The Perfect Couples Camping Getaway Near Winona, MN

There's a version of a trip that doesn't need much. Fire. Water. Bluffs. Each other. No agenda. Nowhere to be. The Winona, MN area does this version of a trip extraordinarily well — and we built Camp Everyday with exactly this kind of visit in mind.

We're Josh and Mariah. We run this campground together. We've also been planning weekends for ourselves in this river valley for years, and we know where the good moments are. Here's what we'd recommend for a couples trip.

Your Home Base at Camp

For couples specifically, the hammock zone is the move. Two hammocks strung in the trees, the river valley somewhere below you, nothing on the schedule. It's the kind of afternoon that sounds simple and turns out to be the thing you remember most.

Every site at Camp Everyday has its own fire ring, and we enforce quiet hours — which means evenings are genuinely quiet. The campground attracts a mix of families and couples, but the sites are spaced enough that your fire pit feels like yours.

Something we're excited about for 2026: our new glamping tent sites with elevated wooden platforms and pre-strung fairy lights. They're designed for exactly this kind of trip — comfortable enough to be a treat, outdoors enough to be real. If you've been waiting for a reason to try glamping, this is the one.

Sunset Hikes

Golden hour on the bluffs is something we talk about with every guest because it genuinely earns the description. Garvin Heights, the easily accessible overlook above Winona, faces west across the river valley — meaning the sun drops behind the Wisconsin bluffs in a way that lights up the entire landscape. It's a 10-minute drive from camp and a short hike to the top. Go in the last hour of daylight.

The Great River Bluffs State Park overlooks are more remote and require a longer hike, but the payoff is proportional. The bluff edge at sunset with the Mississippi below you and nothing else in sight is one of the better things in the upper Midwest.

Paddling at Sunrise

This is the experience we always recommend and the one that most couples say they'd build a whole trip around if they'd known about it in advance. The Mississippi backwaters in the early morning — before the wind picks up, before the boat traffic starts — are calm and silent in a way that's hard to describe. Mist rising off the water, herons standing in the shallows, the possibility of an eagle banking overhead. You're in a canoe and the world is very still.

Canoeing at sunrise sounds ambitious until you actually do it, and then it becomes the kind of thing you want to do every time you're near a river.

Wine and Dining in Winona

Winona's restaurant scene is better than its size would suggest. The city has a university, a strong arts culture, and a local food ethic that shows up in the restaurants. There are options ranging from a casual dinner at Jefferson Pub and Grill (river views, reliable food) to more intentional dining at spots that source locally and take food seriously. Skip the chains — they exist in Winona, but you don't need them, and the local alternatives are worth finding.

Ask us at the campground for a current recommendation. Our answer might be different depending on the season and what's good right now.

Great River Shakespeare Festival

If your dates overlap with the festival season — late June through August — this is a genuine date night. World-class outdoor theater against a backdrop of the Mississippi bluffs. Bring a blanket, a bottle of wine if the venue allows it, and someone you like talking to afterward. The productions are professional, the setting is beautiful, and it's the kind of cultural experience that feels out of proportion to a small Minnesota river city in the best possible way.

Farmers Market Saturday Morning

A slow Saturday at the Winona Farmers Market is exactly the kind of morning a couples trip should include. Walk slowly. Sample things. Buy local honey and a wedge of cheese and a jar of jam. Sit somewhere and eat whatever you found. There's live music on the market stage most weekends. The pace is deliberately unhurried, and it's a nice contrast to the hiking and paddling.

Market runs May through October, Saturday mornings from 8am to 1pm, in downtown Winona's riverfront area.

La Crosse Day Date

Thirty minutes south gets you to La Crosse, Wisconsin — a riverfront city that offers a bigger-city version of the same bluff-and-river experience. Grandad Bluff is the marquee attraction: a 600-foot overlook above the city with a view of three states. Hike it in the morning, then head down to Pearl Street for lunch at one of the independent spots that define La Crosse's local food culture.

Riverside Park is La Crosse's riverfront gathering space — nice for an afternoon walk along the Mississippi, with views of the water and the Wisconsin bluffs. If you want a slightly more urban half-day without going far from camp, La Crosse is the answer.

Live Music at Camp — Walk from Your Site

This is the part we love most about being a campground that does music. You don't drive anywhere. You don't find parking. You don't set an alarm to leave by a certain time. The music is 200 feet from your fire ring and you can walk back whenever you're ready. Regional bluegrass, folk, and country artists throughout the summer — real sets, real instruments, real nights out without leaving the campground.

What to Pack for Two

A few things that make a couples camping trip significantly better:

• A double hammock. The single is fine; the double is the right call.
• A wine opener and something worth opening.
• A cast iron skillet. Campfire cooking is genuinely more fun with the right tool.
• Good speakers for the campsite, or the willingness to sit in silence and listen to the river valley instead.
• One nice outfit for the restaurant or the Shakespeare evening, so you can shift gears without feeling like you're camping the whole time.

Camp Everyday is 6 miles south of Winona — everything here is within easy reach of your site. Book early if you're eyeing a specific summer weekend, especially if there's a music event on the calendar you want to catch. We'd love to have you.