Best Equestrian Camping near Custer, WI

This Beach is perfect, horse trails, biking trails. Right along the ice age trail!

This gorgeous county park in Marathon County, Wisconsin is 1,450 acres of mixed hardwoods forming a two-mile peninsula jutting out deep into the waters of the Big Eau Pleine Flowage.

Eau Pleine is from the French phrase meaning full water or stock river. There are two separate campgrounds–( the West Unit and the South Unit) with a total of 106 sites– about 60 with electric. The daily fee ranges from$18.00 for a non-electric, with no lake view to$23.00 for lake view with electric.

You can hike, bike, or ride your horse on the 12 miles of scenic, wooded trails. The park also offers several fishing points near the entrance and along the three boat landings. There is also a beach, two shelters and scattered picnic areas. And you can enjoy a fun game of disc golf on the scenic wooded course.

We found this park to be absolutely beautiful and definitely give it a double Hell Yeah!!

To see our video tour of this campground, you can click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfPoWE3lvXo

Campground Review: As someone who has camped my whole life, mostly at Wisconsin State Park, it is surprising that this was my first time at Hartman Creek. Hartman Creek has pretty spacious sites, though they can range from very big to just big enough. Our site was larger, almost fully shaded under a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. The only thing I didn't like was the sandy soil, but otherwise our site was awesome.

There is ample hiking opportunities in the area, some you can walk to from the campground, some requires a small amount of driving. The lake was a smaller lake, but nice for swimming. They do a great job of keeping the beach and swimming area clean.

Overall it was a great time and we'll definitely be back.

Gear review: A couple months ago I won the contest for WI and was excited to test the Mountain House 5-Day Kit. Ever since I started backpacking I've heard and seen the Mountain House packs. I never bought them because I like to prepare my own food, and I enjoy cooking on the trail. Since I won it I was very curious.

I have to say I was very impressed with the ease of making the food: just boil a couple cups of water, pour it in, mixed it, and seal it for 9 minutes. Voila! A tasty meal.

I had the Chili Mac, and it was awesome. For someone trying to save weight on the trail, or those not confident in your cooking (or trail cooking), I can definitely recommend Mountain House meals.

The box calls it an emergency 5 day kit, and it has a shelf life of 12+ years. For emergency purposes, it is an awesome thing to have on hand, especially in areas that are prone to loss of power, flooding, tropical storms, etc.

For myself, I don't know that I'll purchase Mountain House meals at full price for backpacking or camping, but I definitely think it is a "Ranger worthy" product that is very useful for the right situation and right person.

You name it I’m sure you can find it at Hartman Creek. From swimming area fishing hiking trails. My favorite camping ground even when was a kid.

Good

We camped in the family campground with our 17 foot Casita travel trailer. Large private site surrounded by trees, with several options for positioning the trailer. The nearby chain of small lakes connected by narrows is ideal for kayaking. Lots of level paved roads for cycling, and wooded trails for hiking. Clean restrooms with showers.

Loved this park and will return again! I stayed at site 38 which had good privacy on one side, the other site was a little more exposed. Research your spot before booking as some are wide open and others have privacy. There are 100+ site at this park and two shower houses. The shower houses could use some work, however, the hot water was on point! Lots of trails and beach access. Great for bikes and kayaks. This is an older park, with some partying, but I’ll be back. Had a great time.

Camped here many times, there are 3 lakes w in campground, a beach lake w pavilion n bathrooms, there is a fishing pier w walk bike trail around lake, bike or drive to any of the lakes n beach, all non motorized, can rent kayaks n canoes, pan fish n bass, restrooms, vault and flush, free showers, host on site, patrolled by dnr n no loud noise so its a peaceful park. W in boundaries of park is Marl lake used to be mined for its sand to make motor for bricks, very deep, n cold, excellent snorkeling, it has a dock to jump off of,connects to a few lakes that are part of Waupaca water ways park and walk to this lake. Walking trails around lakes w in park. firewood n ice available.

Must have state park pass plus camping fees.

I don't have a lot to report about Hartman Creek State Park. The lake is pretty. The campsites are a good size with plenty of shade. The facilities are reasonably clean. There are some hiking trails. It is a pretty average campground. Nothing stood out as being great or bad,

I spent a few nights camped in the very large and spacious group site while doing trail maintenance on the Ice Age Trail. There are lots of hiking trails in the park, plus a lake with swimming, fishing, grills, and lots of campsites nearby.

I’ve been going here since I was a kid. Waupaca offers so many beautiful lakes to explore and Hartman has some beautiful trails to hike on! It does get busy in the summer, but fall or during the week is a perfect time to go!

A gorgeous family friendly campground! Our site was located overlooking Allen Lake, right in the tall pines. It was a great location, enough trees for kids to hang hammocks for a little relaxation.

Bathrooms with showers available and in good condition. Pit toilets located nearby as well.

Allen Lake has a fishing pier that the kids loved fishing from. Good catches early in the morning!

Hartman Creek is a nice small lake, with no wake. There is now a rental building available with kayaks, paddle boats, SUP, etc to rent. We rented kayaks for an hour and a very reasonable price. Small lake so we were able to explore— saw about 3 dozen turtles which was super fun for the kids.

There are hiking trails available and also paved trails for bike riding, walking, etc.

We loved the quietness at night. Not entirely sure, but I believe there is a quite policy after 10pm. Gorgeous to look up and see the amazing stars at night.

I went here all the time as a kid and this was my first time back taking kids. We will be back again!

We have always been lucky to book secluded sites. Enjoy bringing the family’s bikes and love the single trail bike paths through the woods. Has a nice small lake to bring your own kayaks and SUPs or rent on site.

This park is overly crowded with campsites. There’s not much privacy between the sites. It is very noisy loud and you hear all the conversations from other campsites. They also seem to attract young party crowd and it’s loud through most of the night. The ground was difficult to put tent stakes in as it was very hard. There is great hiking as the Ice Age Trail is part of this park. They do have events for kids on the weekends and some great playground so would be great for families!

I just stayed at this campground this weekend and it was a blast! The campsite we had was decently size and felt very private with all the trees surrounding us! The hiking is great and it was a short walk to the beach, it was also a short car ride to the chain of lakes!

I credit this state park as the park that introduced me to the Ice Age hiking trail. I was checking out the park and its trails and found a yellow blaze (trail marker).. the beauty of this trail is amazing! The park is well maintained, spacious and offers many quality campsites as well. I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially families.

Nice place. Pretty woods and water. Paved roads and great off road cycling access

Park has lots to see, beautiful scenery. Very clean.

Great campground. Lots to see and do.

I had an outside loop site. The inside loop is open and sites seem close. Lake is nice for swimming and recreating. Had fun with my son on this trip.

Campground is adequate, it has a functioning shower house and private spots. I used a primitive campsite and it cost me $30 ($15 if your from WI). That was on top of the $11 non resident park entrance fee. So $41 for a primitive tent site, $47.50 if you count the bundle of firewood I bought from them. So yeah, keep that in mind if coming here as a non resident. I’m sure there are cheaper places nearby.

Its been awhile since we've been here, so we will be making a trip in the future. The place is great! Big secluded sites. Plenty of shade. My favorite sites are on the river as its relaxing and comforting listening to the fast moving stream especially at night. You can bring your ATV to ride on the ATV track there or on the trails in the woods. We seen deer while riding through the trails. If you dont have an ATV you can always just kick back and relax or go to the track and watch a race of they're hosting an event that weekend. Its just an overall great rustic campsite. They recently updated the sites to have electric. They do have RV sites with full hookups. Showers and flushable toilets up at the entrance. Brochures and local information available as well. You can fish but all ive caught was some chubs. I heard you can get trout. You wont be disappointed! Its run by the small city/town/village of Tigerton. support the small local communities. There is a small restaurant/gas station down the road or go into town and there's a grocery store and a local tavern.