Enchanted Acres Canoe And Campground

Reviewer: Not provided on Sun 29 Aug 2010 rated 1 out of 10.

My family was tent camping near the back of the property, which backs up to private property, not associated with the campground. We were taunted and terrorized by people that came out of the woods, we tore down our entire campsite, including two tents, AT 11:00 at night in less than 30 minutes! My wife, mother-in-law, and daughter were paralized with fear. This was no kid prank. It was a well-thought out, well-executed plan to terrorize tent campers. They were adult male voices. My wife thought it was odd that we were the ONLY campers in the campground when we checked in Thursday morning and even more suspicious when no other campers arrived over the weekend, when every other campground in the area was full of RVs and tent campers. Now we know why! The camp manager lives on site, claims she has no knowledge of anyone frightening or harassing campers, but she also claimed she did not hear the gunfire that went after dark behind our campsite each night, or starting early in the morning until after noon. These people stalked our campsite, hid in the woods behind our tents at night, and staged a surprise "attack" on my family. We could not see them as they approached our camp, but we could hear them getting closer in the woods behind us, taunting us with verbal outburst, all the while approaching our campsite, until they finally were screaming in the dark immediately behind our tents! I have been backwoods camping in the Boundary Waters for 35 years and my family would have been safer if it had been a bear.We left the campground immediately and drove straight 4.5 hours home in the middle of the night because my family too traumatized to even check into a hotel. Do NOT tent camp at this campground! There are lamp-post type lights at every site, but none of them were lit while we were there. Also, the bathhouse lights were turned off at dark, making a middle of the night trip to the bathrooms quite an adventure for my family for a campground that advertises modern facilities. The camp store was always closed (little wonder, there were no guests to warrant remaining open). There are old, run-down mobile homes on the property, all of course, standing empty. It's unfortunate that what should have been a wonderful family camping experience so frightened my family.We do NOT BELIEVE it is safe for your family.

Reply: Owner states there are no neighbors, then states the neighbors were not out. Which is it? There are neighbors. There is a 2-track that runs along the property leading to a garage, which we could see back in the woods behind our site. Also, there are "No Trespassing signs posted on the "federal land" that she claims surrounds her campground. Men on ATVs passed our site several times on this 2 track leading back to the garage during our stay, and gun shots were heard each evening into the night. We WERE THE ONLY campers in that campground our last night there-nobody camping "in the middle of the campground." The owner made no offer to contact the authorities, investigate immediately, or attempt to contact the neighbors back in the woods that SHE HAS TO KNOW are there. Her only truthful statement is she did offer us a camper which I outright refused. I ask you, after being driven out of your campsite after 11:00 at night, would you keep your family anywhere on this property? I feared for my family's safety. She knows this was no owl, no deer, no raccoon. I specifically told her it was humans. What my family experienced that night was NOT a raccoon "rustling in the leaves," another lie, because I NEVER said anything to the woman about rustling leaves/owls. The only wild life that anyone has to fear at this campground is the human kind! We are not afraid of the dark or the owner's juvenile remark about the Dogman of Luther. A really nice family suffered at your campground. I'm sorry that you find it amusing. These comments should tell you something, folks. There is nothing enchanting about these acres or the insensitive owner.

Positives: My family made it home safely, driving straight home through the night over four hours, after breaking camp and fleeing this campground in the middle of the night.

Negatives: Old, run-down mobile homes on property, penned-in animals on property, so few campers during peak season, restrooms not lit at night, camp store and showers old and dirty

Reviewer: Not provided on Sun 29 Aug 2010 rated 1 out of 10.

Our family was terrorized at this campground after dark by a group of men in the woods behind this property. We broke camp and fled in the middle of the night after stopping to report the incident to the manager who made NO offer to investigate or call the police. The owner denied the existence of anyone in the property behind our campsite (she has to know, she has to hear the gunfire), even though we could see a garage/barn/lights late at night and men traveling back and forth on three-wheelers throughout our stay. We also heard gunfire after dark each night. The owner made light of our experience, claiming we were frightened by owls or raccoons or the mythical Dogman of Luther. Really? My wife, mother-in-law and daughter were paralized with fear and the owner finds humor in this by writing that this nice, innocent family was frightened by The Dogman of Luther? I would not want any family to experience the attack on our campsite that my family experienced here. It was humans in our campsite that night and it was a deliberate act intended to terrorize a family tent camping. This is NOT a safe place for your family. The owner did offer to put us up in a trailer/cabin at no charge that night, but I did not want my family anywhere near this property. My family was so terrorized, we drove four and a half hours straight home at midnight. Please be aware that there are people surrounding this campground who get their kicks by stalking and terrorizing tent campers at this campground.

Negatives: There is a two-track that runs along the secluded campsites in the rear of the property and men on ATVs are in the woods behind these campsites. There is gunfire at night behind the campsites. The bath house lights are turned off at night. The property has several old mobile homes on the site, all empty during our stay and only one other group of tent campers when we arrived on Thursday and they left Sunday morning, our last night there, when we were the ONLY people in the campground. The owner blamed the empty campground on the economy, yet every other campground in the area was full over the weekend. Now we know why. Not safe.