Getting expensive

In MN, the State Park Campgrounds have gone up in recent years and are scheduled to increase again in 2015. Now $28 for a site that has electricity (but no other hookups) and scheduled to be higher next year. This is on top of either a $5 daily or $25 yearly fee to enter the state park. And if you ride a horse or cross-country ski, there is $5 or $6 daily or a $20 or $21 annual fee to be able to do that as well. Add to this that they prohibit bringing firewood in (EAB prevention, which is fine) but they sell you green wood at a price of $5.50 for a small bundle. Just last week, we stayed at a state park campground. They had wood bundles and smaller bundles of kindling. I asked how much the kindling was and was told that it wasn't kindling, it was just more finely split firewood, and it was the same price as the larger pieces in the bigger bundles. They said that the contractor had provided them with green wood that was harder to get lit and burn, so they went to another contractor to get "more finely split wood" (the kindling) and that we should buy some bundles of each in order to get the wet wood burning. So instead of either lowering the price of the wet wood, or selling the kindling at a cheaper price, they were making twice as much money by selling twice the bundles of wood, all for $5.50 each.

The firewood problem isn't at all MN state parks. Another we camped at a few weeks ago was selling nice very dry wood for $5.50 and a very nice bundle of kindling (kiln dried survey stakes) for $1.50.

We do enjoy camping at MN state parks and for the most part they are well kept, but they are getting expensive and the side costs, or extras do begin to add up.