A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 350 miles from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota.
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Travel from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota
We drove our coach 350 miles, about six hours of driving, from Maple Grove, Minnesota to Mitchell, South Dakota.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south then west:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Joining I-94 East:
Spotting our coach on traffic cams:
I-35W South:
Barge:
“The Corn is High; Drivers Shouldn’t Be”:
Rest area:
Spotting our coach on traffic cams again:
Owatonna Degner Regional Airport:
“SPAM Museum; Where Hawaiians go on vacation”:
I-90 West:
Three cherry pickers working on a power line:
Rest area:
A wide line on I-90 marking where eastward and westward construction of the freeway met in 1978:
Interesting building:
Wall Drug in 355 miles:
Welcome to South Dakota:
Fuel stop:
Fun with zoom:
Bull and horse sculptures:
Wide load:
Exit:
Arriving at a KOA:
Guided to our site:
Minneapolis Northwest KOA Journey
We stayed at Minneapolis Northwest KOA Journey in Maple Grove, Minnesota. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A KOA on the way. Been here before; last time we had full hookups, but the site was so short that we had to untoad; this time, we didn’t have a sewer hookup, but the site was plenty long enough; for a one-night stay, the latter is usually preferred.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-08-17
- Check out: 2025-08-18
- 1 night
Weather:
- Partly sunny, thunderstorm overnight
- High temp 77°F, low 70°F
- Some wind, gusts to 26 MPH, but sheltered by trees
Noise:
- Some road noise
- No train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
Site:
- #58, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
- Somewhat level site; used air leveling, since only one night
- Gravel driveway about 80 feet long by 8 feet wide
- 20 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 5-14 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- No trees
- Clean site
- Elevation 950 feet, front facing NE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located (and in a locked compartment on the back of the neighbor’s 30 amp pedestal)
- Didn’t hook up to water, conveniently located
- No sewer
Internet (in usage priority order):
- RoamLink: 12-23 Mbps down, 10-13 Mbps up, 270-340 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 275-333 Mbps down, 3-7 Mbps up, 60 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Pool
See our previous review on Campground Reviews.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site; a buddy site (passenger sides facing), which we normally dislike, but don’t really care when only a one night stop:
Other sites; we were over there last time:
Dog park and more sites:
Fine for a one night stop. Wouldn’t want to stay here longer.
Video: Kabetogama to Maple Grove, Minnesota motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 283 miles from Kabetogama to Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Travel from Kabetogama to Maple Grove, Minnesota
We drove our coach 283 miles, about five hours of driving, from Kabetogama to Maple Grove, Minnesota.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Following the coach down the steep road in the campground:
Probably should have a flag on that:
Route 53 South:
Rest area:
Paddler statue:
I-35 South:
Flat tire:
Wyoming, Minnesota:
Rest area:
Exit to route 610:
I-94 West:
Crossover intersection:
Arriving at a KOA:
Guided to our site:
Completed visiting all contiguous National Parks
With our visit to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, we have now visited all 52 of the National Parks in the contiguous US and the US Virgin Islands! Quite an achievement.
The only remaining parks are in Hawaii, Alaska, and American Samoa. Those ones are harder, but we’ll get to them in due course.
Here are the stickers on the side of our coach:
The Pines of Kabetogama Resort
We stayed at The Pines of Kabetogama Resort in Kabetogama, Minnesota. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Convenient to Voyageurs National Park, with a view over Kabetogama Lake. The northernmost place we have stayed.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-08-10
- Check out: 2025-08-17
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Mix of rain and partly sunny
- High temps 70-79°F, lows 55-65°F
- Some wind, gusts to 25 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train horn noise
- Little neighbor noise
Site:
- #Clifftop 11, back-in, concrete (would be better as a front-in site)
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
- Somewhat level site; a little high in front and passenger side (people really should learn how to pour flat concrete pads!); used hydraulic leveling
- Concrete pad about 33 feet long by 11 feet wide
- Drop-off on either side of pad, and big bump up onto it; expert backing skills required!
- 35 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 52 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Grass and short retaining wall between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- A few trees behind site
- Clean site
- Elevation 1,180 feet, front facing NE
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located behind site
- 55 PSI water, inconveniently located behind site on passenger side
- Good sewer connection, inconveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 140-217 Mbps down, 17 Mbps up, 44-60 ms ping
- RoamLink: 6 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 137 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 23 Mbps down, 0.5-1.5 Mbps up, 85 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage bins
- Waterfront & marina
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Beautiful Voyageurs basecamp
We stayed here for a week while exploring Voyageurs NP. The staff were all very friendly and helpful, escorting us to the office and back to our coach at check-in, then guiding us to our site. The road up to the clifftop sites is a little sketchy (steep and narrow), especially in a big rig, but once you’re up there, the views are lovely. We were in site 11, which we’d hoped would have a view, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the occupants of the site downhill from us. Sites 18, 10, 8, and 7 would probably have better views. The concrete pad on our site was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, but you do need to have good aim when backing up, as there are sharp drop-offs (of several inches) on all sides of the pad. Overall, this was a nice campground and we’d be happy to stay here again. We camped at The Pines of Kabetogama Resort in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
A peep of water when the adjacent site is empty:
Other sites:
Mini bathroom:
Pedestrian path down the hill:
Office:
We received lots of packages from Amazon, fetched up the hill in our folding wagon:
Marina:
A decent campground; the road to the top of the hill was rather sketchy, but the sites were decent. If we went back, we’d choose site #18, or 10, 8, or 7. We’re not likely to visit this area again, but if we did, we’d be happy to stay here again.
Video: Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 143 miles from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota.
Travel from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota
We drove our coach 143 miles, about three hours of driving, from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Paladin on the dash while leaving the campground:
A gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright:
Saunas for sale:
Route 33 North:
UFO and aliens:
Route 53 North:
“Dirty Dreams”:
Rest area:
Towards Route 37 West:
Route 53 North:
“Welcome to Orr”:
Lake Kabetogama:
Arriving at the Pines of Kabetogama Resort:
Dusty:
A steep single-lane road up the hill:
Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey
We stayed at Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey in Cloquet, Minnesota. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A one-night stop on our way, so as usual we chose a KOA. Though I don’t remember requesting the 05:30 wake-up call from the train horn.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-08-09
- Check out: 2025-08-10
- 1 night
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temp 83°F, low 64°F
- Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- Nearby loud train horn noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #3, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
- Somewhat level site; high in front; used air leveling, since only one night
- Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 9 feet wide
- 15-50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 12 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- A tall tree
- Clean site
- Elevation 1090 feet, front facing south
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 65 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- RoamLink: 62 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 103 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 12-30 Mbps down, 0.6 Mbps up, 70 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site (which is always appreciated)
- Pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Fine for a short stay
This was a fairly standard KOA and was fine for one night. The trains do run at random times and use their horns at nearby crossings, so this is probably not the place to come for a relaxing vacation. All of the pull-through sites are buddy sites, which is our least favorite configuration, but fine for a very short stay. The site was long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle without having to disconnect, but was pretty narrow side-to-side. Utilities worked well, and they provide garbage pickup from the site. We camped at Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site, with a nice weeping willow:
Driver-side to driver-side buddy sites, which is the best kind of buddy; nobody living next to us. And still pretty good spacing:
Other sites; a nice patio shelter on this site:
Yurt and cabin:
A reasonable place for a one-night stop. The train horn and buddy sites could be annoying for a longer stop.