Looking to go glamping near Marshall and enjoy a rustic retreat into nature? The Dyrt can help find the best glamping in and around Marshall, WI. These scenic and easy to access Wisconsin glamping locations are perfect for any adventurer.
Ottawa Lake’s campground is located in the southern unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest, situated within half an hour’s drive from Milwaukee. Wisconsin campers of all ages love these grounds thanks to lakefront sites, modern facilities, and access to trails for hikers of every experience level. South Kettle Moraine is also home to over 160 miles of trails, including 87 miles open to horse use. Connect to the Ice Age Scenic Trail and various others within the John Muir and Emma Carlin trail systems.
Don’t forget to bring your rods when camping at Ottawa Lake! You’ll want to take full advantage of the boat dock and fishing pier where you can catch panfish, walleye, muskie, trout, bass, and northern pike – then you can grill them up at your campsite. Keep in mind, motorboats are not permitted on this small lake, which allows for peaceful wading and quieter camping all around.
Though Ottawa Lake is open year-round, it is recommended to check the weather in Dousman and Whitewater before planning trips in the colder months, as freezing temperatures and snow are common. Cold-weather campers who are willing to brave the Wisconsin winter will enjoy snowmobile trails, ice fishing, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. No matter when you visit, Ottawa Lake will leave you satisfied.
Duck Creek is a family friendly campground offering a peaceful outdoor experience. Enjoy our facilities during the day and sit under the stars by your campfire at night. We have W/E and W/E/S sites available, as well as Cabins and Campers for rent. We have 134 campsites, of which 81 are seasonal sites, 48 overnight sites and 5 rentals. Oh, and FREE Wi-Fi!
$45 - $110 / night
Family owned since 1965, Indian Trails Campground has become the most celebrated destination for its wide range of family activities offered in one natural setting. See the sights, climb new heights, sleep under starry nights… and discover why so many families make Indian Trails a yearly tradition!
Lakeland RV Campground is a premier Wisconsin camping destination, located 90 miles north of Chicago on over 200 acres of southern Wisconsin's prime vacation land. With a mile of lake frontage on beautiful Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin's second largest lake, Lakeland has something for everyone. Click on over to our Events page to explore our theme weekends and events. Popular dates are filling up fast! A relaxing day boating on an expansive 10,000 acre lake; a late-night campfire enjoyed with family and friends; a warm afternoon spent lounging by the pool, a spirited game of horseshoes, tennis or shuffleboard, a long walk on our nature trails or a blissful day of fishing, are just some of the ways you can enjoy Lakeland RV Campground. We invite you to stay a day, a week, a month or the whole season! Book your RV Site, Tent Site or Cabin today! RV campground located in the heart of Wisconsin's southern gateway
Traveler
My family and I love the yurts and the giant pool/ pond. The park model rentals are nice now that my grandma is getting older. 4 stars simply because everything has a price and it's not included in tge total.
Legend
This is a private “resort” type campground with something for everyone, except peace and quiet and privacy. This is a mostly RV campground with a handful of tent sites wedged in almost as an afterthought. I stopped in and talked with the campground personnel for a while before getting a tour of grounds. There are several loops with lots of long term campers/RVers. There were some cute cabins and even yurts. Behind the office was a large pond with a sand beach, lots of blow up pool toys, a bar, and volleyball, plus there are trikes and bikes available after you play mini-golf. There was an extensive calendar of events for the campers to enjoy including a chili cook-off and activities just for the kiddos (including a water ballon filling station!). This is the place to go if you are looking for a party type campground. Be careful when you arrive and drive to your site as kids are running around and riding their bikes everywhere! The campground has several bath houses scattered between the loops and all were kept very clean.
Scout
If your in Wisconsin this is a must stay! Beautiful campground (Ottawa Lake campsites) Great Lake, hiking to see the natural springs which is the coolest!! Drank fresh spring water!
GuidePerfect for a couple days in the woods. Like most of Wisconsins' parks and forests, Ottawa lake is no different. Offers clean and quiet settings and facilities,. Close enough to metropolitan areas but not too close. All have feeling of being in the north woods with out the travel. Busiest days are after memorial day weekend and to labor day weekend.
Traveler
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!
Traveler
Duck Creek, for my money, is the best place in SE Wisconsin. Staff is friendly, sites are big, food is awesome, and when it’s time for quiet, it’s quiet. The fact that there isn’t golf carts buzzing around all hours of the day and night is nice. Kids love the swim pond and pond floating playground. Fish in the pond with little ones or walk to Duck Creek with the bigger ones, fishing is pretty good.
Also, no matter what you do, go to the Do Duck Inn and get the flat fries! Amazing…
Guide
What is not to love about Holiday Shores? So much to do! From renting boats to go out on the river, to swimming in the pool! This Campground is a great place to go to! You can rent jet ski's, pontoons, pleasure boats, you name it! This Campground is also super close to Wisconsin Dells, so you can always go into town and do your shopping, water parks etc. 10/10 highly recommend!!
Legend
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
LegendWe 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.
ScoutMade my first visit to Ottawa Lake on a mid-March weekend. The facilities were still under their winter setup (only vault toilet, no shower available, pay in an envelope). It was a very nice campsite that I stayed at. The grounds were quiet, however there were only a handful of people staying there at the time. The sites look to have enough space between the to make you feel a little more spread out and not sitting on top of each other. It got cold (cloudless late winter nights in Wisconsin can do that), but nothing you can’t prepare for. The proximity to the Ice Age Trail is a bonus, because it made for an easy activity without much fuss. Will visit again when warmer.
Legend
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.
Traveler
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.
LegendMy 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.
RangerIt’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.
Guide
I really enjoyed the large lot we were on that backed up to a creek which you cannot hear or see but it is all forest behind you. We were situated where the seasonal campers are and near the edge of the campground. Then there is a farm field and I saw deer every day which was lovely. Overall, it was a very quiet part of the campground.
They have a small store and an indoor pool which is nice with Wisconsin weather being unpredictable. It was very crowded on the shallower side and the slide goes into the shallow side as well which makes it very crowded and splashy. I found my time in the pool awesome when there was no one or families whi watch their kids and are just calmer. When big hoards showed up it was a very annoying experience. There's barely seating and it was really dark in the room.
They pride their grass, as they should because it is nice, but the roads in campground were all very narrow so we had to drive on it if a car was coming. If they could widen the roads a bit it would be helpful for driving as well as save their grass more. Similar to their entry, pretty narrow. If their entry was one way and had a different exit it would be helpful.
Overall, the staff was helpful and it was a very pretty campground with friendly seasonal folks. We didn't really interact with any one on the other side of the grounds.
As I said, if they could widen the roads, make a separate exit, add more amenities like theme activities for kids, and make the pool area less dark and move the slide to the deeper end or even 4ft area it would be 5 stars.
LegendCampground Review
I've been to Ottawa Lake many times before, and really appreciate the spaciousness of the sites. There are a great mix of options for campsite ranging from almost full sun on the natural Wisconsin prairie or nicely shaded woodsy campsites.
There are many options for hiking since this campground is part of Kettle Moraine State Park.
The beach is pretty large and swimming is excellent. They've been restoring part of the beach in the last few years and it is looking great. The population of sandhill cranes in this area seems to be growing, as we saw a few pairs of them while camping here as well.
Product Review
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, this time I got to test the Primus Essential Stove (1.3L).
I've got plenty of experience with camping and backpacking stoves, ranging from DIY beer can alcohol stoves up to Coleman Duel Fuel Powerhouse classic camp stove.
What's great
What's not great
The verdict
Overall, it is a nice kit and I will be lending it to some friends to an upcoming backpacking trip.
Legend
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
LegendThis 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.
GuideWhat 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/
RangerNice state park with well spaced sites. Under brush & trees between each site gives plenty of privacy. Some with electric & some without. Also have some double sites for multiple users. Vault toilets dispersed throughout the grounds with one shower house at the campground entrance. All sites are dirt pads. ATT & Verizon both have decent signals. Did not go to the lake, which appears to be a big draw judging by the number of boats at campsites, but could at times hear a lot of boat traffic. Glad we stayed here.
TravelerStopped in for a quick overnight with 3 friends. Site 61 was decently sized. we had a canopy over the picnic table, the REI Wonderland 6-person tent, two SUVs. That left us with room to sit around the fire and barely enough room to play some other frisbee games (Kan Jam and Bottle Bash). Flat space for the tent setup. nice fire ring. It rained a lot of the night, and we didn't have any puddles when morning came.
The park doesn't have too much in the way of hiking, but the available trails were well marked and maintained.
No complaints, but nothing exceptional.
GuideBeautiful sites super quiet
ScoutCampsites are nice and neat with bathrooms close by!
TravelerThis is a great campground for family camping. The trails are beautiful and not too long for little legs. There’s a nice little playground by the bathrooms. There is a great beach for people and another really nice one for dogs. The campsites are a descent size with most of them offering pretty good privacy.
GuideA nice state park. Clean bathrooms with showers. Good sized site with nice privacy. Good hiking around the lake and mostly dog friendly. Nice play ground with horse she pits.
ScoutWell-kept, fairly secluded campsite with toilets nearby and only a short walk to the lake. I would definitely recommend for larger groups (up to 20)!
GuideWe arrived after 5pm and were able to find out camp spot easily with the reservation email. Everyone was super friendly and there was a little Oktoberfest celebration going on with some families a few sites down. The bathrooms were alright, and there was a fire pit and picnic table at our site which was great. The walking trails are nice and there’s a volleyball net and little playground too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Marshall, WI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Marshall, WI is Lake Kegonsa State Park Campground with a 4-star rating from 21 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 38 glamping camping locations near Marshall, WI, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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