Schreier's on Shetek (Southwest MN)

[AustinBoston]

Schreier's on Shetek is a family-run commercial campground on SW Minnesota's Lake Shetek.  Note: the web site opens with a somewhat annoying audio description of the photos on the home page.  It goes away when you go to a different page.  We went to Schreier's because we missed on reserving a campsite at Lake Shetek State Park.  We were there from Friday, July 21, 2006 to Monday, July 24, 2006.

The lake is famous for it's fishing, and is the largest lake in southeast Minnesota.

Shetek is an Indian word (I think Ojibwa, but I may be mistaken) meaning "pelican," and we saw a number of pelicans during our stay, along with a large number of other birds.  There were robins, chipping sparrows, quite a few swallows, and a few purple martins.  We also saw nuthatches, mourning doves, an occasional seagull, and a couple different woodpeckers.  There were rabbits, chipmunks, and ground squirrels about as well.  In the area we saw a few ringneck pheasants (they seemed to like to play chicken with the van), a few grouse-like birds, great blue herons, a few buzzards, and of course crows.

I think most people would classify Schriers as a campground and RV Park, not a strict campground.  There were a significant number of seasonal and long-term sites with larger travel trailers and 5th-wheels.  I only saw 3-4 pop-ups, a couple hybrids, and less than a half dozen tents.

Most of the sites are open but fairly well shaded.  They tend to be close together.  One section (roughly sites 41-72) were only partly shaded or not shaded at all.  The photo on the web site shows this section, but the photo appears to be several years old.  Even these sites back up to a few rows of trees that are near 12-18 feet high, so it's not as open as it looks in the photo.

Typical campsites consist of a gravel pad, fire ring, and picnic table.  They are fairly close together, with no undergrowth to provide a privacy shield.  I did not check to see if any of the sites were pull-through.  My brain can only recall back-in sites, but most are easy to get into.

I did not check out all of the restroom or shower facilities.  The restrooms near our campsite were older, but clean.  The showers were clean, private, and free.  At certain times of the day, water pressure could be an issue.  There is another restroom/shower building that is more centrally located and appears to be newer, but I never went in to check it out.

This campground is well suited to a number of things, including families with children of various ages, those into boating/fishing, and those (like us) who just want to see local sites.

The campground has two playgrounds, each with swings, slides, climbing devices, and similar stuff on a sand surface, and a large, central, open space for pickup games.  There is also mini-golf, shuffle board, a volleyball court, a small basketball court, hoseshoes, and a rec hall.  The rec hall included a pool table, air hockey, a handful of arcade games, a ping-pong table, and foosball.  The same building (which used to be an old barn) has a coffee area with a sink and microwave, tables and chairs, and a TV and VCR.  Off to one side is the laundry area.

The rec hall facilities appeared to be in like-new condition.  I've seen some run-down mini-golf places in Minnesota, but this is not one of them.  The mini-golf is only $1.25 (I think) for campers, and a slightly higher fee for non-campers.  Even if you end up at the nearby (less than 5 miles) state park, consider the mini-golf at Shreier's for the little ones.  It's a lot nicer than the photo on the web site makes it look.

There is a small beach for lake swimming, but no pool.  I believe paddleboats and canoes are available for rent.

The camp store is in the office and is very small, having only milk, bread, s'mores fixings, and an ice cream freezer.  Plan your food well, because it's a loooooong drive to the nearest well-stocked grocery store (there is a small convenience store about 1-1/2 miles south).  The camp store also has live bait and is the rental center for mini-golf, horseshoes, shuffleboard, etc.  If you call the office, you can order and they will cook up a Schwann's frozen pizza or two and deliver it directly to your campsite.

There is a lot here to support fishing.  There are docks for both fishing and boats, a boat launch, and a fish cleaning room.  It seemed to me the space provided for parking boat traiers was adequate.  Use of the boat launch was free for campers, $5 for non-campers.  Lakeshore fishing is limited; my DS reports that there are a lot of weeds just below the surface near shore, and that he lost two of his prize lures.

I would be missing an important point if I did not say you will have to drive on gravel roads to get there.  If you don't want to subject your trailer to washboards and dust, better find another place to camp.  My bet is that any other campground in the area (and there are only a few) is going to be at the end of a long gravel road as well.  There is an approach from the south that I think was just under 1-1/2 miles of gravel road, and another from the northeast that was about 2-1/2 miles.  If it's been dry, you can see other vehicles from a long ways off because of the cloud of dust they raise.  That dust will get all over the outside of your trailer.  For us, it was no big deal.

Our purpose in visiting was to see "local" attractions.  I put "local" in quotes because in rural Minnesota, local can mean well over an hour's drive away.  We vistied Walnut Grove, MN, one of the places recalled in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prarie series (On the Banks of Plum Creek), where we toured their museum and saw their pageant.  This was a relatively nearby attraction, being about a 20 minute's drive away.  Even closer was the End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum, about 6 miles south in Currie, MN.  From there, the drives got a bit longer.  Pipestone National Monument was a good 50 miles away.  In addition to seeing the monument and walking the trail, we saw the locally produced Pageant about Hiawatha, a story recounted in Hawthorne's poem of the same name.  Jeffers Petroglyphs was more than 30 miles away.  There is another Laura Ingalls Wilder site in DeSmet, SD.  Based on a quick eyeball of the map, I would estimate it at close to 120 miles west.

Here in Minnesota, we prefer our excellent state parks, but would not hesitate to recommend Shreier's on Shetek.

Austin

[Kelly]

Hey AB ~

We drove through that area on our way home from SD on Saturday (7/23) ... too bad we didn't know you were going to be there!

Sounds like you had a great time.  My older kids really loved the End o Line RR park ~ we were there about 6 years ago.

We drove past the exit for DeSmet, but didn't have a chance to stop.  I'm sure my girls would love to go back some time!!

Excellent review ~ thank you.

~K[/FONT]