In April, the Rads took a trip out to Whitetail Woods and stayed in the park’s sweeeeeeeet camper cabins.
We rented all three cabins for Friday & Saturday night. Each cabin sleeps six (although we actually discovered they sleep seven – see ProTip below) and 19 of us were able to go with 15 spending the night. A third of us were able to bike there & back; here is our route:
It was approximately 45 miles from our start in Uptown. My FAVORITE section was through the University’s UMore Park. So weird! So great! I kept guessing how many dead bodies were buried in there!
Once at the cabins, we got down to business Rad-Style. Every meal was taco-inspired. We brought our own portable wood-fired hot-tub. We had a gender-inclusive coloring contest. We played a long-form secret word game (inspired by PeeWee’s Playhouse). We played the ancient Swedish lawn pastime of KUBB in which you throw sticks at other sticks. Oh, and we had THE COOLEST guest dog with us, Tonks.
Interested in getting together with your own gang for a weekend in the woods? Here are the details:
- Cabins are available year-round (aka heated)
- Cost: $60 per cabin per night
- Bike route difficulty level: medium! UMore is mostly gravel and St Paul is the worst for climbs (RAMSEY HILL CAN SUCK AN EGG) but anyone that has done a 50 mile ride before could totally do this. There are also shorter route options. Scheduling a pit-stop at the House of Coates for some food and refreshments is a nice addition.
- However, WARNING! Renters have to check-in at the Lebanon Hills Visitor Center, which is about 12 miles from the cabins themselves. If you’re traveling entirely by bike, be aware! Rox & Tom were kind enough to swing through the center in their car to get the keys and parking passes for the group.
- Stuff to do there: hang with your buds, drink (alcohol is allowed), hike, explore the super creepy Blair Witch-esque murder teepee hidden back in the woods.
- Stuff to know: the cabins supply you with a roof, mattresses and table/chairs … but otherwise, you’re still park-camping. There aren’t fridges or stoves; you’ll be relying on coolers and campfires for your cooking needs.
- ProTip: check out the cleaning-supplies bucket … there’s a hammock in there that attaches to the chain hooks on the back porch – and then you can sleep outside! Greta did and loved it (until Crow Town happened at 6 am).
- Would we go again? Probably! We REALLY want to check it out in winter (I LOVE WINTER CAMPING). However, for summer rentals: the cabins are pretty close to each other, and all the fire rings are in a sort of “clearing” so you’re, like, RIGHT NEXT to the other cabins. Which worked out fine for us since we had all three, but I’m not sure I’d feel super comfortable renting just one when you’re planning on spending most of your time relaxing out front by the campfires and picnic tables – what if you’re next to a bunch of weirdos? And when I pointed that out (thinking about being stuck next to a family that’s in bed at 9 pm), I was reminded that WE WOULD BE THE WORST CAMP-NEIGHBOR for the vast majority of people (“can you believe they brought their own hot-tub!”) So, yeah. Try to be conscientious of your other people!
- More Whitetail Woods basic info here