Best Glamping near Medford, WI

We camped here many times in my childhood. Beautiful forest, boating, dam views along the Wisconsin River.

Continuing my quest to visit as many Wisconsin state parks as possible. I stopped by here to check out the campsites for potential future camping and look over the park. When I found was a very well-maintained park, love the viewing area of the lake. Campsites looked good as well.

Very nice campground, more family-oriented. The campsites were clean and spacious, we had enough room in our site for a tent, screen tent, and a boat. Bathrooms and showers were clean. Showers were free, which is a plus. The beach was a nice size, water was clean. Hiking trails were ok, routing throughout the park. Not very long, only one to two miles per trail, but well maintained. There were beautiful views along the Wisconsin River, would probably be a nice stretch for canoeing or kayaking. The only downfall was the poor fishing on Alexander Lake. The park office didn't have much information on the fishing in the lake, and we only caught one smallmouth the whole weekend.

Stayed here one night while driving home from Lake Superior. I found this to be a pricey evening as you have to pay for a day use fee as well as a camping fee. But, it was all in all a nice campground. The shower house was clean, the campsites were wooded and well spaced out, and there were a couple of trails that went from the campground to the beach, boat ramps, or in the opposite direction, just nice walking/hiking trails. There seemed to be plenty of spots along the Wisconsin River or on Alexander Lake to fish if that’s your thing and you have a license. You can buy firewood up front at the ranger station. The park road went behind my campsite between me and the river, but it wasn’t too noisy as it was set back about 100 yards from the campground and there were plenty of trees to break the noise.

I'll start by saying that I like privacy and quiet and nature when I camp, otherwise I'd be staying in a hotel.  But we were looking to get away for a weekend during the COVID times, and site 65E was the only powered site available for that weekend in all of the Wisconsin state parks, so we decided to go for it.  If you're the social type with active young kids, that spot is perfect - it backs up to a large open field with cool playground equipment and has a trail to the field right next to the camper.  You're also right next to the water faucet (plenty of people will stop to chat there) and across the street from the pit toilets. It's a VERY busy site.  If I return, I'll pick site 107E, which is extremely private and far from everything.  In general, the 100+ sites looked to be on the quiet, private side of the campground, although not all had power.  Some of the unpowered sites. 69-79, had great lake views and were surprisingly spacious, although a hiking trail is between them and the lake.  In late July, the loop starting with site 41 is absolutely teeming with ripe blackberries.

The shower houses have little notes on them apologizing for their state and saying they're scheduled for an overhaul soon because they're almost 50 years old.  So definitely go in with low expectations.  Few of the stalls for the flush toilets had working doors, and while the showers themselves worked ok, there were no hooks, shelves, or anywhere inside to place your belongings.  My shower bag randomly has a suction cup and I optimistically tried to use it to stick to the pink tile wall, but even that didn't work.  Such is life.  Mirrors above the sinks were the polished metal type.

The pit toilets in the campsite have two stalls in each, so don't be surprised if you end up with a buddy.

The hiking trails around the park are great, nice long loops, and the ranger/park employee at the check-in area was very nice and knowledgable.  We rented a kayak and paddled around the lake for a couple of hours - single and double kayaks as well as canoes are available for rent for the day.  There was a rocky beach with so many signs up warning about different types of algae that we weren't sure if it was safe to swim or not, but definitely too gross to regardless.  I didn't see anyone else in the water either.  

If it's a clear night, the field with the playground equipment is a great place to sit and stargaze, as the park gets very dark at night.  We were even able to catch a few meteors!

Very secluded/primitive. Outhouse only. Nice campsites & the river is gorgeous. Nice walking & exploring trails.

I lived near here growing up. We would bike there, and around the whole thing, and back home. It has a nice beach, and boat launch area. Campers and Tents can camp there. There are all the hookups you need. My Aunt and Uncle had a nice camper they would stay there a week, and we'd come visit and sit by the fire. You can kayak down the river past the dam to and avoid the other boating area. That's where all the motor boats go. Great family area.

What a gorgeous state park! From the moment you enter, you are in awe of the landscape. Trees tower above you as you drive through the park. For this particular trip, we reserved group sites A and B. They each have concrete pads for 3 campers and TONS of space to spread out and/or set up tents. Non-flush toilets in between the two sites on opposite side of the campsites. Each have electric for each pad, and there is water that can be pumped on each group site. We didn’t have group site C, but that one only had a pad for 1 camper and was a smaller area. Group sites are close to the beach and boat launch. Water was refreshing and there is a small beach area. Beautiful hiking trails, but watch out for the biting deer flies as the sun goes down! Three kids got attacked in one of the trails and had huge welts and lots of tears. May have been an isolated incident, as everyone else was ok. Overall, I would highly recommend this state park and group sites!

Campground was full all weekend. We stayed 4 nights. Decent bathrooms. Nice little beach area. Good hiking/walking trails. Quiet. Sites were spaced nicely.

We love it here and can’t wait to go back and camp again. Tall trees, peaceful, quiet, new fire pits, good bathrooms. Friendly attendant at welcome station. Abundant firewood right at entrance. We may choose a different site next time as ours was a bit close to our neighbors, but really not a deal breaker! We just prefer a little more privacy, but even with that we’d camp at this site again. Trail to river is short and easy to access. Lots of places along river to geocache, walk, or just relax and watch the world go by.

This was dry camping at its best. Sites are wooded and offer plenty of shade. Well spaced so you feel like you’re all alone. Quick walk to the river or drive along the loop to the beach. Dirt pads but fairly level in our spot. (We did have a huge storm during our stay that crated a river in our site -so tent campers may want to chose wisely) Bathrooms could use a good cleaning but we didn’t really use them.

Fun for tiny tots, but too small for older kids. If you like hiking, fins a different destination.

Camping, hiking, boating, cross country skiing. This park has a lot to offer. Not as crowded as some other state parks its a nice relaxing place to be.

Spent one night here the spring of 2019. This was a rainy spring and as a result of the standing water the mosquitoes were abundant. But they died down during the day and there are plenty of hiking trails that run away and along the river. The whole Midwest is full of mosquitoes this spring but this is a great park and campground that is nicely secluded and small.

Great little campground on the river. I just spent one night but there are many hiking paths. The rain of the spring this year supposed mosquito proliferation but they seemed less during the day.

Stopped out here for the day to do some hiking and check out the camp. This was a very nice clean place and the trails were excellent. I would definitely go back here again and do some camping as the sites looked very nice as well.

This is a diamond in the rough - exactly what we wanted on our journey.  Our criteria - less than $100, pet friendly and rustic. 

This is a sawmill that has it all - they run the mill when needed, but also have primitive cabins (where we stayed), full cabins with in house bath, electric RV/tent camping and more. Even wood fired pizzas with homemade crust most nights of the week and sometimes live music!

We were in cabin #3 - rustic.  Yes - it did have heat!  A little ceramic heater had it so toasty when it was 30 degrees outside we actually turned it off - so it's sure to please on chilly nights.  The interior was amazing - lumber that I'm sure came from the mill and ceiling planks that were gorgeous - left over planks from many years ago, stored in a shed and re-purposed for the cabin. The bed was very comfortable with clean sheets and squishy (in a good way) pillows. A small covered front porch and we just parked in front.

Bathroom - if you are in a cabin without a bath, it's very nearby. One of the largest, cleanest bathrooms I've seen.  He built it himself. Women's had 2 sinks with a large vanity area, about 3 stalls (very large - you don't have to squish into them) and two very large shower stalls with full doors - not shower curtains. Heated as well.

Pets - easy pet policy. Just let the owner know and it's no problem as long as you are responsible, pick up after them and leash them when necessary.  Just a small charge for them and they were very welcomed here.

He even has event space indoors (heated) and outdoors for weddings and such.  And hiking trails (6 miles) if you choose to take on the outdoors.

The owner plans on adding saunas and a hot tub in the near future - so this would be the place to drop for a while if you want something out of the norm, peaceful, rustic and relaxing. It's off the main road, behind a field in Amish Country.  Lovely place to stay for the night. Very quiet.