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Highland Ridge overlooks the sparkling Eau Galle Reservoir located in Spring Valley, in western Wisconsin. The area boasts 648 acres of scenery with numerous opportunities for recreation, including fishing, canoeing and plenty of hiking. Horseback riders enjoy the trails around the lush region.
Hikers can enjoy the 7 miles worth of trails, along with overlook seating areas and a swimming beach. Horseback riders have a variety of trails to choose from. Fishermen cast their reels year-round. Kayaking, canoeing, and electric-motor boating are common.
The 35-mile Eau Galle River feeds into 150 acre Eau Galle Lake, which is surrounded by steep hills and bluffs. The campground is opposite the dam on the north side of the small reservoir. The area is set in a heavily wooded area that provides a welcoming habitat for native plants and animals.
This location has limited staffing. Please call (715) 778-5562 for general information.
Highland Ridge is minutes from Spring Valley Golf Course, Crystal Cave, Cady Cheese Factory, Red Cedar Bike Trial, Vino in the Valley, Nugget Lake, Wakanda Water Park, Maple Leaf Orchard and Goven's Farm.
$28 - $216 / night
Central Assembly Area is moderate in size; it is a primitive campground designed to furnish only the camper's basic needs, vault toilets, and hand-pumped water. There are fire rings, picnic tables, picket lines, and manure bunkers in the campground.
There are no designated campsites in this campground, and campers can set up as they wish, keeping in line with these rules:
Portable pens must be 50 feet from the road to minimize damage to the grass and not be around trees.
Horses cannot be tied to trees.
Keep the size of your campsite reasonable. To allow for other campers to use only the amount of space you need.
All camping is first-come, first-serve. Do not block off space for friends who will be arriving later.
Clean up your campsite when you leave. Take all garbage with you and put all hay and manure in the bunkers provided.
This is a popular camping area and on busy weekends can accommodate about 20 camping units.
Quiet hours are between 10:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. (this includes no generator use). Please be considerate of others around you.
Zumbro Bottoms offers access to 44 miles of horseback riding trails. The trails have been marked with brown signs showing appropriate uses.
$14 - $16 / night
West Assembly Area is the largest of the three campgrounds at Zumbro Bottoms; it is a primitive campground designed to furnish only the camper's basic needs, vault toilets, and hand-pumped water. Other than two accessible sites, there are no designated campsites in this campground.
There are fire rings, picnic tables, picket lines, and manure bunkers in the campground. There is a lot of open space, and campers can set up as they wish, keeping in line with these rules:
Portable pens must be 75 feet from the road to minimize damage to the grass and not be around trees.
Horses cannot be tied to trees.
Keep the size of your campsite reasonable. To allow for other campers to use only the amount of space you need.
All camping is first-come, first-serve. Do not block off space for friends who will be arriving later.
Clean up your campsite when you leave. Put all garbage in the dumpster and all hay and manure in the bunkers provided.
This is a popular camping area and on busy weekends can accommodate 100 + camping units.
Quiet hours are between 10:00 p.m.–8:00 a.m. (this includes no generator use). Please be considerate of others around you.
Highlights: Zumbro Bottoms offers access to 44 miles of horseback riding trails. The trails have been marked with brown signs showing appropriate uses.
$22 / night
Legend
NE of Chippewa Falls, offers secluded campsites, hiking, biking and horseback riding trails, picnic and playground areas and a swimming beach on a man-made lake. Boating, canoeing, kayaking and water skiing are popular summer activities on the lake. Showers and flush toilets in the campground. Firewood for sale at the park office. Picnic table and fire ring at each site. Sites are wooded and fairly secluded.
GuideI just stayed here one night because I was passing through the area. It worked out really well. I entered the campground late in the day. It was almost dark. They had a QR code that I used to make a reservation on the spot. I had a great night there. There's a hiking trail that completely goes around the campground. So I was able to walk my dog on that. I'm not sure how it would have been to stay as a vacation Target spot. Probably pretty fine. But it certainly was great on the shoulder season for a stopover.
Scout
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TravelerThis is a smaller Corps of Engineers park, lots of primitive sites and lots electric sites too. A smaller lake but no gas motors. Cell service with Verizon was ok.
TravelerLots of RV campers, but none were obnoxious. T-mobile service is almost non-existent depending on location. The showers and bathrooms were spotless. Firewood is available at several roadside stands just outside the entrance.
ScoutVery no frills camp site. Sites are decently sized, has some good views. It's missing a sculley.
ScoutGreat camp site, the ground was a little rocky so it was a little difficult to get the stakes in but we were able to get them in. Hiking trail right next to the campsite. Bathrooms and showers are nearby as well. Great place to stay!
TravelerBest trails and lots of wildlife.The park staff is great also. Love the price to camp along with the camping areas.
LegendHighland Ridge, WI - COE east of Minneapolis.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer)
Overall Rating: 4.5
Price 2023: $12/ night w senior pass
Usage during visit: 60 - 70% during weekdays
Site Privacy: GOOD - not a fence forest, but tremendous spacing makes up for it.
Site Spacing: VERY GOOD
Site surface: Gravel and level
Reservations: Yes. Can reserve on line at the cg
Campground Noise: None
Road Noise: None
Through Traffic in campground: None
Electric Hookup: Yes
Sewer Hookup: No
Dump Station: Yes
Potable Water Available: Yes, at the bathrooms.
Generators: Not needed.
Bathroom: kept VERY clean. Shutdown for cleaning every morning at about 6 AM.
Showers: Yes. Clean
Pull Throughs: I think all are back ins.
Cell Service (AT&T): Good
Setting: Forest with no understory
Weather: 80s
Bugs: Not too bad.
Solar: Forest canopy would interfere , but not needed.
Host: Yes. They are around and offer free beach passes. They are super.
Rig size: Large RVs.
Sites: All sites are very nice in loop 1 -24. I understand that Loop 28+ is less private.
GuideSo I love goin to this campground. It has nice lakeside sites on a bluff above the water and they are fairly well laid out. There is a trial along the bluff connecting the two main loops of the campground. Showers and restrooms work, but are showing their age. They are scheduled to be rebuilt in the next couple of years...hopefully. One of the best parts of this is its proximity to breweries. Not talking Lienies, that's generally ok beer, but the Brewing Projekt, that's amazing beer. It's in downtown Eau Claire, but worth the drive. Also, if you want pizza, which is something we like to do on the day we arrive Chippewa Falls has pretty much anything you need within 20 of the campground. Nice hiking and biking trails as well. I've camped here in Spring, Summer and Fall and multiple sites.
GuideLake is huge with alot to explore. Not an overabundance of boat traffic. Camp facilities are brand new. Sites a level, plenty of shade. Hiking trails are awesome.
GuideNice Campground under an almost complete canopy of shade. Older shower house but clean. Friendly staff and hosts. Long spread apart spots.
GuideNew facilities and hot showers. Great hiking trails, mountain biking. Equestrian trails also. Lake is huge, walleye are prevalent. Kayaking is great with other boat ramps available. Sites heavily wooded, low noise and light pollution. Easy access to all activities.
RangerWe’ve now camped here 4times…. This is a beautiful, densely wooded campground with fairly well spaced sites. Some sites on the short loop (28-38) are a bit smaller and slope down from the road, so be careful of the site’s size when booking. Our 29’ trailer would have been a challenging fit in some of those sites. Make sure to enter “Highland Ridge Campground” into your GPS instead of “Eau Galle Rec Area. (That’s the day use area of the park that’s about a 20 minute drive around the lake from the campground) AT&T service is spotty throughout the park with either 1 or 2 bars, although in the spring and fall when there’s few leaves on the trees, service is fine. The campground is well maintained and the bathrooms are clean, and only an hour from our home in the northern suburbs. Will definitely be back! One change from our last visit: there have been quite a few trees taken out at the end of the main loop, so now sites 18-20 are VERY open. (At least now it’s a nice view of the reservoir….)
GuideFairly level, clean, wooded sites. Clean showers. Friendly Hosts and Rangers. Great trails.
GuideThis is our second stay at Lake Wissota SP. Last year we were in an electric site inside one of the loops, this time we’re sans electricity and overlooking the lake. Our site was spacious, level, shady, sandy (not grassy) and we had good cell service (we use Visible). We were here weekdays so lots of empty sites. Walking and biking in the park are nice. There’s single stream recycling dumpsters which is convenient. The shower houses haven’t been renovated like they have at other WI parks but apparently that’ll happen in the next couple of years. It’s a very nice quiet place to stay and the area has much to offer, be sure to visit Irvine Park and the Thai restaurant downtown!
Traveler
Nice big tent sites down by the river. Walking trails were nice but recommend pants as the grass was long in spots. Plenty of wildlife and could not hear the cars from the highway.
TravelerLake Wissota is beautiful and the beach area is very nice and well kept! Tons of nature trails for walking (easy). I like birdwatching and have seen a good variety of species!
RangerContinuing my quest to visit as many Wisconsin state parks as possible. I stopped by here to check out the campsites for potential future camping and look over the park. When I found was a very well-maintained park, love the viewing area of the lake. Campsites looked good as well.
ScoutWe were just passing through and had a difficult time finding somewhere to stay since it’s early April. This site was easily accessed off the highway and incredibly convenient to reserve online! $20 for a non-electric site got you a quiet, private site, perfect for a good night’s sleep on the road. Would stop here again due to convenience and comfortability!
GuideOut of about 20 campgrounds we've stayed at this year so far, this was one of our favorites. There is a lot of space between sites, there are a lot of trees, it's very quiet at night, and there are trails from the campground. The camp host was very friendly and helpful. There is a dump station on the way in to fill up with water as there are no water or sewer hookups. We had one bar of service with Verizon and 3 bars with AT&T. Further up the loop the Verizon signal was much better.
GuideI really enjoyed it here! The campsites were big and spaced out enough (though check the map because some are close together).
Plenty of trails, a scenic out look, a beach, pavilion, volleyball, etc.
Dogs are allowed on leash, but cant be on the beach.
Half of the campground is closed for the off season.
Will ad more info soon!
Traveler
Great campground and been here many times. Plenty of wildlife and can hear the owls talking to each other
GuideI'll start by saying that I like privacy and quiet and nature when I camp, otherwise I'd be staying in a hotel. But we were looking to get away for a weekend during the COVID times, and site 65E was the only powered site available for that weekend in all of the Wisconsin state parks, so we decided to go for it. If you're the social type with active young kids, that spot is perfect - it backs up to a large open field with cool playground equipment and has a trail to the field right next to the camper. You're also right next to the water faucet (plenty of people will stop to chat there) and across the street from the pit toilets. It's a VERY busy site. If I return, I'll pick site 107E, which is extremely private and far from everything. In general, the 100+ sites looked to be on the quiet, private side of the campground, although not all had power. Some of the unpowered sites. 69-79, had great lake views and were surprisingly spacious, although a hiking trail is between them and the lake. In late July, the loop starting with site 41 is absolutely teeming with ripe blackberries.
The shower houses have little notes on them apologizing for their state and saying they're scheduled for an overhaul soon because they're almost 50 years old. So definitely go in with low expectations. Few of the stalls for the flush toilets had working doors, and while the showers themselves worked ok, there were no hooks, shelves, or anywhere inside to place your belongings. My shower bag randomly has a suction cup and I optimistically tried to use it to stick to the pink tile wall, but even that didn't work. Such is life. Mirrors above the sinks were the polished metal type.
The pit toilets in the campsite have two stalls in each, so don't be surprised if you end up with a buddy.
The hiking trails around the park are great, nice long loops, and the ranger/park employee at the check-in area was very nice and knowledgable. We rented a kayak and paddled around the lake for a couple of hours - single and double kayaks as well as canoes are available for rent for the day. There was a rocky beach with so many signs up warning about different types of algae that we weren't sure if it was safe to swim or not, but definitely too gross to regardless. I didn't see anyone else in the water either.
If it's a clear night, the field with the playground equipment is a great place to sit and stargaze, as the park gets very dark at night. We were even able to catch a few meteors!
TravelerCame here without a reservation while driving cross country. It is only a few miles from the highway but is a beautiful and quiet, natural environment with lots of trees. We got here around 6pm on a Thursday evening and there were lots of available sites. It was a little confusing to begin with, because every single site has a sign that says “reserved,” and the hosts were off-duty. We drove around and found a relatively level site with a very long driveway, then went online to recreation.gov to check it’s availability and reserved/paid for it. We have AT&T and had no problem getting signal and cellular data to complete the process. We accidentally selected a site without electric, but if we had taken more time to use the website and enter search criteria, we could have found one with electric. The site itself was very nice, and we only had to level front-to-back. There were mosquitos, but with a little repellant it wasn’t too bad. We were close to a restroom but didn’t use it and can’t speak to the cleanliness or whether there were showers. There is a little dump station near the entrance where we got potable water and will dump on the way out. Someone had firewood for sale in front of their house as you drive toward the park, there is no firewood for sale at the campground when we were there. Overall, this was a great stop for a short overnight, for only $20 and absolute quiet for a good night’s sleep.
ScoutA group of 5 of us went camping and split ourselves among 3 campsites (2,3,4). Area is well maintained and the bathrooms (flushing toilets and showers) are cleaned regularly- however if you have to use the bathrooms between 7:30-8:30 am, use the pit toilets because that’s when they are cleaning. Trails are well maintained and there is plenty to see. Only one issue when we got there due to someone not leaving our campsite but the staff were super nice and resolved it so well.
GuideThe park itself is small and non-descript, not photogenic. The trail along the lake is nice for walking - it is a ridge above the lake with some nice views. Otherwise, the campsites were OK. Ours was secondary growth scrub with moderate shade. Others had nicer trees. Not a ton of birdlife. A lot of people staying there appeared to be there for golfing at nearby courses. Proximity to Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls is convenient. We enjoyed using the Old Abe bike trail. An entry point is near the park and there is a parking lot with clean restroom there. The trail goes for miles in either direction and is paved and well maintained.
Horse camping in Wisconsin offers a unique opportunity to explore the great outdoors while enjoying the company of your equine friends. With a variety of campgrounds that cater to horse enthusiasts, you can find the perfect spot to set up camp and ride the trails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near Altoona, WI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near Altoona, WI is Lake Wissota State Park Campground with a 4.3-star rating from 35 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near Altoona, WI?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 equestrian camping locations near Altoona, WI, with real photos and reviews from campers.