Is This the Forgotten Trail? | 2 Nights Solo Truck Camping Minnesota

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Look at the size of these tracks.

[00:00:03]What is that?

[00:00:07]Here's my hand. That is big.

[00:00:11]There is one problem though. These forest trails are still closed down. I think this is the campground graveyard.

[00:00:19]I'm going to throw the camera on Toby.

[00:00:21]Let him do all the work tomorrow. It should be a good day.

[00:00:27]Dinner is served.

[00:00:30]These smell absolutely amazing. I'm going to have to bring some home to Mandy.

[00:00:37]I can hear turkeys out here.

[00:00:44]This week, Toby and I are going to be bringing you out to a campground that we've been to before, probably three or four times in the last 5 years. It's not too far from home. So, when the temperatures drop to 20, 30 below zero or the snow starts stacking up, this is where I come to clear my mind.

[00:01:03]I've been up and down these state forest trails. I fished on this lake. I spent a lot of time in this woods. Recently, I found out that there's an interpretive trail out here that I'd never seen.

[00:01:21]Now, am I going to actually find this interpretive trail? I've been through this woods a lot. I don't know. The one thing that I do know, though, is often times the places that are closest to home are the ones that we overlook the most.

[00:01:54]Oh, we made it. Hopefully we can find a spot that's not covered in snow.

[00:02:08]When I left the house, there wasn't any snow on the ground. You get back in these trees and get shaded.

[00:02:24]Oh, I think we found the spot.

[00:02:28]Yeah, that's going to be mint.

[00:02:58]It honestly feels pretty level.

[00:03:01]Not too bad.

[00:03:05]So, this week I got you up at Greer Lake Campground. We're inside the Crowing State Forest, not too far out across Lake Minnesota. We were here probably 4 months ago on the other side of the campground. It got down to about 25 below zero that night. Propane tanks quit working. Thankfully, I had a spare.

[00:03:22]It got cold and we didn't do a whole lot of exploring. This weekend, it's going to be different. 35 degrees out today.

[00:03:28]It's supposed to be in the mid-40s tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll be able to find that trail. Today, I'm just going to get camp set up. I think I can fix this leveling with the airbags.

[00:03:39]Unfortunately, my compressor is still out. But I do have another plan.

[00:03:57]We're going to set this down to 100 PSI.

[00:04:02]I'll just get this hooked up to the first airbag.

[00:04:08]And we just got to push start.

[00:04:26]Well, that was what we needed. I got to get that compressor fixed.

[00:04:53]Well, look at that. Nothing fell.

[00:05:19]These are rustic sights. You get a fire pit and a picnic table.

[00:05:25]We'll just head up front and get this paid for.

[00:05:31]The campground is looking pretty good.

[00:05:33]Back in 2022, a tornado came through, leveled a bunch of trees. For years, there was huge slash piles out here.

[00:05:43]Looks like this is all they got left.

[00:05:46]This pile was huge, probably 15 ft tall, and went all the way down past these campsites.

[00:05:56]It's good to see that they're making some progress out here.

[00:06:02]And in case you decide to come here, I'll show you what the toilets look like.

[00:06:11]Very clean toilet paper. Even have a waste basket. Some soap for your hands.

[00:06:18]That I was not expecting.

[00:06:22]Here it is. Greer Lake Campground. 17 bucks a night.

[00:06:28]There is one problem though. The state in all of its infinite wisdom decided to put payments for these rustic campgrounds online, which is great except when you get to a place that doesn't have any cell phone reception.

[00:06:42]Looks like we got one bar here.

[00:06:48]Well, so far it's working.

[00:06:55]mint.

[00:06:58]And like usual, we got the whole campground to oursel, which doesn't surprise me. I find that a lot of people come out here to ride ATVs on the trails. And then also during hunting season, there's a good chance that if you come through here early November, you're going to see a few deer hanging from that board.

[00:07:26]And we don't have to worry about the ATVs driving through here this weekend either because the forest trails up here, they're still shut down.

[00:07:42]They've got an old fish cleaning building out here. I was hoping that maybe they were going to do some work to that, but doesn't look like it.

[00:07:52]Probably too far gone at this point.

[00:08:00]I checked out this building quite a while back. It still had a door on it back then, and there were still benches in here, too. It looks like they're cleaning it up. Probably getting ready to take it down.

[00:08:13]The sill plate, the walls, the rafters.

[00:08:15]It still look good. I could probably salvage this place.

[00:08:20]I'm thinking this would make a nice chicken coupe.

[00:08:24]What do you think, Toby?

[00:08:32]Hopefully that sun will come out tomorrow, warm us up for when we go on a walk. It's really damp today, making 35° feel a lot colder than it really is. cuz 35 degrees in March can feel like a day at the beach or it can send a chill right to your bones. And that's what it's doing today. So, I think what we're going to do is get back to the camper. I got a few things to put away and then I picked up a new piece of equipment a couple weeks back and I'm going to show that to you.

[00:09:09]If you've been following along with me and Toby, then you've probably heard me say in the last couple of weeks how I need to replace that old camper mattress. And apparently Brooklyn Bedding is also following along. They reached out. They're going to be sponsoring this week's video.

[00:09:24]For the truck camper, I went with one of Brooklyn Bedding's RV mattresses because I needed something specifically to fit this space. Being able to get the right size, especially the proper height, so my cabinet doors would still open and close was a big reason that I went with Brooklyn bedding. I've been trying to make my old mattress work for way too long. I picked it up off of Amazon, and over time, I've added multiple toppers to try to make this thing comfortable, but at this point, I've really reached the limit of what the old mattress was going to be able to do for me. Getting a good night's sleep out in the camper has been getting harder and harder. So, this really wasn't a luxury upgrade as much as it was a needed one, especially after having that total shoulder replacement last year. Finding a mattress that could provide me with the right kind of support so I can get a good night's sleep has become really important to me.

[00:10:15]So, when I had the chance to replace the old mattress, what I was looking for was something that was going to fit my needs, fit the space, and then also be easy to get up into the camper. One thing I liked right away is that it showed up in a rolled up box, which makes a big difference when you're trying to get a mattress into a small space like a truck camper. It also ships free right to your door in the US. And for a setup like this, having it arrive boxed and being this manageable, being able to move it around in the camper was honestly a huge plus. And once I got it here, the setup went pretty fast. It's pretty straightforward, which I really appreciate because inside of a truck camper, I don't have much room.

[00:10:55]Brooklyn Bedding also gives you a 120 night sleep trial along with a limited lifetime warranty, so you've got time to make sure that it's the right fit for you. I've been sleeping on this mattress for the last couple of videos now, and what I've really noticed is is that I stay sleeping a lot longer. My watch actually tracks those kinds of things, so it's cool to see that I am sleeping longer, and I can tell, too, because I'm waking up more refreshed. has made a real difference for me when I'm trying to relax and actually get some decent rest in the camper. So, if you've been thinking about upgrading your old mattress, you want to learn more about Brooklyn Bedding, just go to brooklyn betting.com/kenny and uh you'll get 30% off of your order.

[00:11:36]And if you do pick one up, it helps support the channel when you tell them that I sent you in their post-purchase survey. I really want to thank Brooklyn Betting again for being a supporter of the channel, and I want to thank them for supporting this week's video. Let's get back to the adventure.

[00:11:58]Soon as I went inside the camper, started snowing out here. Tiny little snowflakes.

[00:12:04]I knew it felt damp out here.

[00:12:44]The fire starter fell right into the snow. 10 bucks says the fire still starts.

[00:12:58]I decided to stay out here for two nights, but today I think we got everything accomplished that we wanted to get done. We found camp. We got set up. And in a little bit, I'm going to throw a polar sausage over the fire.

[00:13:09]That's gonna have him for supper. And then Toby and I are going to bed.

[00:13:13]Tomorrow we're going to see if we can't find that interpretive trail. I'm going to throw the camera on Toby. Let him do all the work tomorrow. It should be a good day. Hopefully them temperatures rise up a little bit.

[00:14:14]That is going to be good. I can hear turkeys out here.

[00:14:21]Well, that would be cool to see out here. And it sounds like they're just on the other side of the campsite.

[00:14:28]The tracks are everywhere, so they're definitely around.

[00:14:34]It's a little too dark out here, I think.

[00:14:38]Looks a lot brighter on your end.

[00:14:44]I really should get a game trail. Put it up by the camper. See what comes through at night. I'm not going to be able to see anything out here.

[00:14:56]They are definitely out here though.

[00:15:13]This guy's going to be good.

[00:15:17]I think dinner is served.

[00:15:47]Well, the sausage has got to be one of my all-time favorites. I'm going to finish supper. I'll let you go hang out by the fire for a little bit and then Toby and I, we're going to go to bed.

[00:15:56]Toby, you want to try a piece? Here you go, buddy.

[00:16:01]That's the good stuff.

[00:16:11]You want to try another one? I bet you do. Good job.

[00:17:11]What do you think, buddy? Time for breakfast. Here you go.

[00:17:37]Are you ready to go, buddy? Let's go.

[00:17:43]Let's go check out that lake this morning.

[00:17:52]I think it's Toby's turn to be your tour guide.

[00:18:08]Well, I know this might sound strange, but this is actually a good time to go out ice fishing. People will put planks from the shore out to the ice because it's a lot thicker out there than it is up by shore. It starts pulling away up here first.

[00:18:26]Um, I don't know if I'm going to push my luck, but I bet that once we get out there a little ways, it would definitely hold my weight.

[00:18:37]But don't trust what I say.

[00:19:01]Altogether, this campground has 33 spots, I believe. And I think one of them is set up for a campground host.

[00:19:09]There's one spot here that has electricity. I've never seen it turned on, though.

[00:19:16]You can see back in the day there would have been a lot more trees in the campground. These spots might not be as separated and tucked back as some of the other state forest campgrounds we go to, but it's still a nice place.

[00:19:34]I'll let you in on a little behindthescenes secret. These walks where Toby's got the camera, they take about an hour and a half just so I can get about 35 seconds of usable footage.

[00:19:46]He's got quite the wiggle when he walks.

[00:19:54]Well, here's something that I've never noticed before.

[00:20:04]They got a fence going around what looks like a picnic table.

[00:20:10]What in the world?

[00:20:13]I'm sure it's just storage, but why would you store that?

[00:20:20]It's got a lot of damage from that tornado.

[00:20:27]Oh, check these out.

[00:20:30]You know what those are? I've seen them at other campgrounds. They're for garbage cans and they have that hoop so you can chain the lid to them so it doesn't disappear.

[00:20:41]I think this is a campground graveyard.

[00:20:47]That's a cool looking metal grate.

[00:20:54]I bet that might have something to do with shoreline erosion.

[00:21:07]I think I found another treasure fire ring.

[00:21:13]Well, that one there could be good enough to go home with a person.

[00:21:19]There are all kinds of treasures out here.

[00:21:30]What do you think is chewing the bark off the tree?

[00:21:36]I don't see any tracks.

[00:21:42]H.

[00:21:45]Someone's got to know what's been nibbling on that tree.

[00:22:08]I think it's time to get back to the camper.

[00:22:29]The plan was to get an early start on supper cuz it's going to take about 3 hours. The wind out there today's got other plans.

[00:22:38]There's a lot of dry leaves and grass out there. Weather Channel is saying the winds 11 miles an hour, gusts up to 19.

[00:22:48]Better choice might be to just get it started inside.

[00:22:58]The plan was to braze some short ribs in the Dutch oven over the fire, finish them off over the coals. We'll get it started on the oven. Now, I still don't have water in the camper. So, today I'm going to try and make clean up a little bit easier.

[00:23:15]Just going to get rid of some of this extra fat up on top.

[00:23:19]A little salt, smoked paprika, and pepper.

[00:23:35]I do both sides and then just rub it in good. Let them set up before they go in the Dutch oven.

[00:23:44]About two cups of apple juice and two cups of water.

[00:23:55]And we're just going to have a slow boil for probably an hour and a half. What we're looking for is the meat's going to pull back off the bones. And the bones ain't going to pull right out of the meat. It's going to be a little bit of a struggle to get them out. That's when we know that we can add the barbecue sauce, put them over the fire.

[00:24:21]You did a great job today, buddy. You want to watch a little office? Yeah, let's do it.

[00:24:28]>> Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information. Actually Let's see what they look like.

[00:25:05]Yeah, that is getting close.

[00:25:08]They're not pulling out, but close.

[00:25:14]Looks like Toby's ready for the fire.

[00:25:24]You just chilling or what?

[00:25:26]All right, this is probably going to take 45 minutes or so to get the wood ready. I don't want to cook over this smoke.

[00:25:41]Really, what I'm looking for is just to get some coals going. That way, we can cook the ribs over that.

[00:26:51]They've got to be close by now. Yeah, them they're going to start pulling out pretty soon. From here, we can take them out, let them sit. I got to make some barbecue sauce.

[00:27:02]It's 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup of ketchup and two tablespoons of worshshire sauce and a couple of shots of mustard.

[00:27:17]The vinegar and the mustard is just going to help kind of calm down some of that sweetness from the sugar and ketchup.

[00:27:28]Little taste test.

[00:27:32]That's it.

[00:28:08]I think the coals are ready. White hot.

[00:28:11]Should be good.

[00:28:25]We'll just let them take a little bit of this smoke. I'll give them a quick flip and then they'll be done. You know what I just thought of? I don't have any tongues again. Man, that sunset is beautiful.

[00:28:43]These smell absolutely amazing. I'm gonna have to bring some home to Mandy.

[00:28:53]You're watching. I'll try and save you some, Mandy. But no promises.

[00:29:35]Today was a good day. Tomorrow we're going to get in the woods, see if we can't find that trail.

[00:29:42]We'll see you in the morning.

[00:30:50]Are you ready to go outside? Well, let's go.

[00:31:21]It looks like rain out here. We might get wet before we find this trail.

[00:31:34]Look at the size of these tracks.

[00:31:38]What is that?

[00:31:41]Here's my hand. That is big.

[00:31:46]That is a big dog.

[00:31:57]Oh, here we go. What is this?

[00:32:03]Trees planted. 1991 Crowing County Land Department.

[00:32:19]I know a little bit of information on this woods. The state forest started back in 1943 and today it's a little over 33,000 acres.

[00:32:28]See if there's more signs.

[00:32:33]The state forest is really active. You can see it's still being managed.

[00:32:42]I thought maybe there'd be some writing on there.

[00:32:47]That's a lot of trees planted.

[00:32:51]There is another classification of land out here that connects to the state forest and it's called tax forfeit land.

[00:32:58]It's managed by Crowing County.

[00:33:01]Now, I know tax forfeit is one of those terms that people hear and they think the worst right away. They think that someone lost their land because they didn't pay their taxes.

[00:33:12]And yes, that does happen. But up here, a lot of these larger blocks of public land, they trace back to the logging era. Back in the 30s, after this land was heavily logged, the timber companies pulled out and left it up to the state and county maintain these lands.

[00:33:31]Today, Crowing County has over a 100,000 acres of tax forfeit land that they manage and timber sale proceeds go back into the forest and then also support the local communities.

[00:33:45]And from a public use side, a lot of these tax forfeit lands are treated just like state forests. We get to come out here and hunt dispersed camp.

[00:33:53]There's another sign.

[00:34:09]And it's not just Crowing County that manages their tax forfeit lands with public use in mind. We've been all over northern Minnesota. I found some of the most beautiful dispersed campsites on trails just like this.

[00:34:25]It really wasn't until I started the channel that I learned just how many opportunities we have here in Minnesota to get outside and enjoy nature.

[00:34:34]I think that's the big takeaway from this walk is how much land like this exists. You go camping right here.

[00:34:45]I wouldn't doubt that someone has pulled in right here and made home for a few days.

[00:34:52]And there's always something to explore in these woods.

[00:34:57]This little trail might lead to one of the nicest campsites we've ever found.

[00:35:19]Well, I think that's it. We got back on the main trail. I'm not seeing any more signs.

[00:35:26]Maybe we found the interpretive hike.

[00:35:29]I think from here, Toby and I are going to head back to the camper.

[00:35:34]At least we didn't get rained on.

[00:35:41]Well, I'm thinking it's about that time.

[00:36:26]Good boy.

[00:36:37]Okay.

[00:36:58]Whether or not we found the real interpretive trail, I guess doesn't matter. This trip did exactly what I wanted it to do. It allowed me to open up my mind, see something familiar in a different light, and that's what keeps life interesting. We'll do this again next week. Until then, be kind, be honest, and we'll see you down the road.