RV Parks In Apple Valley, Minnesota

The standout in-town option is Lebanon Hills Campground, a Dakota County park on Johnny Cake Ridge Road with full-hookup sites and more than 90 spots tucked into the woods and lakes of Lebanon Hills Regional Park. For a bigger, resort-style private park, Dakotah Meadows RV Park at Mystic Lake Casino is about 15 miles west with 122 paved full-hookup sites. A little further out, Treasure Island RV Park & Campground in Welch offers 94 full-hookup pads by the Mississippi. Between those three you have both a public and private choice within easy reach.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground offers full-hookup sites with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric, in both pull-through and back-in configurations, alongside electric-only and tent loops. Dakotah Meadows RV Park is all paved full-hookup sites with 30/50 amp service, and Treasure Island RV Park likewise runs full water, sewer, and electric pads. So whether you want a public county campground or a private casino park, you can get sewer at the site rather than relying on a dump station. If full hookups are a must, book the west full-hookup loop at Lebanon Hills or any Dakotah Meadows site.

Metro camping is pricier than rural Minnesota, but still reasonable. Lebanon Hills full-hookup sites run around $45 per night, with pull-through full-hookup sites closer to $47, and electric-only sites cheaper. Private parks like Dakotah Meadows generally land in the $50 to $70 range depending on season, site type, and any casino promotions. Basic sites across the area start near $30. Given how close you are to the Minnesota Zoo, Mall of America, and the Twin Cities, those nightly rates are a bargain compared to metro hotels, especially if you are traveling as a family and cooking in the rig.

For Lebanon Hills, plan ahead. Dakota County opens its campground reservations on a set date in early spring, and the full-hookup sites for summer weekends get claimed quickly once the window opens, so mark your calendar and book online the moment it goes live. Midweek and shoulder-season dates are far easier to grab. Dakotah Meadows and Treasure Island take reservations directly and tend to fill around casino events, concerts, and holiday weekends. As a rule, lock in summer weekends a few months out and treat spring and fall midweek as your flexible, walk-up-friendly windows.

Late spring through early fall is the season, roughly May to mid-October, since local campgrounds close in winter. Summer is peak, with warm humid days perfect for the zoo and the areas lakes, but also the busiest and most expensive stretch. Our favorite window is early fall, late September into October, when the crowds thin, the fall color lights up Lebanon Hills, the bugs are gone, and nights turn crisp and comfortable. Spring works too once Lebanon Hills opens around May 1, though early spring can be cool and muddy after the snowmelt.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground accommodates RVs up to about 50 feet and has pull-through full-hookup sites, so most large motorhomes and fifth-wheel combos fit fine. Dakotah Meadows RV Park is the easiest big-rig choice in the area, built as a modern park with 122 paved sites, plenty of pull-throughs, wide interior roads, an on-site fuel station, and an RV wash bay. Getting to either is simple, since Apple Valley sits on wide suburban arterials like Cedar Avenue and County Road 42 with no low bridges or weight limits. Call ahead to confirm pull-through availability for the longest combined lengths.

Yes, and it is genuinely good. Lebanon Hills Campground is run by Dakota County right inside Apple Valley, set within the 2,000-plus acres of Lebanon Hills Regional Park. It offers full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric, plus electric and tent loops, all reservable online through the county. It is wooded, quiet, and steps from lakes and trails, which is remarkable for a campground this deep in a major metro. You do trade the casino-park amenities for a natural setting, but for many RVers that is exactly the point of choosing the public option.

Not really, and we would rather be honest than send you chasing a myth. Apple Valley is a dense Twin Cities suburb, so there is no legitimate free RV camping or boondocking in town, and overnight parking in retail lots or on streets is not permitted here the way it might be in a rural stopover. Lebanon Hills works on reservations rather than first-come, first-served for RV sites. If you truly want free or dispersed camping, you will need to head well outside the metro to state forests, which are at least an hour or more away.

Quite a lot, which is why RVers use it as a metro basecamp. The Minnesota Zoo is the headline attraction, a 485-acre state zoo with more than 500 species and the Treetop Trail, a 1.25-mile elevated walking loop billed as the worlds longest. Lebanon Hills Regional Park surrounds the campground with hiking, mountain biking, and paddling across its lakes. Apple Valley also has a string of small lakes like Farquar and Alimagnet for fishing and kayaking. Add a short drive to Mall of America and the wider Twin Cities, and you have days of options.

Very close. The Minnesota Zoo sits right in Apple Valley, only a few minutes from Lebanon Hills Campground, so you can set up camp and visit the zoo without moving your rig. That is a rare combination, a full-scale accredited zoo and a wooded county campground almost side by side. The zoo itself is a full-day outing with the Treetop Trail, penguin and shark feedings, and seasonal events like the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular in fall. If you are traveling with kids, pairing a Lebanon Hills stay with a zoo day is the classic Apple Valley RV trip.

Apple Valley is easy to reach on big suburban roads. Cedar Avenue, which is MN-77, is the main north-south spine, and County Road 42 (150th Street West) is the major east-west arterial, both multi-lane and rig-friendly. I-35E runs just east of town and connects to I-494 and I-35W for the rest of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro, while US-52 heads southeast toward Welch and Rochester. None of these have low clearances or weight restrictions that trouble RVs. Most travelers arrive off I-35 and drop down Cedar Avenue, which delivers you straight to the zoo and Lebanon Hills.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground has a dedicated full-hookup loop with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric at the site, offered in both pull-through and back-in styles. That means you can dump and fill at your pad rather than hauling to a dump station. The campground also has electric-only and tent loops if you want to save money and do not need sewer. Because the full-hookup sites are the most in-demand, reserve them as early as you can when Dakota County opens its booking window in spring, especially for summer weekends when they sell out first.

Two to three days is the sweet spot. Give one full day to the Minnesota Zoo, which easily fills a day with the Treetop Trail and animal exhibits, and another to Lebanon Hills Regional Park for hiking, biking, or paddling straight from your campsite. A third day lets you run up to Mall of America or explore the wider Twin Cities without feeling rushed. If you are just passing through, a single night at Lebanon Hills or Dakotah Meadows works, but the area genuinely rewards a longer stay given how much sits within a short drive of your rig.

The standout in-town option is Lebanon Hills Campground, a Dakota County park on Johnny Cake Ridge Road with full-hookup sites and more than 90 spots tucked into the woods and lakes of Lebanon Hills Regional Park. For a bigger, resort-style private park, Dakotah Meadows RV Park at Mystic Lake Casino is about 15 miles west with 122 paved full-hookup sites. A little further out, Treasure Island RV Park & Campground in Welch offers 94 full-hookup pads by the Mississippi. Between those three you have both a public and private choice within easy reach.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground offers full-hookup sites with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric, in both pull-through and back-in configurations, alongside electric-only and tent loops. Dakotah Meadows RV Park is all paved full-hookup sites with 30/50 amp service, and Treasure Island RV Park likewise runs full water, sewer, and electric pads. So whether you want a public county campground or a private casino park, you can get sewer at the site rather than relying on a dump station. If full hookups are a must, book the west full-hookup loop at Lebanon Hills or any Dakotah Meadows site.

Metro camping is pricier than rural Minnesota, but still reasonable. Lebanon Hills full-hookup sites run around $45 per night, with pull-through full-hookup sites closer to $47, and electric-only sites cheaper. Private parks like Dakotah Meadows generally land in the $50 to $70 range depending on season, site type, and any casino promotions. Basic sites across the area start near $30. Given how close you are to the Minnesota Zoo, Mall of America, and the Twin Cities, those nightly rates are a bargain compared to metro hotels, especially if you are traveling as a family and cooking in the rig.

For Lebanon Hills, plan ahead. Dakota County opens its campground reservations on a set date in early spring, and the full-hookup sites for summer weekends get claimed quickly once the window opens, so mark your calendar and book online the moment it goes live. Midweek and shoulder-season dates are far easier to grab. Dakotah Meadows and Treasure Island take reservations directly and tend to fill around casino events, concerts, and holiday weekends. As a rule, lock in summer weekends a few months out and treat spring and fall midweek as your flexible, walk-up-friendly windows.

Late spring through early fall is the season, roughly May to mid-October, since local campgrounds close in winter. Summer is peak, with warm humid days perfect for the zoo and the areas lakes, but also the busiest and most expensive stretch. Our favorite window is early fall, late September into October, when the crowds thin, the fall color lights up Lebanon Hills, the bugs are gone, and nights turn crisp and comfortable. Spring works too once Lebanon Hills opens around May 1, though early spring can be cool and muddy after the snowmelt.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground accommodates RVs up to about 50 feet and has pull-through full-hookup sites, so most large motorhomes and fifth-wheel combos fit fine. Dakotah Meadows RV Park is the easiest big-rig choice in the area, built as a modern park with 122 paved sites, plenty of pull-throughs, wide interior roads, an on-site fuel station, and an RV wash bay. Getting to either is simple, since Apple Valley sits on wide suburban arterials like Cedar Avenue and County Road 42 with no low bridges or weight limits. Call ahead to confirm pull-through availability for the longest combined lengths.

Yes, and it is genuinely good. Lebanon Hills Campground is run by Dakota County right inside Apple Valley, set within the 2,000-plus acres of Lebanon Hills Regional Park. It offers full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric, plus electric and tent loops, all reservable online through the county. It is wooded, quiet, and steps from lakes and trails, which is remarkable for a campground this deep in a major metro. You do trade the casino-park amenities for a natural setting, but for many RVers that is exactly the point of choosing the public option.

Not really, and we would rather be honest than send you chasing a myth. Apple Valley is a dense Twin Cities suburb, so there is no legitimate free RV camping or boondocking in town, and overnight parking in retail lots or on streets is not permitted here the way it might be in a rural stopover. Lebanon Hills works on reservations rather than first-come, first-served for RV sites. If you truly want free or dispersed camping, you will need to head well outside the metro to state forests, which are at least an hour or more away.

Quite a lot, which is why RVers use it as a metro basecamp. The Minnesota Zoo is the headline attraction, a 485-acre state zoo with more than 500 species and the Treetop Trail, a 1.25-mile elevated walking loop billed as the worlds longest. Lebanon Hills Regional Park surrounds the campground with hiking, mountain biking, and paddling across its lakes. Apple Valley also has a string of small lakes like Farquar and Alimagnet for fishing and kayaking. Add a short drive to Mall of America and the wider Twin Cities, and you have days of options.

Very close. The Minnesota Zoo sits right in Apple Valley, only a few minutes from Lebanon Hills Campground, so you can set up camp and visit the zoo without moving your rig. That is a rare combination, a full-scale accredited zoo and a wooded county campground almost side by side. The zoo itself is a full-day outing with the Treetop Trail, penguin and shark feedings, and seasonal events like the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular in fall. If you are traveling with kids, pairing a Lebanon Hills stay with a zoo day is the classic Apple Valley RV trip.

Apple Valley is easy to reach on big suburban roads. Cedar Avenue, which is MN-77, is the main north-south spine, and County Road 42 (150th Street West) is the major east-west arterial, both multi-lane and rig-friendly. I-35E runs just east of town and connects to I-494 and I-35W for the rest of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro, while US-52 heads southeast toward Welch and Rochester. None of these have low clearances or weight restrictions that trouble RVs. Most travelers arrive off I-35 and drop down Cedar Avenue, which delivers you straight to the zoo and Lebanon Hills.

Yes. Lebanon Hills Campground has a dedicated full-hookup loop with water, sewer, and 30/50 amp electric at the site, offered in both pull-through and back-in styles. That means you can dump and fill at your pad rather than hauling to a dump station. The campground also has electric-only and tent loops if you want to save money and do not need sewer. Because the full-hookup sites are the most in-demand, reserve them as early as you can when Dakota County opens its booking window in spring, especially for summer weekends when they sell out first.

Two to three days is the sweet spot. Give one full day to the Minnesota Zoo, which easily fills a day with the Treetop Trail and animal exhibits, and another to Lebanon Hills Regional Park for hiking, biking, or paddling straight from your campsite. A third day lets you run up to Mall of America or explore the wider Twin Cities without feeling rushed. If you are just passing through, a single night at Lebanon Hills or Dakotah Meadows works, but the area genuinely rewards a longer stay given how much sits within a short drive of your rig.

The highest-rated station is Lakeville Water Treatment Facility with a rating of 5.0/5 stars.

Yes — there are free RV waste disposal options available near Apple Valley.