3 Responses to “Nice, quiet camping spots in Wisconsin or surrounding areas?”

1. ohgerr says:

   March 3, 2010 at 2:46 pm

   Try the national forest lands and shoreline…

   Here’s a few links for the areas near you.

   Not my state. But you can’t beat the National Forest public lands for beauty and accessability. Very few morons want to go hike in to thier camping spot. Some of the most beautiful spots I’ve been to are in national forest reserves.

   National seashore areas are great too!
2. mr.strangeone says:

   March 3, 2010 at 3:44 pm

   i would go on the wisconsin river…you can canoe or kayak down the river and camp out on the sandbars that have the woods on them…it is really peacefull and quiet plus your dogs will be safe because the river only flows at 3 mph and is average 2 1/2 feet deep.
3. campaholicone2000 says:

   March 3, 2010 at 4:36 pm

   First off, all fireworks ARE illegal in the state parks, the parks are usually pretty good about enforcing that. Each campground has a “Camp Host” volunteer that can radio the rangers – I’ve seen campers get booted out of the parks for it. They kicked a group out at 11 p.m. one night. The ranger stood there while they packed up. Most of the campers nearby were applauding. Sounds like you ran into an overwhelmed park or an exceptionally rude group of campers.

   Second… peace/quiet and camping on a Holiday weekend just doesn’t work anymore. It’s sad, but everyone and their uncle goes camping on holidays… With gas prices being so high, long distance travel is too costly, so the camping vacation is becoming more popular than ever. And, with that comes inexperienced campers who treat the parks and their neighbors in the campground badly. I usually try to avoid mingling with the amateurs, but sometimes you just need a night in the sleeping bag.

   Keep in mind: the further from a major metropolitan area (i.e. Milwaukee, Chicago, or Madison) you go, the better the noise situation usually is.

   Here’s how to cope:
   If you are tent camping, several of the Wis State Parks have what are called “hike in” campsites. You don’t need to be a backpacker – the sites are between 50 and 1000 feet from where you park your car…. and where the kids would be screaming by on their bikes.

   Here are a few State Parks with nice walk in sites:
   Buckhorn State Park – up past the Dells. There are sites you can hike up to a mile to get to. They provide a cart for all your gear so you don’t have to schlep it in. Most of the hike in sites can be accessed by boat too. You do want to watch holiday weekends – speed boats with loud radios can be an issue.

   Governor Dodge State Park – West of Madison. They have 5 or 6 walk in sites that are really nice and heavily wooded. They’re grouped in 3′s, so if you have friends that want to go too, try to get all three sites in the cluster. The Group camp sites at Gov Dodge are really nice and very secluded.

   Nicolet National Forest Campsites – they’re in northern Wisconsin. There are some great places at Bagley Rapids
   http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/cnnf/rec/camping/nic_21.html

   Boulder Lake is really beautiful too:
   http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/cnnf/rec/camping/nic_22.html

   And Ada Lake:
   http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/cnnf/rec/camping/nic_19.html

   Canoe camping on the lower Wisconsin River is a great experience if you’ve never done it. Canoe rentals are easy to come by if you don’t own one, and you can camp on any island on the river you find. You’re on your own for toilet issues – normal leave no trace rules apply for digging catholes.
   http://www.canoe-camping.com/rentals.htm
   http://www.spcanoerentals.com/
   http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=418319
   If you think canoe camping is something you’d like to get into, definitely get this book:
   http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Paddling-Southern-Wisconsin/Mike-Svob/e/9781931599771/?itm=1