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High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
Drive-up · public land · MN · 44.57544, -93.95046
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
PAY THE DONATION: overnight camping here is free of charge, but Sibley County asks for a suggested $10/night (and $3 for day use) dropped in the donation box in the park -- leave it so it stays free for the next traveler. BEFORE YOU GO you MUST call the Sibley County Sheriff's Office at 507-237-4330 (or 888-880-4567) to get permission for overnight camping -- paper permits are no longer required but that call is. Sibley County caps camping at 10 days. High Island Creek Park is a big one -- 220 acres with about 6.7 miles of trails along High Island Creek, in Sibley County near Arlington/Henderson (26428 341 Lane, Henderson; reach it via County 12 either ~6 miles east of Highway 5 north of Arlington, or ~3 miles west after coming north from Henderson on County 6). Unlike the county's other camping parks this one is open YEAR ROUND, though the porta-potties are only out May 1-Nov 1. Camping is PRIMITIVE: picnic shelter, a water well, grills and tables, NO electricity -- self-contained only, tents or a self-contained RV. Lots of room to hike. These county parks are quiet, primitive, no-electricity spots in the farm country southwest of the Twin Cities -- the deal is the same one small towns offer: camp free (leave the donation), and be a good enough guest that it stays open for the next traveler. Rules change and we have not visited; confirm the current rules with Sibley County before you rely on this.
Can I go now? — High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN
Open today Year-round per the agency record.
public land record: “Year-round” Read against the calendar on 2026-09-27; with JavaScript your browser re-checks it against today.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 986 ft.
Fire & smoke — around High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- MMechanic7 mi
- WWater8 mi
- EVEV fast charger10 mi
- HHardware10 mi
- RxPharmacy10 mi
- AAir-up16 mi
- DDump16 mi
- LLaundry17 mi
- +Urgent care17 mi
- ShShower17 mi
- OOutfitter27 mi
- PPropane30 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
986 ft
Ground slope
2.6% · flat
Nearest rail line
~2.9 mi · main line
State
MN
Coordinates
44.57544, -93.95046
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureHigh Island Creek · ~0.5 mi · USGS: perennial stream
- Nearest townJessenland · ~1.4 mi
- Nearest rail line~2.9 mi · main line
- Nearest highwayno interstate or US route within 10 mi
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~8.1 mi
- FuelFuel · ~3.9 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~16.3 mi
- GroceriesStore · ~8.0 mi
- PharmacyCoborn's · ~10.5 mi
- Hospital / clinicRidgeview Sibley Medical Center · ~7.1 mi
- HardwareHardware Hank · ~10.2 mi
EV charging — from High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger9.6 mi straight-line E — Xcel Energy - Belle Plaine, MN · EV Connect · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach7 within 25 mi · 125 within 50 · 209 within 100 · 284 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)16.5 mi — Saint Peter, MN - Tesla Supercharger, Saint Peter
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO27.5 mi — HYUNDAI MANKATO DC FAST 1, Mankato
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)20.0 mi — Fury Ford Waconia (at a public site) · RED_E · J1772, CCS · 3 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: not listed
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Parkview Medical Clinic - Tesla Destination, New Prague, 19.4 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 446031 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaMinnesota Valley · ~7.1 mi SE
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~18.5 mi NE · FWS
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~18.6 mi NE · FWS
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~20.7 mi NE · FWS
Coming out here — High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) · public land · MN
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps High Island Creek as a perennial stream, ~0.5 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 2.6% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- Rail line mapped ~2.9 mi from the pin — the national rail atlas classes it as a main line. That is the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026), which records that a line is there and what class of track it is. Whether anything runs on it, how often, and at what hour, it does not say, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). That file holds the divided, limited-access highways only — a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not be in it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open High Island Creek Park (Sibley County) elsewhere
Other camps near High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
How we know this — High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
Open season
Year-round
Source
public land records
Confidence
Researched — The record is detailed and internally consistent, and the coordinates land where the managing agency says this site is.
How it was placed
FREE STATUS IS OFFICIAL (donation-based) via the COUNTY's own pages. Sibley County Camping-Permits page https://www.sibleycounty.gov/305/Camping-Permits ("Camping is permitted at the following Sibley County parks: Clear Lake, High Island, Rush River"; "Suggested donations are $10 for over night camping and $3 for day use. A donation box is located in the park"; "maximum amount of days allowed to camp is ten days"; "call the Sibley County Sheriff's Office ... 507-237-4330") and the High Island Creek Park detail page https://www.sibleycounty.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/High-Island-Creek-Park-4 (both fetched 2026-07-22): address "26428 341 Lane, Henderson, MN 56044"; "Size: 220 acres - Approximately 6.7 miles of trails"; "Park is open year round" (porta-potties May 1-Nov 1); amenities "picnic shelter, water well, porta-potties, grills and tables, no electricity". Suggested-donation => fee=0. COORDINATE: OpenStreetMap camp_site NODE 7160754571 (exact point, tagged fee=no), which Nominatim resolves to "High Island Creek Park, 341st Lane, Henderson, Sibley County, MN 56044" -- matches the county page address -> 44.5754427,-93.9504597. confidence='high' (county's own page). Not visited. Verified 2026-07-22.
Season
Read from the agency's own season / closure text in this record (data/conditions.py) and checked against the calendar. The words we read are printed under the verdict at the top of the page.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — High Island Creek Park (Sibley County)
Finding water out here →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Reading the aerial →All field notes →