Are you planning a tent camping trip to Campbellsport? We've got you covered. The Dyrt can help you find the best tent campsites for your next trip. Each tent site offers quick access to one or more of Campbellsport, Wisconsin's most popular destinations.
Primitive camping on private pond well maintained lawns. Clothing optional.
$50 - $80 / night
Purplehaze Acres is a 60-acre organic rustic farm in Rubicon, WI and resides at the beginning of the approx. 650-mile Niagara Escarpment--known locally as "The Ledge". We are in close proximity to the Ice Age Trail, and the natural treasures of the great Horicon Marsh, Lake Sinnissipi/Rock River with canoeing/kayaking/fishing, Ledges County Park, and the world-renowned Holy Hill Shrine.
Nearby Hustisford ("Husti") offers unique shopping and dining experiences, such as the Mercantile and Mocha Vino. Need a few organic groceries? Make sure to visit Back To The Best Organic grocer only 3 miles away, featuring food raised on local organic farms including Purplehaze Acres.
Potable water, charcoal grills, firepit grates, eggs and available for purchase--firewood. COMING SOON: Did you forget something? If so, check out our Camp Cupboard Store. FYI: In addition to our private individual sites, our PEACE CAMP site is a group site perfect for the rustic camp wedding, small festivals, EAA, Harley celebrations and other fun casual events. Check out the Peace Camp listing for details.
Your approach via 1/2-mile dirt drive up the hills and through the woods . . . to not your grandmother's typical house you go. You'll find wonderful vistas, wildflowers, berries, trails up into the woods, a 900' grass runway for aviators on an overall great "peace" of earth. ☮
$40 - $160 / night
Designated backpack campsites are available by reservation at the following properties. These campsites may be several hundred yards to a few miles away from the nearest parking area and campers need to carry all gear in and out. Campsites typically feature a fire ring, seating, and a primitive privy or wilderness latrine, which may be shared with other campsites. There are also a limited number of opportunities for very primitive, remote camping on DNR lands.
This 6.13 acre property is located in the Town of Watertown, within the City of Watertown’s extraterritorial boundaries. It lies between the City of Watertown and the Village of Johnson Creek in the north-central part of the County.
The landscape is primarily mowed turf grass with some low, riparian woods and wetlands. It is fairly level to gently rolling from the east to the lower areas in the west. This park provides non-motorized and motorized access to the Rock River, and provides 600 feet of river frontage for shore fishing.
This park offers an open air shelter for rent, and two walk-in primitive campsites.
$20 / night
Guide
I have camped here many times as a kid and always loved it. We recently came here with a large group and tent camped at one of the large tent sites. I believe there are only 2 non-electric tent sites but the large huge and grassy with excellent privacy. The managers/owners of the camp are really nice and laid back. There is a small fishing pond off the back side of the non-electric sites and there is a nice outdoor pool and indoor jacuzzi next to a large rec room/bar. I haven't seen it personally but I know they have live music and summer events. We love that this place is so close, we get to get away without the long drive!
Legend
Open tent sites and well designed riggings and beyond excellent, well-maintained trails, accommodations and hospitality. This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, so if you’re looking for this kind of experience, don’t pass it up. In one of the most lush forests in the SE corner of Wisconsin near Milwaukee.
Scout
Tried out tent camping for the first time with a 5 year old and a 2 year old. Clearly were not sure how’d it go but pure success! The camp site (216) was perfect with privacy for the tent and was incredibly quiet. Not a long walk to the vault toilets and everyone was super friendly. Already planning our next stay!
ScoutTook my 2 year old fir first time tent camping, we were at site 231, which was huge and very nice. We had some friends at other sites that weren’t as nice. There is a YouTube video posted of all the sites. There is so much to do we couldn’t do everything we wanted in the one night we stayed.
Legend
I did not stay at this park, but did drive and walk through it to get a feel for it. There are a number of sites I'd love to tent camp in.
This park is bounded by a lake with a nice beach. There are nicely-groomed volleyball courts, picnic shelters and abundant picnic tables. There are pit toilets throughout the campground and one flush toilet station in the public picnicking area.
The campsites are up the hill from the public areas I just described. Sites 1 through 8 are in an oak savannah, semi-shaded but mostly in a grassland area. Sites are grassy with no gravel pads for parking.
The group camping area is slightly shaded, but would be warm and sunny midday. Group site 19 is probably one of the shadiest areas.
Now, sites 22 and 23, 24, 25 and 26 are very cool. The campsites are in the midst of a pine forest. It would be sweet to tent camp there and listen to the wind in those trees. Note, there is no camping IN among the pine forest, and these sites are going to be quite sunny and warm midday without much shade.
Scout
If you are looking for a place to camp with an RV or rent a cabin, this is your place! Three pools, mini golf, and a great atmosphere! However, we were tent camping and our site was gravel and right on the main road. It was very small and our tent was too close to the road for my comfort. Hiking trails weren’t very well kept, but was still a beautiful hike! If you have kids and camper I would absolutely recommend this place! Also very dog friendly!
Guide
This a dodge county campground we have been to 3 out of the 4. So fare Astico is are more favorable. There are 3 areas. River witch are electric. Point tent camping only upper, Danville are electric. There are pit toilets also a main shower bathrooms. Camp hostess are great. They help with camp wood with they ask if you want bundles or lose choose loose. They also have canoes and kayaks to rent. We will be going back.
Scout
The park itself is beautiful, and the trails are nice. The tent sites were on the smaller side and kind of close together. The park ranger was good-natured and patient when we accidentally set up on the wrong site.
Make sure to store your food correctly! The two sites beside us were ransacked by raccoons all night long because they left their supplies out. Three raccoons came to smell around our picnic table as soon as we zipped up inside the tents but left quickly after not finding food.
Ranger
This was the strangest camping experience I've ever had. It was early June and there were maybe two or three other sites set up in the entire campground. I made my reservations online for a tent site and nothing indicated that the site I selected was an overflow site. These "overflow" sites were scantly numbered, and there were fewer fire pits and picnic tables than indicated online. All of these tent sites were scattered in a grass field among the frisbee golf. We were glad no one was playing frisbee golf because it was intermixed with where the tents would be, so people would be getting hit with frisbees.
My friend and I pitched our tent closest to the bathroom because we could not find the actual spot we reserved online. We could not find anyone to ask about our site other than the waitresses at the restaurant who were very busy. We ate at the restaurant too and were unimpressed. Unless you get the day's special, it is very overpriced and the portions are small.
The bathrooms were clean (because no one else was at the campground), but there was no drinking water. We were on a bike tour and had to bike over 10 miles in the morning to find some good drinking water. I don't believe I paid $25 for something that was barely a campsite and had no drinking water.
I might of enjoyed it more if I had time to explore the area and the tower, but just dropping in for the night was not a great experience. It felt the campground only came to be because somebody wanted to open a restaurant and his buddy thought it would be a genius idea to let people camp there too.
Traveler
We booked a week here in 2022 and ended up staying for two summers as camp hosts. The park is quiet, family orientated, and the park caretaker John is a national treasure. He’s been with the park since before it was county owned and knows every nook and cranny, critter and creature, and appreciates each and every guest who comes to the park. His one rule is to enjoy the park and let the staff know if you have any ideas to help to “keep it fresh”. Sites with letters are tent sites without water or electric, sites with numbers have water and 30 amp service, though there are plans to upgrade the sites to all have water and 50 amp service in the future. The last weekend of September is FallFest and often books a year in advance.
Traveler
The people who work there are wonderful and even most of the seasonal campers we met were very nice people. We did have a few run ins with some not so good people however and the cops visit there often. The owners do their part to make things right however and immediately made the people causing trouble to leave. We were there for about a month and overall it was a good place to stay. Our tent site was right next to the playground, pool and bathrooms which made it convenient for our children, however kids run all over at night on the weekends until 2 am so the noise at that hour can be annoying. We also went through several storms while there and were offered parts for one of our canopies that blew away and the security guy who was always nice to us tied our other canopy to a tree when it also blew away to prevent it from going farther and being more damaged. Bathrooms I would give a 2 star rating alone.
RangerI decided to give this campsite a try to get some of my family members ate not up for tent camping. With real beds, running water and AC I figured that this would do the trick.
The cabin itself was roomy enough for five with a bunk bed, queen bed and sofa bed. Any more than that would get a little tight.
Amenities: Camp store, mini golf, three swimming pools, trails, basketball court, volleyball court, snack bar, and saloon. My kids had a blast so I would really recommend for a family who wanted to some form of cabin camping. Oh, there were goats as well!
I love campfire cooking which I was able to since there was a fire pit out back.
Also, this place has activities for family members, even a movie night. I saw groups of kids playing basketball or just hanging out and having fun. Oh, and there’s an arcade. At the saloon there was a karaoke night.
If you are more of a traditionalist then you may not like this type of camping. But, if you want to get out for the weekend with you family for a family oriented atypical getaway then this is for you!
We’ll be back.
Traveler
After an extended time at Pike Lake campground, we've come to feel like this is home.
Each of the 32 sites is unique in their own way. Some are large and flat perfect for a class A (#2 #4, #29 #31 is okay, but smaller), some incorporate the geography into the site (#23 & #17 - very much tent sites, #15 great for a small trailer, #7NE, #9NE). There is a TIGHT turn in the campground loop near site #17 to be aware of with longer trailers. Generally, the inner ring is electric (except #23) and the outer ring is non-electric. Flush bathrooms and clean showers. Three backpacking sites off the IAT - one prairie, two wooded. B2 and B3 are large.
Hiking is great beginner trails within the park and connects to the IAT (Ice Age Trail). Bike trail now connects to the campground making biking to Pike Lake possible. The campground is on the opposite side of the park from the lake, so driving or biking are the options to get from the campground to the water.
Close to all of the troubleshooting options for new campers (Walmart, grocery, fast food, vegan grocery store & coffee shop).
ScoutMid to Late October is great Fall camping in Southern Wisconsin. Cool nights range from lower 30's to upper 40's. Day time temps can exceed 60.
Pike Lake State Park is part of the northern Kettle Moraine glacial deposit. This park offers fantastic hiking for many skill levels.
The Land:
Overnight camping has standard primitive sites (all wooded sites) scattered around single paved campground loop. Sites at beginning of loop are on hillside with leved pads for your tent. Sites at bottom of loop (near bathrooms) are flatter. However sites at bottom are closer together, than at the top.
Pike Lake also has 3 (relatively new) hike in sites. I believe at least 1 of the hike in sites is non-reservable. All 3 sites have trail access from a parking lot (about 3/4 mile north from standard camp ground).
Camping:
This campground is our go to during the school year. Practically walking distance to our house, this campground is generally nice. Wooded lots make you feel overall secluded. I tend to book sites close to the bathrooms (young kids). However sites on the top of the loop are nice too. When the kids stay home, the hike in sites are very nice.
Biggest disadvantage is the campground proximity to the rest of the park. One of the biggest draws to the park is the lake / beach. The camping is on the opposite side of the park to the beach. Certainly not a deal breaker, but when you have little ones, you just have to plan accordingly.
LegendThis was our first time camping in Wisconsin and we got to say we absolutely love this park. Most of the sites are pretty secluded so if you enjoy your privacy I will love this place. Everything was clean and updated including the bathrooms. The campsites are about a mile or two from Lake Michigan but it is an easy drive or hike as there are many trails that go through the park. When we went to the lake level was up so high due to flooding that we weren’t really able to enjoy the beach but normally there is plenty of coastline for enjoying some beach time.
Legend
General: There is both a north and a south part to this campground with a total of 178 sites. The sites in the south part are all on a grassy field and there is a small man-made lake with an inflatable play area. The sites in the north part are a mix of full hook-up and tent sites. There are also small cabins (only one of which has a bathroom) and three “condos”. These all had air-conditioners, but I did not see the inside of them. The north unit features a pond, which I was disappointed to discover was algae-filled and completely green.
Site Quality: Some are pull-through and some back-in. Some sites have electric and water hookups, some have picnic tables, and some have fire rings (but not all sites have all of these amenities). Only a handful have concrete pads; the rest are all on grass.
Our impression of Sleepy Hollow was influenced in part by the fact that it poured rain for much of our overnight stay. The roads were all dirt and with the rain, became very muddy along with the campsites as well. When leaving the next day, we had some challenges backing out of our site with the amount of mud. There is no clear delineation between the sites other than where the electric and water hookups are placed.
Bathhouse: Was very clean (in both the north and south units of the campground). Showers are available for a fee (five minutes for$1.00) but we did not use them so cannot comment on how well they worked.
Activities/Amenities: In the south unit, there is a small manmade lake with an inflatable play structure and plenty of life jackets. The color is a beautiful Caribbean blue, but it did not look natural, and I was not sure of the source of the color. We were there on a weekday in September, and no one was using the lake. There is a small bar and grill (in the north section) and a concession (south unit) on-site, but both were closed when we were there. Firewood was available (15 pieces for $10); we asked and were granted permission to use the golf cart to bring the wood to our site. Other than the lake, there really is nothing offered for recreation.
We chose this campground for its location; it is very close to Highway 41 in Oshkosh (you will hear road noise) and we were meeting family there. We checked in online the day before and arrived at 3:30 pm. No one was in the office when we arrived but the family members we were meeting had arranged for us to camp in the site next to them (not the original one we had selected). This campground is VERY close to EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association), and I imagine it would be completely full during the annual EAA convention. For us, it was a convenient location but aside from spending time with our family, the reason we chose this campground.
Legend
Off Rt 45 in Wisconsin, outside Campbellsport the Kettle Moraine North Campsite was not my favorite of our trip northward.
Certain aspects
Competed with
You had definite brush cover to a fault. It felt like they "hacked out" each site from the brush, not much planning or foresite.
This was primitive no frills camping with standing water between sites( mosquitoes) and limited access to some trails ( no dogs). The pit toilets were clean and there is no running water except at the beach in the changing area restroom.
A nice visitors center and informative staff.
Ranger
We were in route to visiting Green Bay Wisconsin and found this campground on Lake Michigan. We were able to secure a sight by calling directly to the park because the phone number was on the Wisconsin State Map. The had a staff of about 5 people at the and took a debit card for Payment. We paid $22 for the sight because it had electricity and an additional $9 day fee required in Wisconsin. You can pay $30 for a season, we were only in Wisconsin for two nights. The sight was nice for a tent and we were able to hang out on the beach of Lake Michigan. The bathrooms had hot showers. We got up early and made our way to Green Bay.
LegendCampground Review
High Cliff is a generally wooded and shaded campground on a cliff overlooking Lake Winnebago. The sites are average to above average size, with a good mix of electric and non-electric sites. We are tent campers and the ground was pretty flat and there was a good spot for our tents in our site. Our site was nice and spacious with a good fire-ring that had a grate that rotated. Typically I use an adjustable tripod grill, but since was a rainy weekend, it was nice to be able to not have to get that out. The one thing about our site(and the campground in general) in the rain was the mud. Since it is heavily shaded there isn't really any grass, so the ring forest floor soil turns mucky and muddy.
There is one main flush toilet/shower building in the campground, and a bunch of pit toilet buildings. The pit toilet buildings had some issues with the lights in some of them, but the shower/flush building was mostly clean and not too far away. There is also a really nice playground nearby.
Within the park are plenty of hiking/biking trails, a lookout tower, and there is beach access. The beach/water is definitely swimmable, but this isn't the most beautiful beach for swimming. When we were here, it was cool and rainy, so the most we did was put our feet in the water. There isn't much sand, but there are large grassy areas.
The weekend we were there a local theater group happened to be performing a minimal version of Romeo and Juliet. It was awesome.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, this time I got to test the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 tent.
I've owned a bunch of tents throughout the years, but mostly they were small backpacking size tents. We have use a large 8-person Cabella's tent for the past 9 years for car camping, but it is time-consuming to set-up, so we thought the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 would be a nice complement tent for us.
The Ivanhoe is part of Wenzel's "Tribute" collection, with a retro-inspired design. The Ivanhoe reminds me of my parents' old canvas tent. The Ivanhoe is a single-walled house-shaped tent made of weather-treated polyester and taped seams. It held up really well in the rainy weather we had camping and there was just one small area that the seam tape failed: a"troubleshooting" tag that hangs down inside the tent.
What I like:
The single pole design is simple and quick to setup
There is good airflow with the large screens on the doors and the two side windows; The rear vent is a nice touch
It has a great look and it well made
It actually fits in the bag it came in
What I don't like
The top peak vents don't really work
There was a slight leak by the tag (I'll use some seam-sealer to fix this for the future)
Since it isn't freestanding, there are a lot of guy lines that are easy to trip over in the dark
For a sub-$200 tent, this tent is awesome. It's easy to set up and looks great. It is a simple design that is spacious and comfortable for 3-4 people. It did great in rainy weather. I definitely recommend this tent for for those looking for a car camping tent around this size and want to spend less than $200.
Guide
I backpacked the IAT with a group and we camped for the night at Mauthe Lake at the beginning of April. There are lots of downed trees at the campground, which sort of detracted from the landscape (tornado damage, I'm told). Pit toilets were open, but water had not yet been turned on so be prepared to filter if you go this early in the season. We perused different sites/loops for a while to find adjacent non-electric sites large enough for multiple tents at each and were able to fit 8-9 (small backpacking) tents between 314 and 313.
GuideGreat clean sites and fishing. Many hiking trails. Historical attractions. Wisconsin does their parks and forests right.
ScoutThe tent spots are big. But wish the electric outlet was closer. Bring long, long extension cords.
ScoutMauthe lake was my very first camping experience and continues to be a go-to site for my family. Decent sized campsites with options for tents, campers, electric, etc.
TravelerI have a self contained van and so like to camp in rustic sites. The full electric sites here are pretty small and tightly packed, but the tent / rustic sites are great. Aim for the 500 loop.
Traveler
Whether you're in a tent, popup, tow-behind, or 5th wheel, this campground has a site for you! 2 beautiful sand beaches with large grassy picnic areas, hiking, a boat launch, and a reservable pavilion.
TravelerLarge sites great for groups. Sites 2 and 9 are the largest. Those can each fit over 20 backpacking tents at the same time. Grassy sites surrounded by trees (plenty for hammocks too). Short walk to pit toilets and drinking water.
TravelerThis lake is an amazing place to swim, bike and hike. There are plenty of sites for camping, electric, non-electric and tent. It is a no motor lake, so it is very quiet and clean. There is a playground, a big field, plenty of picnic area and a concession stand.
Tent camping near Campbellsport, Wisconsin offers a blend of serene nature and accessible amenities, perfect for outdoor enthusiasts looking to escape the hustle and bustle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Campbellsport, WI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Campbellsport, WI is Greenbush Group Campground — Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit-Iansr with a 5-star rating from 1 review.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Campbellsport, WI?
TheDyrt.com has all 9 tent camping locations near Campbellsport, WI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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