Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

This 2,350-acre campground was well-maintained and is located on Madeline Island (the largest Apostle Island) on Lake Superior. 

You need to take a ferry to get there and I took Madeline Ferry and it was easy even with an RV.

Big Bay State Park does not allow dogs (pets) on the 1.5-mile long beach which was disappointing, however, there was another campground (Big Bay Town Park) on the Island that had a fabulous pet-friendly beach so I spent time there.  

There are several hiking trails and Big View Trail was scenic along Lake Superior.

Big Bay State Park experience video:
https://youtu.be/LHGZdC6y-A0

If your from Wisconsin this sits at the very north of the State. If your looking for areas to visit while camping here you may have a little bit of a drive. The park features some of the best waterfalls in the State and the trails surrounding those falls can get you pretty close for some spectacular photos! The North Country Scenic Hiking runs through the park. This is the longest hiking trail in the county and stretches over 4500 miles. The park does have a beach but if you have a four legged friend with you the pet beach isn't the best as your subject to the boat landing area and isn't very inviting. You can walk through this park and never get bored of the scenes. If you like being surrounded by green this is the place! A nice park to get away from any amenities or thoughts of the city!

Oh thank goodness, we camped out at Dalrymple Park and Campground in Bayfield, WI as supposed to our original reservation at a boring campground in Cornucopia, WI. Dalrymple was just minutes away from Bayfield, and boat rides away from the Apostle Islands and Madeline Island. There are 28 sites surrounded by canopies of trees and there are wooded fences along the sides next to Lake Superior. It was a perfect spot to settle in for camping. Some sites were drive-in and others were back-ins perfect for RVs under 30 feet. Camping is $25 a night for 2 vehicles or 1 RV for each site. There is a fire ring, picnic table, electric hook-up, and a stump to cut some firewood at each site. Bathrooms are vault toilets and are walking distance. There were plenty of FREE firewood piles near the entrance. Cell-signal was strong for Verizon. A few of the back-in sites were steep but spacious and the drive-in sites were a bit small. It is a family-friendly campground. Pets are welcome but must be on a leash. The mosquitoes were pretty active so bring your repellant or citronella to ward them off. The view was great, but the noise level at night was a damper. We had a rowdy camper who had no consideration or camping etiquette when it's past 10:00 pm. The campground itself was overall wonderful.

So the drive-in sites are literally all right next to each other, no privacy at all. There are some drive-in sites next to the shore (enscarpment) and those looked nice with trees and a bit more privacy. The walk-in sites have some distance between them, but not visual privacy, as the tree canopy is very tall. Walk-in was not too far, we kept our food in our car and walked back and forth for it. Bears visited a few of the walk-in sites on our last night, so be very good about keeping food, etc. in your car. No bear boxes in this park. Beautiful Lake Superior sunsets! Because it's on the border of the Eastern time zone, day light lingers for a long time in the summer. Water and pit toilets were close by. Water was clear and cold! Many families, children, and dogs present and everyone was quiet and well-behaved. Will definitely be back. The biting flies were a bit much and caused us to literally run out the last morning we were there, but that happens. We will definitely be back!

Amazing hike in only campground. 1.7 mile hike into Tettegouche camp. It has 4 cabins for rent and a main lodge available for use. Has a one room cabin for 2 people with a queen bed, small refrigerator, an electric cook top, dishes and a table with 2 chairs. Heated by a wood stove and has back up furnace if temperature goes below 50 degrees. Very cute, cozy, romantic cabin! There are also three 2 bedroom cabins that sleep 4-6 people. NO RUNNING WATER OR BATHROOM IN THE CABINS but there is a very clean, very nice bathroom house with electricity on site. Your cabin rental includes a canoe to use on beautiful Mic Mac Lake. There is no WiFi and this is not a pet friendly campground. It is very peaceful and quiet. We saw deer and rabbits roaming about. Amazing hiking trails near by and very near the shore of Lake Superior. The cabins are reservable and hard to secure as they are in high demand. I gave this campground 5 out of 5 stars because it is amazing!

Walkin #38. Walk in sites are nice and decently spaced and wooded—for walk in sites. My major issue was they are too close to the pull in sites and garbage cans. It could be very loud. Water was a bit of a hike and bathrooms were not convenient. Walk in sites are located in a lower, more wet part of the camp—standing water, cat tails, mosquitos abound. Lots of mosquitos. I think because it’s on Madeline island it also attracts a weird melange of people: they were obviously the families there, and then there were the hippy hikers there, but then there was also party people. Overall, I would go back to Madeline Island for a day trip. I would not however take all the time and effort and money and hassle to camp —let alone stay—on the island again. It’s just really isn’t worth it.