Interstate State Park — Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

Interstate Park in Wisconsin is just south of HWY 8 on HWY 35.  The entrance is located on the west side of HWY 35 in the town of St. Croix Falls.  St Croix Falls is a small town with a nice downtown on the river with plenty of restaurants (Dalles House Restaurant and Lounge is a favorite) and places for necessities. There are coffee shops, hotels and even a Wal-Mart nearby.  There is also a casino in the town of Turtle Lake about 30 mins away.

The park is home to the western terminus of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail that covers 1200 miles through Wisconsin.  The park also offers a Ice Age Interpretive Center which boasts interactive activities and displays of the last Ice Age.  The park is also home to several other trails worth discovering.

There are two campgrounds in the park, a North and South campground as well as two group campsites.  The South is a bit more rustic.  The showers are located at the North campground.

For amenities there are flush toilets and showers.  There is a sandy swimming area available as well as boat launch and other water activities. 

This park is beautiful especially being on the cliffs of the St. Croix River offering spectacular views through out the park and the area.  You can even take the bridge over to Taylor Falls Park Minnesota for more spectacular views as well as other shopping options.  If you take this trip, Taylor Falls Park will be on the South and your shopping options will be to your North.

Even being in such a wonderful location with plenty of activities and amenities, I find the camping hard to enjoy at this park for all the noise that generates from the  hwy crossing over the river.  The sound especially of the semi trucks and their brakes that go all night long. This is the big reason for the average rating for this campground.

We stayed over Labor Day 2021 (at south camp #65). I had read somewhere that sites 65 and 67 had direct access to the river--true!  But the path does come off the camp road and it really does serve the entire campground, so anyone can use it.  It's about 350' from the camp road to the small beach, which provides a perfect launch point for kayaks onto the St Croix.  The creek shown on some maps was too dry in 2021 to be even present, let alone to access Lake O’ the Dalles.

Paddle up the river past Folsom Island and the Princess of St Croix all the way up to the rapids at Taylor's Falls. We had some challenge getting past the island with such low waters, but we persevered.  If you launch from the River Bottoms Picnic Area boat launch, you can avoid those challenges.  (You can also rent kayaks on the MN side to paddle downriver and get picked up.)

Hiking on the WI side is incredible--there are a ton of trails.  The main ones are North of Lake O’ the Dalles, and are all well marked.  Definitely spend some time there too!  It's fun to see the cliffs both from the water, and also from above up top.

The pit toilets in the South Camp were not the cleanest, but it was a big end-of-summer holiday weekend.  Some went up to use the showers at North Camp and they said they were nice (strong water pressure).  We want to check out North sites 23/24/25 for our next adventure.

Notes on the sites in South Campground:

 - we stayed at #65: smallish but adequate, sloped down on (South) passenger side on backing in--needed leveling blocks for our squaredrop.  Tentpad was small but workable. Likely the best access possible in South Camp for carrying kayaks to river.  One neighbor even asked to leave his kayak alongside ours overnight for convenience!

 - nearby #67: HUGE and distanced from others, at end of loop.  Short walk to river path too.  RVs not allowed on that site(?). Lowest site in camp / private.  Would try for that one if only tenting. Would also be great for big group with many cars.

 - observations on other sites in south camp:  many very small sites, especially on outside / Eastside of loop.  Some with very little offset from camp road.