Best Tent Camping near Manitowoc, WI

Tent Camping Reviews near Manitowoc, WI

298 Reviews of 3 Manitowoc Campgrounds

• 

  Sara S.

  Legend

  May. 27, 2019

  Mauthe Lake Campground — Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit-Iansr

  GREAT beach!

  The campground and campsites are pretty standard.  Nice amount of space and privacy. 101 Walk in site was quite nice. Level ground, nice tree cover so it didnt feel too open. 

  Loved being close to the beach and playground area! The kids really appreciated it :) The beach was very clean and even though it was a warm, busy day we didnt feel like it was too crowded.  The earlier you arrive the better chances you have of getting a picnic table in the shade ;)  

  Enjoyed the walk around the lake, some parts are still a bit muddy, but overall it was a nice walk and the kids actually made it without too many complaints ;)  Nice variety of scenery!  Even caught a couple frogs.

  Definitely a place to visit again! 

  *checked out some of the trails near by which were really great as well!

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• 

  Art S.

  Legend

  Aug. 23, 2022

  Mauthe Lake Campground — Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit-Iansr

  Kettle moraine trail access here

  Mauthe lake is in the Kettle Moraine Northern Unit. It feels remote but we drove through a bunch of rural houses on the way in. The rustic roads made for good cycling. We passed quite a few pedaling up and down the hills.

  The campground itself sprawls along one side of the lake. With the loops for each group peeling off, it is easy to lose your way. The signs mark the direction well so go slow. It helps to know your site number.

  There was nobody at the entrance office. I’m not sure if it’s just today but make online reservations. It seems to be the 2022 way.

  There is a shower house but we made use of the more convenient vault toilets. Water is available in different ways - even a drinking fountain. There seems to be only one garbage collection site on the way out. This was less convenient since we have dog droppings to deal with.

  There is a nature trail that goes around the lake. By the beach and picnic area it’s paved. The rest is gravel or dirt. With recent rains we found a few puddles to walk through and mud to avoid. Our dog loved having the trail so close. Most of the trail is in the sun so bring water on hot days.

  Swimming isn’t allowed due to a blue algae bloom. This left plenty of empty space for us to sit with our dog under the trees. Folks did make good use of the fishing pier and playground. We also saw kayaks and stand up paddle boards on the lake.

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• S

  Sherry J.

  Scout

  Dec. 26, 2017

  Calumet County Park

  The park is on the shores of Lake Winnebago and the sunsets are fabulous!

  The park:

  • is well kept
  • showers & bathrooms are very clean
  • has a marina
  • has hiking and cross country ski trails
  • sites are spacious
  • many sites available on the edge of the water
  • electric hookups on most sites
  • some very private sites
  • a few close restaurants
  • Camp staff is always helpful and friendly.
  • Picnic table, & fire pit at every site
  • They take reservations, sell firewood, have a camp store, allow pets on leash, allow alcohol
• 

  Denise N.

  Traveler

  Jun. 28, 2018

  Kettle Moraine State Forest Long Lake Campground

  Long Lake Fun

  We've camped at Long Lake twice - both times with kids, and thoroughly enjoyed. The sites are spacious and clean. Each site comes with a fire pit, grate and picnic table. We have camped in the 800s but hope to get back for more variety in the future.

  Long Lake has two separate beaches and we much prefer the South Shore beach. North Shore is a little less populated, but the hike/stairs down into the beach area can be annoying with kids, toys, camp chairs, and a cooler full of food and beer. South Shore has a boat launch, clean restrooms and a picnic cabana that can be reserved. Both beaches are large and ample. We spread out with a pop-up canopy and did not feel crowded in or like we were imposing on others.

  Long Lake is big, so motorcraft are allowed. It's fun to sunbathe and watch waterskiiers and tubers fly by off in the distance.

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• 

  Jimmy P.

  Legend

  Jun. 29, 2019

  High Cliff State Park Campground

  Ranger Review: Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 at High Cliff State Park

  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.

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• L

  Layla R.

  Scout

  Jul. 5, 2022

  High Cliff State Park Campground

  Beautiful Park but Lots of Raccoons

  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.

• N

  Nicole K.

  Guide

  May. 30, 2022

  Harrington Beach State Park Campground

  Pros and Cons Here

  We mostly enjoyed our trip here over Memorial Day Weekend. It’s not too far away from our home and a nice gear testing first trip.

  Pros: Spacious grassy site. This one even had an attached smaller clearing perfect for our 7 year old to use for her own space where we set up a hammock for her.

  The campsites feel very private with a thick brush between each site. It’s not a huge campground.

  Bathrooms and showers are very cleans and actually closed from 11am-noon each day for complete cleaning.

  Gorgeous magnificent trails and right on Lake Michigan. Also a beautiful quarry lake with a trail all the way around and a cute pond full of turtles!

  Very nice, completely cleaned fire pits.

  Cheap bundle yourself firewood. Cons:

  Gorgeous hikes, but short. We prefer more distance.

  Maybe because of its proximity to the lake and Milwaukee or perhaps the holiday weekend but this was a louder campground. More of a party vibe than we really look for in state parks. A particular group was extremely loud and kept us up until 4 am the first night. No park ranger on duty. It’s nice when quiet hours are observed.

  No trees really on the campground and it is built on and surrounded by wetlands that are actively in restoration. At the height of summer this place is going to be sweltering and full of bugs. The mosquitoes will be especially terrible.

  Overall we have and love this park for a day trip but probably won’t return to camp.

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• K

  Kate B.

  Guide

  Jun. 23, 2019

  Mauthe Lake Campground — Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit-Iansr

  North Unit

  Our campsite was up the hill and away from the lake as those sites are quite ‘busy’ and we usually look for sites with more privacy. This campground is huge and offers many different kinds of sites depending such as open sites in a pine forest, down by the lake, or tucked away in the trees and bushes. We found several decent choices on a busy fall weekend without a reservation. We enjoyed the spacious campsite that had a couple of it’s own mini-trails and plenty of opportunities to hike in and around the area. I don’t fish, but it seemed like the popular thing to do for many other visitors. The vault toilets were okay but there is a nicer bathroom down the lake.

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• 

  Justin F.

  Traveler

  Jul. 21, 2025

  Kohler-Andrae State Park

  Great state park , close to the lake & Sheboygan

  Really nice state park with pretty good space in between sites. Some easy, limited elevation hikes around the campground, and a nice mix of pine trees/marsh/open space. Just a few minutes walk to Lake Michigan and a nice beach. Only flaw is the inconsistency with fire pits, some on the opposite side that doesn't give you much privacy for a campfire. The sites on the road aren't great, but at least the picnic table and fire pits are secluded with those.