Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Blanchardville, WI

This is a popular place in the area, the human beaches are full and the small pet beach area was well used by my husband, myself and our two dogs; Odinn & Frigga over Memorial Day. The hiking is amazing , particularly the Oakgrove trail, plenty to see with beautiful views. There is boating, canoeing, etc. Bring the strongest mosquito repellent you can get, Wisconsin in summer can be rough. We tried our Black Diamond poles and Thule day bags and we got to try cooling vests for the dogs from Ruffwear. It was so much fun. Note that there are sites to camp, cabins nearby and plenty of Hipcamp sites near. Strongly recommend Riverview Bottoms, which sits in a 500 acre property and is 10 min away.

We enjoyed this park so much we have already been here twice and have a third trip planned for this coming September.   There are very wide bike/hiking paths that are paved or stone. 

The huge lake has boating opportunities and you can rent a boat in McFarland that is a short drive or bike ride.  We rented a boat to fish and then drove across the lake to eat at a restaurant with boat parking.

The nature center is across the street from the campground and has a small snack bar/restaurant.  There are cranes walking all around and the park is so big it has different types of plants to explore.  There is an observation tower and in the picnic area a playground.  The best part is the boardwalk that extents over the lake and you are walking/riding on water.

About a half a mile away is a very nice dog park that you receive admission to if you have a campsite.

Dane County has many parks in their system and we have stayed at several and all are great.

We stayed in our 42 ft motor home with jeep tow. We drove to the park in our jeep at nine am on a Sunday to check availability. If you haven’t reserved a site, there are several sites for walk-ins but you have to be present to sign/obtain them. Check out time is three pm but weekend people often leave earlier in the day and that is what occurred for us. Several sites have 50 amp plus there are thirty amp And non electric/tent sites available. The campground has showers and bathrooms but this is a county park so understand these are not hotel facilities. They are adequate for campIng. There are biking and hiking trails in and through the park and trail users also share the restrooms. The park is close to Madison. There is WiFi but the signal is variable. The ranger and campground hosts were friendly and helpful. Four legged campers on leash can walk with you on the trails and there is s nearby dog park.

General: 58 sites with various amenities. Some are long pull-throughs, some are back-in, some have 30 amp with or without a patio, and some have 50-amp electric with or without a patio. Tents are NOT allowed. We were greeted immediately upon arrival and asked to sign a waiver and given a welcome packet. The rules are extensive, but most are common sense/courtesy and not at all unreasonable. 

Site Quality: All had gravel driveways and looked level. Decent separation between sites although they are close together, as would be expected in an RV park. Our site had a patio and decent-sized picnic table but it was chilly when we were there so we ate inside. 

Bathhouse: Very clean as were the showers. 

Activities/Amenities: There are many activities offered, including a dog park, basketball, horseshoes, games (cornhole, large checkerboard, and others), a barn with a television, a book library, puzzles, and a pool table. Coffee is available after 9 am. There is also a small chapel available 24/7 and a laundry room. WiFi is also available. There is a camp store with ice, ice cream, some camping supplies, clothing, crafts, and more. We were told several restaurants will deliver to the campground. 

We don’t typically prefer to stay in RV-style campgrounds, but it was conveniently located with easy access off Route 151 just over the Wisconsin border from Iowa, we were warmly welcomed, and enjoyed our short stay passing through. Pride of ownership was evident throughout.

We were in Site# B1. We had Full hook- up with a gravel pull-thru. We travel towing a 14 foot trailer and were able to fit both in our pull through site. My jeep though did not fit. The site was easy to level.

Our site was shaded with lots of trees. This was a larger sized lot with our neighbors not too close (but we did choose a premium site with a patio and paid extra to be on the end).

This specific lot comes with a concrete patio The lot comes with a picnic table and fire hole in the ground.

They have a community Outdoor kitchen-y area with picnic tables.
They do not provide garbage service at your site so you must walk to garbage dumpster.

You are allowed to ride personal golf carts. There is really not a need to have a Golf cart because it is a smaller campground.

They do have a Swimming pool.
There is a Playground. They also offer horseshoes and a volleyball court.

They have a great general store.

The streets are gravel so not great for riding bikes but there are great places to ride bikes outside of campground, especially around Middleton and Madison.

They have cabins for rent and tent areas.

They have one shower house. The shower house has the typical stalls. These are kept mostly clean.

There is a laundry facility. It is a cash only facility, but they have a change machine.

They have a fenced in dog park and many grassy areas to walk dogs.

There were no trails to hike in the campground.

Some fun things to do outside of the campground are the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Madison and multitude of bike trails.