The Fish Camp Campsite is a public water-access campsite on the lower Rat Root River, on Koochiching County land managed by the county’s Land & Forestry Department. Its sign reads ‘Fish Camp Campsite — Koochiching County Land and Forestry,’ and a blue marker post at the water designates it as site number 2693. The site sits in a mowed clearing under red and white pines, where the river runs the last stretch toward Black Bay of Rainy Lake.
A picnic table, a bench, a bear-proof storage box, and a fire area sit above a riprap shoreline, with stone steps down to a hand-carry landing for canoes and small boats. The Rat Root River is an actively managed walleye fishery — the Koochiching Soil and Water Conservation District has cleared log jams and built a rock riffle upstream to improve spawning. The county’s Land & Forestry Department, at 715 4th Street in International Falls, looks after the site.
Rules for this place
The Minnesota fishing regulations do not treat the Rat Root River on its own: its special-regulation entry points to Rainy Lake, and the Rainy Lake rules, border waters among them, are the ones that apply. Minnesota’s invasive species law rides home with the trailer: pull the drain plug, drain the water, and leave plants and prohibited species at the access. Burning restrictions can close campfires outright here, so read the DNR’s fire danger and burning restrictions page the day you go, and keep any fire small and in a ring.
Verified 2026-09-07. Rules change; check the official page before you go.
