that must be spent before a certain date in June and he is committed to using the money to build mountain bike trails in the park.

Tim

[SprocketHead]

Time to give Camden a bump. Was out there today with Tom Hoff, Bill Dineson and David the resource dnr guy. We flagged several new routes for trails, acutally just reflagged some stuff that we did 1-2 years ago.

I believe that we flagged about 2 miles of new trail and believe me there is some major climbing involved on the new sections. There is one sustained climb of about 1/2+ mile of 10% average grade. There will also be some really great stuff for nice flow with some great views of the ravine. I can't believe how steep the side slopes are going down to the ravine.

This park is really a beauty and is worth a trip down into the area to visit and once the trails are built well worth taking a ride there as well. And of course that leads to the question---when will the trails be built.

I think we are closer than ever this year. Bill Dineson was talking about getting a contract out before June. He has some $$$$$ that must be spent before a certain date in June and he is committed to using the money to build mountain bike trails in the park.

Tim

Hoo-Rah!... I have enjoyed biking at Camden for many years. Camping and swimming are all part of the experience. and there is some fishing and canoeing there too. Very family friendly too, especially with a very short walk to a nice small swiming hole(from the lower campground).

I have always felt VERY welcome as a mountain biker. I got the impression that they like mountain bikers, because it means somebody is using the park... Sure it's not the sweetest singletrack(presently), but it has huge potential!

...You Go Tim & DNR!, I'd love to see more Trails there!

[Tim Wegner]

right now we are waiting for the park manager to write an erosion control plan. after that he will be working on a contract to do the work. sure hope we can get this project finished before the snow comes this year.
tim

[MNRich]

Any update? I haven't made it down there yet, but am curious to see if any new trail work has started.

[Tim Wegner]

There have been some developments at Camden. I wish I had news that we were starting now but not happening. I am meeting next week with some of the dnr peeps from that area and are going to consider a much broader approach to this project. hopefully that will mean that we are looking for a multi mile trail system.

Unfortunately the changes at the dnr has put many new people in charge that are not aware of this project and so we are kinda starting over. The good news is that the people that I have been speaking with are very encouraging about the need for a mountain bike trail system at the park. Location of the trail, sensitivity to the site and other user groups are all hurdles that need to be addressed and I am confident we will have a trail system at camden just not sure how quickly it will happen.
tim