Campsite Sniper
Minnesota · Recreation.gov

Gull Lake Recreation Area

46.4104° N / 94.3513° W · Data Sep 18 2026, checked hourly
Next open date Sep 18Next open weekend Sep 1835 detected openings this week43 monitored sites

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Every site at Gull Lake Recreation Area, colored by availability across the tracked window. Tap a site for its calendar.
Gull Lake Recreation Area

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Booking reality
Campsite Sniper detected 35 site openings here in the last 7 days
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01 · Detected Opening History · the openings record · file CS-233648

When Gull Lake Recreation Area reopens

Gull Lake Recreation Area's openings record: every site-date Campsite Sniper detected turning available, logged and time-stamped. Refreshed hourly.
Openings · last 7 days
35
Openings · last 30 days
61
Openings · last 90 days
63

Weekday pattern

Detected openings by day of week · 90d
0510152025241221105MONTUEWEDTHUFRISATSUNOPENINGS RECORDED · LAST 90 DAYS · N = 63

No strong weekday pattern is evident in the openings Campsite Sniper has detected: 63 openings spread across the week.

Hour-of-day pattern

First detected by hour · local time · last 90 days
048121616988000408121620HOUR OF DAY (24H) · CT · LAST 90 DAYS

The largest concentrations of detected openings were first detected during the 03:00 and 06:00 local-time hours. Those hours contained 25 of 63 detected openings (39.7%). Hours show when Campsite Sniper first detected each opening, in Central Time, not when the change was made upstream.

Lead-time profile

Days before stay date · percentiles
P25 · 7DMEDIAN · 17 DAYS OUTP75 · 21.5D0306090120150180DAYS BEFORE STAY DATE

Half of the openings Campsite Sniper detected appeared at least 17 days before the stay date; the middle 50% land 7–21.5 days out. Set an alert if you want Campsite Sniper to monitor future openings.

Highest-churn sites

Most openings · 90d
SiteOpeningsShare of all openings
13  1219.0%
21  711.1%
05  57.9%
33  57.9%
03  57.9%

Site 13 had the most detected openings in the last 90 days: 12. One free watch covers every site here.

02 · Availability Outlook · Sep 18 – Oct 14, 2026 · of 43 monitored sites

Of the 1,080 tracked site-dates (Sep 18 – Oct 14, 2026): 552 open for online reservation · 528 reserved.

Where the open windows are

48.9% of tracked site-dates are not currently open for online reservation. 552 of 1,080 remain open; here is where they are.

Load status

Sep 18 – Oct 14, 2026
Not open online48.9%
Open site-dates552 / 1,080
Reserved (of online inventory)528 / 1,080
Weekday openings390
Weekend openings135

Of the open site-nights on mapped sites, 390 fall on weekdays and 135 on weekends (Fri–Sun). The split covers the 525 open site-nights on mapped sites; 552 site-dates are open across all monitored inventory.

Open dates by month

Sep 2026 – Oct 2026
0200400600218334SEPOCTSOLID = OPEN SITE-DATES · DASHED OUTLINE = TOTAL BOOKABLE

October holds the most room. 334 of 560 site-dates are still open there.

Holiday windows

Sites open per night · of 39 sites
WindowNightSites openStatus
Labor DaySAT Sep 50None open
SUN Sep 60None open
MON Sep 70None open

Labor Day: no online availability on any tracked night.

Holiday windows — day use

Units open per date · of 1 day-use unit
WindowDateUnits openStatus
Labor DaySAT Sep 50None open
SUN Sep 60None open
MON Sep 70None open

Labor Day: no online availability on any tracked date.

Best-availability sites

Most open site-nights · tracked window
SiteOpen site-nights
16A  22
14  21
16  20
20  20
03  19

The 5 sites with the most open site-nights in the current snapshot. Pair a bookable date with a free alert to cover everything else.

Availability by day-use unit

Most open reservation dates · tracked window
UnitOpen reservation dates
Picnic Shelter  27

This day-use unit currently has 27 reservation dates available.

Next windows

As of Sep 18, 2026 snapshot
Next open dateFri · Sep 18
Next open weekendFri · Sep 18

The next bookable night is Sep 18; the first open weekend starts Sep 18. Campsite Sniper can watch later dates for you.

Stays and site detail

525 open site-nights across 39 sites at Gull Lake Recreation Area, from the same hourly snapshot as everything above.

39 overnight sites and 1 day-use unit are represented in the current inventory. Day-use inventory is excluded from every night-based figure on this page — site-nights, longest runs, multi-night stays, holiday stays and RV fit; its reservation dates are listed separately below.

Multi-night stays. 100 2-night, 92 3-night, 15 7-night openings where a single site is free for every night, per Campsite Sniper's current snapshot — soonest Sep 20 at site 03.

RV length. Longest recorded site here is 122 ft. 39 sites take 25 ft, 39 sites take 35 ft, 39 sites take 40 ft.

All 39 sites with current availability
SiteMax RVHookupsOpen site-nightsLongest runDates
16A53 ftYes2218 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 3, Oct 4 +10 more
1459 ftYes2111 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5 +9 more
1661 ftYes2010 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 5, Oct 6 +8 more
2058 ftYes2010 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 5, Oct 6 +8 more
0355 ftYes1911 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7 +7 more
1863 ftYes1910 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7 +7 more
1956 ftYes195 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5 +7 more
0678 ftYes185 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6 +6 more
1265 ftYes1811 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8 +6 more
2679 ftYes188 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 4, Oct 7, Oct 8 +6 more
3770 ftYes1811 nightsSep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8 +6 more
0166 ftYes1711 nightsSep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 9 +5 more
12A68 ftYes175 nightsSep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7 +5 more
13100 ftYes179 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 9 +5 more
1189 ftYes165 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8 +4 more
0261 ftYes154 nightsSep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11 +3 more
2163 ftYes155 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 8, Oct 11 +3 more
3271 ftYes1511 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 30, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 9, Oct 10, Oct 11 +3 more
07110 ftYes1411 nightsSep 20, Sep 27, Sep 30, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 9, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12 +2 more
0889 ftYes145 nightsSep 20, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 12 +2 more
3169 ftYes144 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12 +2 more
05105 ftYes137 nightsSep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 4, Oct 8, Oct 9, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13 +1 more
1079 ftYes134 nightsSep 23, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13 +1 more
1578 ftYes136 nightsSep 22, Sep 23, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 9, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13 +1 more
3390 ftYes1211 nightsSep 27, Oct 4, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 9, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
0459 ftYes114 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
1777 ftYes115 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 28, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
0962 ftYes104 nightsSep 19, Oct 2, Oct 5, Oct 6, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
2998 ftYes105 nightsSep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 5
3997 ftYes95 nightsSep 20, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1
22122 ftYes84 nightsSep 24, Oct 4, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
25116 ftYes84 nightsSep 23, Sep 24, Oct 4, Oct 7, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
2793 ftYes85 nightsSep 23, Oct 1, Oct 4, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
3577 ftYes85 nightsSep 20, Sep 23, Sep 24, Oct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
2380 ftYes74 nightsSep 27, Oct 7, Oct 8, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
2488 ftYes64 nightsSep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Oct 8, Oct 9
28102 ftYes63 nightsSep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 29, Sep 30, Oct 1
3462 ftYes55 nightsOct 10, Oct 11, Oct 12, Oct 13, Oct 14
3072 ftYes11 nightSep 21

Day-use inventory

27 available reservation dates across 1 day-use unit. Day-use inventory is reserved by the date, so it carries no stay length.
All 1 day-use unit with current availability
UnitOpen reservation datesConsecutive datesDates
Picnic Shelter2727 datesSep 18, Sep 19, Sep 20, Sep 21, Sep 22, Sep 23, Sep 24, Sep 25, Sep 26, Sep 27, Sep 28, Sep 29 +15 more

About Gull Lake Recreation Area

Overview

Gull Lake Recreation Area offers something for everyone with boating, hiking, fishing and swimming at Minnesota's famous Gull Lake, the largest of the 10 lakes on the Gull Chain of Lakes. Visitors have the opportunity to see and hear an abundance of watchable wildlife like bald eagles, white-tailed deer, river otters, a variety of songbirds, and the legendary call of the loon.

Recreation

Anglers will delight in the large population of fish including stocked walleye, northern pike, bass and a variety of panfish. Boaters can access crystal clear waters throughout the chain of lakes and enjoy the peaceful sunsets overlooking the woods. Hit the self-guided interpretive trail for a short hike with wildlife watching and scenic overlooks along the lake. Hop on your bike on the City of East Gull Lake's paved multi-use trail that starts by the dam, or head out to join up with the Paul Bunyan State Trail with trailheads located in Baxter and Nisswa. Got a kayak, canoe, or intertube? Try heading down the Gull River from the lower canoe launch. Ask the Park Rangers about river safety with current water flow and check-out a life jacket before you go.

Facilities

The campground is known for its well-spaced wooded sites, each with 50 or 30 amp electric hookup service, picnic tables, campfire rings, and a centrally located showerhouse. A water fill and dump station is located near the entrance to the campground. This side of the park holds two canoe launches, a paved shoreline fishing platform, fish cleaning station, self-guided information booth, playground, a flush toilet restroom, and a handful of picnic tabels and grills. Across the dam is the Ranger Office, boat ramp, vault toilet, and swimming beach on the lake. Volleyball nets, basketball hoop, horseshoe pits, and two more playgrounds are also perks of this side of the park.

Natural Features

The campground sits on the Gull River at the outlet of Gull Lake. The area was formed by a receding glacier that moved southward from Canada and carved the landscape. Gull Lake is one of the six Mississippi Headwaters Projects of the Mississippi River Watershed operated by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Nearby Attractions

Gull Lake is located minutes from 520 holes of golf, the 100-mile Paul Bunyan State Trail, amusement parks, a zoo, and numerous shopping opportunities in Brainerd, Baxter, and Nisswa.

43 monitored sitesRVs up to 122 ft39 with hookups37 shadedPets OKFire pitsMax party 8

Getting there

From the intersection MN 210 and MN 371 in Baxter, drive north 2.6 miles. Turn left on Cty Rd 77 (Pine Beach Road). Drive west for 4.7 miles. Turn right onto Cty Rd 70 (E. Gull Lake Drive). You will come to a stop sign in 2.1 miles, go straight, this will take you into the park. Follow the road over the dam and the campground will be straight ahead.

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, Brainerd, MN 56401(651)290-5772
BikingBirdingBoatingCampingCanoeingDay Use AreaEvening ProgramsFishingHikingIce FishingInformation SiteInterpretive ProgramsKayakingMotor BoatPhotographyPicnickingSnowshoeingStar GazingSwimmingTubingWater AccessWater ActivitiesWater SkiingWater SportsWildlife Viewing

View on Recreation.gov ↗   Get directions ↗

FAQ

How do I get a reservation at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

Reservations for Gull Lake Recreation Area are made through Recreation.gov. 552 of 1,080 tracked site-dates are currently open (51.1%). Campsite Sniper has also detected 63 site openings here in the last 90 days, so further dates may appear. Pick a site or unit on the map to see its calendar, or set a free Campsite Sniper alert. You complete the reservation yourself on Recreation.gov.

Does Campsite Sniper book this facility for me?

No. Campsite Sniper sends alerts and direct Recreation.gov links. It never books, pays for, holds, hoards, or resells reservations.

How current is this availability data?

Campsite Sniper re-checks public Recreation.gov availability for this facility every hour and republishes whenever anything changes. This facility's data last changed at Sep 18, 2026 16:19 UTC; an older timestamp means nothing has changed since that time, not that checking stopped. Always confirm final availability on Recreation.gov when you book.

How often do new openings appear at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

Campsite Sniper detected 35 site-date openings at Gull Lake Recreation Area in the last 7 days, 61 over 30 days and 63 over the last 90.

Can I get a multi-night stay at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

92 three-night openings are showing, counting only runs where the SAME site is free for all three nights. The soonest starts Sep 20 at site 03. Confirm and book on Recreation.gov.

Which sites at Gull Lake Recreation Area fit a 35-foot RV?

39 of the 39 sites that support RV analysis have a recorded maximum of 35 ft or more; the longest recorded is 122 ft.

Which month has the most availability at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

October 2026, with 334 open site-dates in the current snapshot of 560.

How far ahead of a stay do openings appear at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

Half of the openings Campsite Sniper detected appeared at least 17 days before the stay date; the middle 50% landed 7-21.5 days out. Campsite Sniper can monitor future changes for dates you select.

When is the next open date at Gull Lake Recreation Area?

As of the Sep 18, 2026 snapshot: the next open date is Fri, Sep 18 and the next open weekend starts Fri, Sep 18. Detected openings can add earlier dates at any time; a free Campsite Sniper alert catches those the moment they appear.

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