Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Ashland, WI

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!

As we arrived on a Saturday around 1:45 PM, there was quite the line of RVs checking in as most people come in for a week on Saturdays. As we have been here multiple times, we knew not to line up down the narrow road shoot that’s adjacent to the lodge where you check in but stay on the main road. They had plenty of staff on duty, so check-in was fairly quick, and we headed to site 457, which was an easy back-in with FHUs. We were pleasantly surprised we didn’t get site 456 right on the road. When we make a reservation for this campground(CG), you can only pick an area, not a specific site, for most of the sites. This was the first time we’d stayed in this area of mixed short-term and seasonal sites. The FHU facilities were placed in the middle of the gravel-grass site with a picnic table and fire pit. We were able to put out our back patio and have plenty of space to park our F450. There are a lot of mature trees in this park, so satellite is going to be iffy depending on the site. We were able to get an okay shot to the north for Starlink but no chance for the southern sky. You can opt to pay for the park Wi-Fi. The water pressure is good, and we had two bars on Verizon. The staff at the lodge/office is top-notch. We found out that this year’s“watch out” was kids riding electric bikes full out versus underage golf cart drivers of last year, so“watch out” in either case. The CG has been trying to police the lack of parental oversight, but this first-rate CG attacks a lot of families. Though there’s no formal dog park, there are plenty of areas to walk your dog, including the trail up and around the newer primitive camping area. Lake Chip is one of our favs, and we will continue to return.

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.

For folks with RVs who want a camping spot close to the city of Ashland, this is a convenient spot close to the lake. NOTE however that reserving a campsite solely for tent camping is prohibited! Tents are only allowed at sites where the main occupants is an RV and tents for kids or extra guests are allowed. The park is well maintained and family oriented, with all the amenities RVers might want, and it is located right between a bay on the lake and the city center. Ashland itself has a lot to offer, as does the whole area with its fruit orchards, artisan studios, outdoor recreation opportunities, local festivals and more. Stop off at the Ashland-Great Lakes Visitor Center west of town to get the scoop on all the activities and exploring you can do https://www.nglvc.org The downside to this campground is a lack of trees and privacy between sites, which doesnt appeal to me, and the fact that a major construction project is currently going on adjacent to the park, so be prepared for the unsightliness of the worksite along with noise during regular working hours. The park is a great launchpoint for boating and kayaking though (you can bring your own or rent locally) and the water access and public landing is great. For folks who bring their dogs but occasionally want to do local events without Fido, there are some nice local dogsitters available through Rover.com, one I highly recommend is Judy who is located near the campground and often dogsits while folks go out on an afternoon kayaking or to a concert or something. So, this is a good all around spot to camp at with RV’s if exploring Ashland and vicinity