Hobo Park Campground & Marina

Hobo Park Campground

offers 102 RV camp sites, each with electrical and water hookups, and two tenting sites. In addition, the park provides facilities for picnicking, cleaning fish, outdoor games such as horseshoes, and playground equipment for children. The Glacial Lakes Trail connects Hobo park guests to a nearby City Park and City Beach where they can enjoy swimming and other outdoor activities including tennis and softball. The trail, which loops around all of scenic Lake Minnewaska, provides a safe route for walking, jogging, and biking. Hobo Park is directly adjacent and connected to the Starbuck Marina, where campers can access Lake Minnewaska for boating, fishing, and other natural resource based recreational lake activities.

For reservations please call 320-239-2336

Starbuck Marina 

offers the public direct access to a diverse mix of lake based activities including boating, sailing, fishing, ice fishing canoeing, water skiing, jet skiing, and pontoon boating. There are 174 boat slips and four sail boat slips available for use by both the campers staying in Hobo Park as well as any member of the general public. Starbuck Marina offers those who do not live on a lake but own boats the affordable opportunity to access the wide variety of lake activities and resources. The majority of lake access points in the region are privately held by resorts, homeowners, and lake associations. At Starbuck Marina, any member of the general public can secure lake access and boat storage by the day, week, or month.

Starbuck also has two of the six public landings on Lake Minnewaska. There are two public boat landings / launching areas, one on the north and one on the south side of the marina with parking available on both sides. These landings are used year round, including the winter months during ice fishing season, when they are utilized for pulling ice houses onto the lake. Snowmobilers also use the landings to access and cross the lake. Ice skating is another popular winter use of the marina when the western section is cleared off for use. During the summer months, numerous natural resource based activities and events are hosted at the marina. In the spring, between April and May, the docks are filled with people fishing for Crappie. It is common to see upwards of 50 people on the docks during any given day. We also draw hundreds of people from a 60 mile radius throughout the season. Bass Fishing Tournaments also draw equally large participation.

The Legend of Hobo Park

The 1930's brought to Starbuck both the depression and the arrival of hobos. Hundreds of them, both young and old, "rode the rails" into town. By day they sought work for food from local residents. By night, they gathered near this place, hopefully to be refreshed by a welcome lake breeze, to cook a fish over an open fire or to share conversation with fellow drifters.

Although some were vagabonds, most were destitute people. Many had left home and family in search of jobs. They were quiet, gentle people - down on their luck but not without hope.

Those fortunate enough to find work stayed for days or even weeks. Others just left behind them shorthand messages on telephone poles. Perhaps the chalk marks informed those who followed where they were most likely to find work or food. In any case, the hobos were befriended by many families.

To the people of Starbuck, this wooded area became known as HOBO PARK. It is still respectfully called that today.

NOTE: This inscription, written by Verna Knutson, appears on the base of the hobo statue.