Best Glamping near Dodgeville, WI

Two good lakes for kayaking/canoeing/fishing/swimming. Lots of good hiking trails and they are working on a big improvement to the equestrian campground. Lots of activities in the area and close to shopping in the town of Dodgeville.

We love to go kayaking here, the lakes are lovely. There are also lots of trails to explore. It can get busy, especially during the summer holidays. The beaches tend to be where the people are most dense. The campgrounds are pretty large but most sites offer good privacy. We stayed at Cox Hollow campground and enjoyed our stay. The stars were glorious. P.S. Bob’s Bitchin BBQ in Dodgeville is banging if you’re looking for a yum treat.

I camped in the family campground for one night on a bike trip through Wisconsin and Iowa. I enjoyed conversing with neighbors. The campsite itself was nice. I was able to hang my hammock between two large trees and stay dry during an insane thunder and lightening storm. The bathroom facilities were nice as well. I will return to Cassville someday.

Mirror lake is quickly becoming one of our favorite campgrounds in Wisconsin. The sites are decent size and spaced for privacy. Some loops have group sites where you book 2 sites that are connected. Great for 2 families that want to share common space for kids

Hiking is great. Lake has boat rentals. And Ishnala Supper Club is a short walk away.

Highly recommend!

Overall my family LOVED this campground. There is a decent sized pool that is clean and well-maintained with a smaller kiddie pool with a slide. There is also a man-made lake with a beach for swimming and bigger kids to enjoy the large inflatable slides and swim platforms. The campground is right on the river, and provides rentals for canoes, kayaks, and tubes. They will shuttle you as far up the river as you'd like to go, and you float or paddle back while enjoying all the sand bars along the way.

As an RV campground, the sites were level and grassy with at least one tree per lot. In the sites closer to the pool and lagoon (swim lake), they offer little privacy but are great for multi-family groups. We got a site with some woods in the back, so it was more quiet and private. The electrical and water hook ups were conveniently located, and the site was easy to get into. There were a lot of big Class A motorhomes, so the sites are plenty big. The tent sites are further away from the action, but have easy access to another bathroom and shower. They're also close to the river, and back up to a large corn field. There's a row of pine trees for easy hammock set up, and open grassy areas to let your group sprawl. The bathrooms were clean and nice, but they do have a $1 min for a shower. There is a change machine in the laundry facility.

The Resort also has an extensive camp shop and a huge restaurant with outdoor riverside seating. With live music and a full bar, this made for a really relaxing atmosphere if you're not up to campfire cooking. 

We enjoyed this campground and it's friendly staff and campers. Even through there are a lot of people there so you're not isolated in the woods, it wasn't loud or obnoxious with partiers. It's Wisconsin, so everybody was drinking beers and having fun but it wasn't loud and rowdy. The best part is the location on the Wisconsin River- you can get your fill of quiet solitude on the water, or float in a tube with a case of beer if you like. We enjoyed ourselves and can't wait to go back! It’s a great spot to use as home base for river trips, and don’t forget the Spring Green Desert conservancy nearby. Who knew there were cactuses in Wisconsin? Total hike is about 3.2 miles round trip, with a gorgeous view of the valley.

We camped here in early fall and the full shade sites in mature forest were great. There are a lot of raccoons and the sites even come equipped with a pole for hanging your garbage out of reach of the coons.

The lake, when we went in late August/Early September had a lot of algae on it and wasn't really good to swim, but they do have boat rentals and fishing. It is generally a beautiful lake.

There is a good amount of hiking in the area and it is in close proximity to the Wisconsin Dells, so there is plenty to do.

Nelson Dewey State Park is located about 1 miles north of Cassville Wisconsin in the Southwestern corner of the state on the border of Wisconsin and Iowa. Across the street from the park is The Stonefield State Historic Site which is worth checking out if your visiting the park. This park is a quiet park and offers spectacular overlook views of the Mississippi River and wonderful hiking trails. When entering the park you will check in with the small but welcoming park office. This road will take you straight to the campgrounds! The group campground is on your right before just before the long climb up to the family campground and walk in sites. The group camp is primarily open camping with some trees but I would say these are some of the smaller group camps I have seen. There are pit toilets and multiple water stations on the grounds. As you climb up the hill and make it to the top, you will either take a left to the lookout areas or right toward the family campground. The family campground does have 4 walk-in sites also. I prefer to camp the 24-31 loop but I can't say this park offers the best campsites. The restroom were recently remodeled and are modern an welcoming especially the showers. The showers are in the same building and room as the restrooms but don't let that discourage you, there is still privacy. To sum this campsite up, it is smaller than its northern sister park, Wyalusing, but on a much smaller scale and much less to do. There is no boat launch or swimming and other than flush toilets and showers this campground offers the minimal. If you like small, quiet and camping this park is perfect. Just bring what you need as there is not much in the area for necessities.

This state park is conveniently close to Madison, Wisconsin. It has some decent sites, and while I didn't actually stay in this park overnight, my visit and drive through the entire park revealed that there isn't much going for it. The beach isn't particularly nice and the lake looked pretty weedy; maybe not a surprise for late August, the lake might be much nicer early in the season.

In my opinion, after driving through all of the campsite loops, the following sites would be nice camping, they are shady and have a low probability of flooding during the rain. I also selected sites that had the most privacy.

81

82

83

96

62, has a cement pad for the table but it is close to other sites

66

76, high ground with semi-private site and quite large

We stayed in site #4 it was nice sized and quiet. We had full hook up, a picnic table & fire pit, our friends camped next to us in #5. The store had supplies, and firewood they deliver it to your site. There are outside showers & regular showers but always love a good outside shower. It was pretty quiet in the campground. 

Close by is the Wisconsin Dells, we did the 2 hour boat tour it was fun. Went to The Village Cafe in Baraboo it's owned by friends of ours who have a place in Florida where we live. Good food & great desserts. We went to the crane foundation that was nice, beautiful birds they are. We went to Devils lake for a day & hiked around the grotto it was beautiful. There is a spot Big Blue herons nest in the tall pines they make a lot of noise. They had babies in their nests. 

Nice campground it was a good find.

Sherwood Forest Campground is a long time family run campground in an excellent location for enjoying all that the Wisconsin Dells has to offer. Our site had 50 amp electric, water and sewer connections. We were situated on the upper ridge of the campground, furthest from the office/camp store and swimming pool. Our showers were very disappointing. The shower stall had a single stackable plastic lawn chair and a curtain. No mirror, no towel bar or hook, no shelf or caddy in the shower for toiletries. To operate the shower, one must push in the valve, hope the water is a suitable temperature, and repeat after about 20 seconds, or keep pushing while performing your ablutions one handed. The swimming pool, while advertised as heated to 80 degrees, was not heated at all. There is a fairly complete camp store, a splash pad for kids, a game room and laundry available. Some seasonal sites are also available.

My site (82) was not level and the ground was so soft that my leveling blocks just sank into the dirt. Also the site was far too expensive for the value received. The site cost was $35, but the Wisconsin DNR adds a “parking fee” of $11 (out of state) when I only have one vehicle (truck camper) parked in the site I already paid for. In addition the reservation fee was $7.95 (too high) so I ended up paying $53.95 for a one-night stay with only an electric hookup. 

They do not use Reserve America, opting instead for their own reservation system. Their website sucks– poorly designed. 

The site spacing and privacy were great, and I would give the bathrooms a B+ rating. However, the bathrooms were not well situated and they had two within 150 yards of each other - odd.  The forest canopy did not allow for Starlink use, but I was able to get online using Verizon.

Despite my complaints, it was a nice respite from six nights at family campgrounds in Indiana which were crazy busy and noisy.

This is a member resort but they do allow the public in.  We went in as Coast to Coast members.  This is an all season resort it does have a ski hill and accommodations for winter.  You can buy a condo resort, Lease a Time Share, buy a camping site ( with a Park Model on it,  Camp in a Motor Home, Trailer or Tent.  You can camp with full hook ups or as they call it the Wilderness Camping, they have some with 110 hook ups.  

Facilities are very nice and clean, Swimming Pool, Club House with a lot of things to do. The sites are nice and big most are either pull through or large back in sites.  They also have an 18 holes golf course, since we don't golf really don't know how it is.

They have some WIFi but it is best at the club house the hotspots worked better.

If you would like to  visit Wisconsin Dells this is a great place as it is not very far from downtown and all the activities.  We spent 2 days exploring the Dells even in rain.  Had a great time.  

If you are in the area I would check it out.

It’s a nice place. Clean, kept, and organized. There is a decent pool (cold) as well as a swimming pond (dyed blue). Firewood and ice is delivered to your site. The spaces in the first loop are very tight and small, but have shade. The new area will be much nicer as the newly planted trees grow and fill out. Our site was very unlevel side to side. It took two 2x6 and a 1x6 under the camp side to be level. That made the first step into the coach, and last step out of the coach extremely high off the ground. Water pressure was good, no power issues and the sewer connection was clean and accessible. The grass in our space needed mowing, but it looked like that was going to happen right after we left. We stayed during the week and there was a lot of noisy maintenance happening. Backhoes, dump trucks and employee golf carts flying about. At times the golf carts were a hazard the many kids going to and from one of the play areas, saw some hard braking and some serious Mom side eye. For a campground so close to the Wisconsin Dells, it rises well above the crowd of places that aren’t much more than a place to squat your camper while you play at the Dells. We would happily return. We would recommend camping here.

I spent two nights in the campground at Blue Mound State Park. Overall, the park has well-maintained hiking and MTB biking trails, extraordinarily clean and well-kept vault toilets, and ample access to drinking water. Both tent and RV/camper sites are on a typical one-way road pattern with a couple of loops there are plenty of sites with and without electricity. At the time I was there, the camp host sold high-quality hard wood for $5/bundle from a trailer on the honor system, so if you run out in the middle of the night, wood was easy to replenish. One of the park's highlights are lookout towers with views above the treetops, Unfortunately in 2020 both were closed, presumably because it would be difficult to keep a safe distance from others when on the stairs or while at the top. Pity, it'll be a reason to return. Still, there are several observation areas that are maintained well enough to keep the undergrowth from blocking the view of the Wisconsin River Valley nearly 15 miles to the north. This is where the "Blue Mound" name must come from, the hills at that distance did have a bluish cast to them.

If you've read any of my other reviews you know what's next, my list of the best campsites. While I've visited several parks now that have "walk in" sites, with cars parked a minute or two from the campsite, about a dozen sites in Blue Mound State Park take "walk in" to a new level. Cars can drive to a barrier across the road, and the sites are a 10-15 minute walk downhill, The park provides ONE medium-sized cart (250 lb weight limit, 20-minute use limit) that I guess would be in high demand during load in and load out. (NOTE TO SELF, camp Thursday through Monday if going here, or arrive EARLY to get a cart). Most of these sites are quite sunny; 105 is nice and shady and private, 106 slightly shaded 109 and 110 are shaded, very close to one another and would be good for a group camp setup 111 is quite shady. There's water and toilets in the walk-in camp ground. You'd want to sip wood for campfires and cooking, the nearest source is a 15-minute walk uphill and back, and then if using the cart, you have to return it for another round trip.

Back in the family campground where mortals and RVs park, I think the following are the nicest in terms of shade, level, size and privacy.

42, 45, 47, 51, 64, 66, 69, 71, 73

This Wisconsin State Park has a several loops of campsites, a nice, though at times weedy lake and nice trails throughout. While I didn't do it myself, friends who have camped here told me that the Ishnala Supper Club is a nice walk away if you're looking to expand your dining horizons from your campsite cooking adventures.

Mirror Lake is large and long, and thus makes for interesting kayaking and canoeing because there is always something new to see around the next corner. As though to prove my initial thoughts about this, while enjoying the view at the boat launch we saw three kayaks put in or pull out in less than 5 minutes. I was there in July and October and both times the lake had significant weed coverage. Fortunately the beach was spared of this water growth.

I have not camped at this park, but have spent several days there hiking the trials, spending time on the water and exploring the park's campground areas. Most of the sites have a permanently-installed tall, metal "shepherd's hook." These could be used to hang lights or get a small bag of food out of animal reach.

21 this campsite has a picnic table, basic fire pit and shepherd's hook.

24 doesn't have much privacy, but it is really big with lots of room for large tents or a big kitchen fly.

36 has a fair amount of understory growth keeping it private from other campsites, but what makes this site interesting is there is a sandy area that would make for a very nice place to put your tent.

44 is a very large campsite with lots of trees in the campsite good for hanging hammocks.

93, in the Sandstone campground, this is one of the nicer spots, long driveway surrounded by trees nice and shady and has a bit more privacy from the road than others. One downside of tent sites in this area is that they are among lots of electric sites.

203 is furthest off of the parking lot and for this away from the other neighboring campsites.

201/202, and 203/204, would be great as double sites for families that want to camp together. Not necessarily group campsites, but they are close enough together that they would be great for two parties camping together.

201 through 204 are a little bit off of a large parking lot. They don't seem to be group sites but are definitely Far away from many of the other campground sites and would be nice if you wanted to get away from other campers. It's also nowhere near any electric sites.

What do you do when you want to camp but don’t have much time off from work? Camp near your work! That’s just what we did at Lake Kegonsa in Stoughton WI. Here we will review this wonderful state park just outside the capital city of Madison but far enough away to feel like you’ve actually gone somewhere remote.

The campgrounds are split up between regular and group camping. The group camping site was down the road from regular camping and consisted of a big parking lot, toilet facilities, recreation areas, and a large open area for 2 groups to camp. It was far enough away that if a group was partying late into the night it wouldn’t disturb the regular campers.

Both campgrounds shared a “shower house” complete with 3 shower units and about a half dozen toilets and 3 sinks(at least on the“female” side). There were also handicap private rooms with toilet and shower bundled together. Facilities were clean enough and toilet paper seemed to always be stocked. My husband had reported that he only needed to press the shower button twice for hot water to start flowing. I however had to press it about 7 times. I think it really depends on when the shower was last used. Takes a while for the hot water to reach your stall. Showers stayed on for about 20 seconds before you needed to push the button again. The shower heads could all use a little TLC but they were functional. Wearing shower shoes is recommended. There were NO soap dispensers so make sure you bring your own toiletries.

Adjacent to the shower house was a nice wooded picnic area with playground equipment for the kids. There was also a trail path the lead down the lake. You could also find the firewood station here but we never were able to catch the people selling the firewood at the station. They always seemed to be driving through the campground to make their sales. This seems like a nice service since you don’t have to haul the wood in your own vehicle but when we wanted wood there was nobody to be found. We ended up going about a half mile down the road to purchase wood from a house that had it bundled up in a self serve stand. Wood here was only$5 a bundle and was full of hardwood and a much better deal than the campground wood. Bonus: They invite you to recycle the orange plastic bags by returning them to the stand on your way out.

We reserved one of the many  “double sites” the campground offers as we were camping with our daughter and needed to setup two tents and have enough room for 3 vehicles. The double sites include two picnic tables as well. We easily had enough room for two tents, 1 screen room, 1 shower room, a large truck, SUV and a car. We were in sites#13 and couldn’t be happier with our choice. I had done a drive through before reserving the site on the state camping website so I knew which ones would work for us. Site #18 would have worked as well. There are 96 sites to choose from in all and even on the weekend there were still a few open spots. Lots of spots can handle RVs and there were drive through sites so you don’t have to back in if that’s beyond your skill set. A third of the sites offered electricity and there was a dump station near by. Water spigots and pit toilets were spread out to make them convenient from almost any site. I've included some pictures of other campsites so you can get a feel for what to expect.

One of my requirements when camping is some level of privacy between sites and the majority of sites in this campground provide that. Its heavily wooded, sites are nicely spaced and we weren’t bothered by the camp hosts at all. We stayed 3 nights but did not have 1 visit from the hosts even to clean out the fire pit. By the end our pit was full of ashes! Our fire grate was a little beat up and did not have a smooth surface like I saw at some of the other sites but it did the job. I was able to put a pot of water on to boil when needed and it was relatively stable.

The campground is somewhat close to the interstate and rural highway roads so there is some traffic noise but relatively quiet by night time. What was NOT quiet on Thursday night was the freight train that came through around midnight and then again at 2 am. The first train only blew its horn a few short times. The second train acted like someone was laying on the tracks and was a little excessive for 3 am! Luckily we did not hear trains Friday night(or we slept through them) and we only heard 1 on Saturday night. The park is adjacent to more than one crossing so if this will disturb you I recommend finding another place to camp.

The park includes a beach and boat launch to help you enjoy Lake Kegonsa. It was also pet friendly with pet trails and a pet beach of their own. There were signs posted to keep pets on a leash when not in the water but people were not following that rule. Nor were they following the rules on the“people beach” which posted no pets but yet there they were. The beach area was very small but it was enough for the kids to enjoy or to get your paddle board or kayak out on the lake. Keep your eyes out for the “bonus swings” found throughout the park. My daughter and I enjoyed swinging on one near the beach and my husband and I enjoyed one near the shower houses.

There were also multiple trails scattered throughout the park. Everything from a quick half mile trek to loops that allow you to put on a couple of miles. Even though it had been raining prior to our visit the trails were not mud pits. Trails were well groomed and enjoyable. And we escaped without a million mosquito bites but were mildly bothered by gnats. We did spray our campsite with a backyard fogger and this may have helped because other reviews tell tales of being eaten alive. We did not see much wildlife so if that is what you’re after its best to pick a more remote location.

Overall I enjoyed the park and would visit again if I had to be in the area. The only standout negative was the trains. Any site you pick should be a winner and contribute to a great camping experience.

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, and on this trip I tested the Wenzel Blue Jay 25 Degree sleeping bags.

My husband and I are outdoor enthusiasts and have slowly collected our gear over the years. Some quality items have lasted the test of time and other items have fallen apart rather quickly. One of the items we are still lucky to have are our sleeping bags that we purchased for our first camping trip over 20+ years ago. Unfortunately, those bags were made for the extreme cold Wisconsin is famous for. They work well in early spring and fall and have held up to many years of use….. but we find we can’t possibly use them for summer camping. We have taken to unzipping one bag and using it as a mattress cover and simply using sheets or light blankets on top.

So when we received our invite from Wenzel to review some of their equipment it was an easy choice to go with their Blue Jay 25 Degree sleeping bags. This weight seems perfect to handle a cold summer night and just what we need to round out our sleeping bag weather choices.

Wenzel shipped the bags fast and they were packaged individually and arrived intact. I love the fact that they came with their own stuff sacks. It was easy to unroll and reroll the bags and fit them back in the sack. That is something our colder bags don’t have. We have to roll them and tie with an attached string and store them in giant trash bags. I like this design much better. These bags are also more lightweight so they take up much less room than our old bags. This has become very important as we recently gave up our mini van and now have a midsized SUV. Space is now a premium and these fit the bill.

The fabrics are quality and everything seems well stitched together. I don’t feel like its going to unravel and let the filling bunch up unevenly. The flannel lining is soft and handled moisture well. The embroidered logo on the bag was a nice touch. The zippers on any equipment are usually where things go wrong first but these seem well made and easy to open and close. And the bag unzips fully if we wanted to use it as a blanket making it very versatile. The weight of the fill was perfect for this early summer camping trip. Not too hot yet kept us warm enough when temps dipped into the upper 40s. I’d say it was the perfect summer weight for a sleeping bag in our area.

The price point was very competitive and makes these bags a great value for the quality product you get. I look forward to having these bags on all our summer trips from now on. I also look forward to shopping Wenzel again when considering a camping gear purchase. To easily find this bag just follow this link:  https://wenzelco.com/blue-jay-25/

Good place for camping.We campes at site 56,57.Reatroom were not so clean.Good hiking traill,lake for kayaking and swimming

love this place, lots of trails, the waterfall is cool, nice beach. lots of brave raccoons but nothing to worry about if you prepare well before bed. sites are nice, good amount of tree cover and roomy

I stayed in a group site, which was good sized. It was right next to another group site with a very large group, but we couldn’t really see or hear them unless walking by the entrance to their site (ours was past their site). Pit toilets were well cared for and clean. Regular restroom and showers were a little bit of a walk, but totally doable for fit adults. We had biked there, so were glad they weren’t much farther. Showers were also maintained and clean. Mosquitoes have been bad in WI this year, but they really weren’t bad there! There was a really nice lake and concession stand on the way in, we just didn’t make use of them once we biked out to the group sites. I didn’t check out the main campground, but I certainly would look into that another time!

Stayed here last year with a group of friends! Had 2 different group sites and both were awesome! A lot of space and not close to other group sites so it was nice to not have to worry about surrounding people! We have a loud group and had no complaints since they are nice and spaced apart. The hiking trails are awesome and some beautiful sights! Would definitely recommend.

Our group stayed at sites 268, 269, and 270 in the Twin Valley campground. Sites 268 and 270 were large, but our site on 269 was the smallest and half of it was unusable due to the river that flowed through it in the rain! Had to set our tent up right next to the fire ring, as that was the only spot that wasn’t muddy, so we couldn’t have a decent fire. During the rain the water was ankle deep under the picnic table. It appears that a water runoff pipe goes under the path that leads to 271 and flows into this site. 268 was electric, 269 and 270 were not and were walk to sites. Gravel trails leading from parking to the sites were well maintained. 270 also has a private trail leading out to a beautiful bluff area. We walked down and checked out 271, which is where we will stay next year! The park itself is huge. We walked to Steven’s Falls which is beautiful. There are a lot of slippery stone stairs up and down, but if you take your time it’s well worth the effort. We also took the Lakeview trail which was pretty. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate so we weren’t able to go out canoeing, but the lakes looked nice from the shore. Firewood is sold at the park for $5 a bundle, but there are also private sellers along the road who have better prices- we were very happy with the wood sold off the trailer next to the Don Q Inn.

Decided to go camping with my friends for the weekend to catch up. The beauty/nature of the park is breathtaking. The camping experience was fun, except for the warden at the park. The wardens there are very rude and demeaning. The warden came to our territory around 11pm demanding us to quiet down when we weren’t even load. We started whispering, the warden came again to tell us that he will throw us out if we don’t quit down. He said,“he was standing by our territory for 15min.” There were other people talking and playing games, but he did not say anything. It felt like we were discriminated against because we spoke foreign language. I have stayed at many different state parks and have never had a problem. Will NOT recommend this camping site if you are someone who stays late by the fire to enjoy time with your friends& family. Very rude and slightly aggressive staff. Sad to see such a beautiful area poorly managed. Also, there is a change for each vehicle entering the park$38 and ONLY 2 vehicle on one territory.

Great place to go hiking and camping!