Crosby sits within Crow Wing County and is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. It has a population of 2,360 as of the 2020 U.S. Census. Mining played a pivotal role in the town's development, and it was the site of the Milfred Mine disaster of 1924. RVers will find Minnesota Highways 6 and 210 cut through Crosby and provide access into and out of the city.
Rehabilitated mining pits and piles of debris now make up the Cuyuna County State Recreation Area on the west side of Crosby. It provides biking and hiking trails you can enjoy. Serpent Lake nestles against the southern edge of town, offering 1,103 acres of water filled with several game fish species. Crosby Memorial Pak has a well-developed playground and 26 campsites for tents or RVs.
You can spend an hour or two at the Soo Line Depot Museum, which exhibits artifacts, documents, and photographs that highlight life in the Cuyuna Iron Range during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Crosby's Main Street provides several shops worth visiting. Enjoy breweries, coffee shops, a cocktail lounge, and more. You will also find rental shops providing equipment like MTB bikes, kayaks, HOK skis, paddleboards, and snowshoes.
The Red Raven Bike Cafe offers quick bites if you are on the go, or you can sit down for a meal at the Iron Range Eatery off Main Street. Get breakfast, brunch, and lunch at the North Country Cafe, or stop by Rafferty, which is a popular spot amongst locals for pizza.
Campgrounds Near Crosby, Minnesota
Crow Wing Lake Campground sits nearby in Brainerd, providing 80 full RV hookups and 20 electrical and water-supplied sites across 30 acres along Crow Wing Lake. Amenities at this RV campground include 30- and 50-amp power, laundry facilities, showers, cell reception, a boat launch, a fish-cleaning house, and a store on the premises.
Gull Lake Recreation Area Campground is another facility near Crosby. It sits along the Gull River, an outlet of Gull Lake and one of the tributaries of the Mississippi River. Each site provides 30- and 50-amp power, a campfire ring, and picnic tables. A shower house sits in the middle of the grounds, and guests can use the boat ramp and swimming beach on the lake. This RV facility is open seasonally from May 1 through October 15.
Nearby Brainerd is also home to Niemeyer's Rugged River Resort. There are two RV campgrounds on this 100-acre site, offering full hookups, 30- and 50-amp power, a hot tub, showers, and pool access. Your camping fee also provides access to the resort's boat launch, docks, and hiking trails.
State Parks Near Crosby, Minnesota
Crow Wing State Park is 25 miles southwest of Crosby, covering 3,119 acres of terrain. Guests enjoy coming here to explore things like the Old Crow Wing Town Site. A few buildings remain from this former community, and interpretive signs commemorate other structures that moved or decayed over time. Explore the park while hiking the 14-mile-long trail system, or use a canoe to move down the river. The park's campground has 59 sites, with 13 designated for RV use with electrical hookups for motorhomes up to 45 feet in length.
A 75-mile road trip to the east will put you at Banning State Park, close to Sandstone, Minnesota. There are 6,237 acres and ten miles of the Kettle River that runs through the terrain here. A 1.5-mile stretch of rapids includes Class IV rapids. You can explore sandstone formations and waterfalls by hiking along the 17 miles of trails, and a paved biking trail leads out of the park. If you enjoy bouldering, there are several points you can climb. Camping and angling are other popular activities within the park. During the winter, guests enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. There is an on-site campground with 33 campsites, several of them equipped with electricity.
Interstate State Park sits 126 miles southeast of Crosby, covering 1,628 acres near Taylors Falls. It consists of two state parks separated by the St. Croix River, one on the Minnesota side and the other in Wisconsin. Popular water sports include canoeing, kayaking, and swimming. On land, guests hike the trail system and explore the various lava flows that attract amateur and professional geologists from around the globe. Wildlife in the area includes beavers, otters, minks, red foxes, white-tailed deer, and several avian species. You will find that 22 of the 37 campsites on the Minnesota side have electrical hookups. The Wisconsin park has two additional campgrounds with 85 sites.
National Sites Near Crosby, Minnesota
Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway is 126 miles east of Crosby, near St. Croix Falls, WI. It covers 92,738 acres along 252 miles of the Namekagon and St. Croix rivers. Fishing is a popular activity here, and you can hook into several species, including catfish, muskellunge, northern pike, smallmouth bass, and sturgeon. There are other water activities you can partake in at the park, and several trails are available for biking or hiking. You can disperse camp in some areas, and designated campsites are also available.
The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area stretches between river mile markers 879 and 863, covering 54,000 acres and 72 miles of the Mississippi River near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. There are 60 state and national facilities along the Mississippi Corridor. The Science Center of Minnesota holds a visitor center, and you can tour another visitor center at the St. Anthoney Falls dam. Biking, boating, camping, fishing, and hiking are popular activities in and around the water. You can also hike a portion of the Mississippi River Trail.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore sits 178 miles east of Crosby, near Bayfield, WI, along the shores of Lake Superior. Water activities are the top draw along the 12 miles of shoreline and the archipelago of 21 islands. You can take the six-mile-long Lakeshore Trail to take in the sites and visit the seven sea caves on the mainland. Take a guided tour or motorboat trip around the lakeshore, or rent a kayak.
National Forests Near Crosby, Minnesota
Chippewa National Forest is less than two hours north of Crosby, covering 666,623 acres of terrain. Hiking opportunities here include the 1.9-mile moderate-intensity Lost 40 Trail. It leads to the 144-acre old growth area of trees missed by loggers in the 1800s, leaving trees that are now reaching up to 350 years old. There are 41 miles of paved and 43 unpaved bike trails, 160 miles of hiking trails, 20 miles of horse trails, and 83 boat access points for water sports. You can also explore the forest in your RV by taking a drive along one of the five scenic byways within the forest.
Drive an hour and a half east of Crosby, and you will find yourself in the Superior National Forest. It contains 3.9 million acres of terrain you can explore on a bike, boat, foot, or RV. There are fishing piers and beaches along the shores of Lake Superior you can fish from or swim in. You can stay at one of the forest's primitive campsites or enjoy dispersed camping outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest lies four hours east of Crosby. This Wisconsin forest covers over 1.5 million acres and draws in guests with its history and recreational opportunities. Archeologists traced Native American history within the forest from the Paleo-Indians 10,000 years ago to the more recent Woodland Traditional Indians in the region. Visitors to the forest enjoy birdwatching, camping, geocaching, hiking, horseback riding, stargazing, and wildlife observing. You will find 24 swimming areas along the beach, or you can hit other waterways to enjoy the day boating, canoeing, fishing, or kayaking.
