Best Tent Camping near Gillett, WI

General/Site Quality: Small (35-site) campground on the west shore of the Bay of Green Bay; some have water and electricity, and some just have electricity. Sites 14-23 are on grass while the others have paved camper pads. All are level and very generous in size. While they don’t necessarily have a physical separation between them, sites are spaced a good distance apart from each other. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. In the center of the loop, there are some nice mature trees. 

Bath/Shower: At one end of the loop, there is a two-stall, one-sink restroom for each gender plus two showers; at the other end of the loop there are two vault toilets. All were clean. 

Activities/Amenities: There is quite a bit to do here. Fishing, boating (separate fee for the boat launch), swimming, kayaking (but you need to bring your own – although the literature says there are boat rentals, I did not see this). There is a nice playground and a smaller swing set; both are in different locations behind campsites, making it a bit awkward to access. In the day-use area, there is a fish cleaning station, a basketball hoop, and a somewhat dated playground. There used to be a volleyball area, but the net was no longer there. Self-serve firewood is available. There is a dump station.

The fee of $20 per night was very reasonable and our stay was very quiet and peaceful for a campground that was about 2/3 full on a Monday after Father’s Day.

Campground 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.

We stayed at the Heron's Retreat campsite on the Caldron Fall Reservoir. We checked in at the Gov. Thompson State Park headquarters then launched our canoe from the boat launch at the state park. From there it was a short 1 mile paddle to our campsite on the northside of the lake. This site was wooded, with many tall trees which gave great shade, and also spots for hammocks. A fire ring and grate were included along with a picnic table and two chairs.

Bathrooms consisted of a pit toilet on site, about 40 yards back into the woods along a path.

This was our first time in "bear country" so we found trees to hang our food and garbage from to keep from attracting wildlife at night. Many downed trees provided enough firewood that we needed for the couple of days we were there.

The lake had very little boat traffic considering it was a holiday weekend when we stayed. This is definitely a site to consider if you are seeking seclusion as the next nearest campsite is a half mile paddle away.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet forest roams throughout middle Wisconsin. A variety of national forest campgrounds are found. Choosing Ada Lake would be a great move. Only 3 other campers stayed the night. A local family drove in to spend the day at the Ada Lake beach. My neighbors brought kayaks and their puppy joined them on the water. Birds chirping and minimal mosquitoes were also part of making this a beautiful stay.

Campground review:

To get here, you must negotiate a few miles of gravel and dirt road but others brought their larger rv’s. The site we choose is right on the water. A few trees added to the scenic view of Ada. Sites vary quite a bit. One was a multi-layer setup while others were more hidden as they moved further away from the lake. The picnic tables look very new and the vault toilets are well kept. We had room to set up the teardrop camper and the screen room with plenty of space left to roam around in. Once the night settled in it became very dark. I’m glad we sought out the toilet before having to find it by flashlight.

Insider tip: There is a atv trail right at the entrance. This trail connects to others and gave us some nearby hiking options. I didn’t find these on the maps that I had so it was a good bonus! There is a boat ramp a bit further on if yours is too big to carry (ie a kayak or canoe).

We planned to only stay for the night but our neighbor convinced us to give it a longer look. We’re glad we spent the extra day here. Driving over to the Cathedral of the Pines and hearing the nesting herons was a highlight. This will be on my list of places to come back to.

Product review:

As a Dyrt Ranger, sometimes I get products to review. This time I was sent some Snapbuds to try out. Their tempting claim is to solve the tangled mess of headphone wires that happen in your pocket or bag.

The packaging was straightforward. I loved how the plastic also held the different pieces in place - a promising start to keeping things organized! Next I noticed the color choices - white, gray or black. These should fit with a variety of headphones. The rubber bands holding the upper and lower pieces together were labeled and I found myself checking them to be sure I was using the right parts.

“Snapbuds will permanently attach to your headphones!” This warning was in several places. It also means that they don’t move around on your cord. The directions unfold to the length of standard headphones. They have 2 styles laid out and offer more on their website. I choose the wrap around style that fits wrapped around my phone or hand. The directions label where to put each magnet but I didn’t follow those locations.

My phone and case must be larger than the one their design calls for. This was easily accounted for by measuring how many inches it was around my phone - 7 if you are interested. This helped me locate the first lower magnet. Once that was attached (it’s a really easy snap on design) I just wrapped the cord around the phone to get the next location. As with to the upper magnets when I got to the single strands going to each ear and it was installed. Snapbuds are a snap to attach :)

Trying them out:

I carried them wrapped around my phone in my pocket as we hiked. Even using the phone for a map or to take photos was not a problem. The cords stayed snapped together. When listening to music, I found the magnets can snap together to take up extra cord. This was handy since my dog’s leash is a challenge. Normally I have to put the cord inside my shirt to avoid the leash or my hands.

I wrapped the cords around my hand and the magnets snapped together nicely. The anchor has a spot to tie in your earbuds to the headphone jack. This whole thing I put in my pocket. I wanted to see if they would stay untangled this way. After hiking and driving I pulled them out. This time a couple of upper magnets came undone. When I tried to unravel the headphones there were a few snags. Even with some tangle, this was still better than the pile I started with. Looking closer at my installation led me to discover that the upper magnets try to snap together opposite of the lower ones. I must have put the magnets facing the opposite direction. Something you should pay attention to when you put yours on.

I paid more attention to how I put the bundle in my pocket and this time the Snapbuds stayed connected throughout our hike. Carefully placing them in your pocket will pay off in the end.

Pros:

Lightweight, magnets adhere together quickly, straightforward installation, great packaging, Snapbuds stay in place on the cords, anchor holds headphones to jack once attached

Cons:

Magnets caused a tangle on one hike but not on a second, use your own phone as a guide in addition to the one provided, anchor is difficult to attach both headphones to (this might be user error but it takes me awhile)

Overall:

The Snapbuds do a great job at keeping things better situated. I give them a thumbs up and say you should check them out. They may even give me more options as I continue to use them on our adventures. 5/5 on Snapbuds doing what they are designed to do. 4/5 for usefulness in my gear set up. This may rise with more use.

Check them out at www.snapbuds.us