Best Glamping near Menomonie, WI

Beautiful shaded campground with semi private sites. Nice beach that is a walkable distance from the sites. Lots of walking, biking and horse trails that are full of wild berries. Several stairways down to the lake, no beach at these spots but good for taking the dog in the water since they aren’t allowed on the beach. Wonderful staff in the visitor center. Firewood and ice sold on site. Also boat rentals and free yard games that can be checked out at the visitor center. Clean bathrooms with showers. Lots of boat noise from the lake and a plane noise from a nearby airport. Close to Chippewa Falls for restaurants and stores. A great family destination, not so great for a peaceful couples weekend.

Great state park with lots of amenities. This was only my second camping trip, my first being the superior trail with an 8 mile hike in and no amenities. More fun in my opinion to search for your own firewood and really rough it, but it was to have water and wood available close to the site we were at (site 22) because we got in later and lost some daylight. The hike in was shorter and far less strenuous than my first trip, but note that it is uphill. If you’re carrying a heavy pack, expect to sweat a bit. Paved sidewalks into the park, wide dirt and rocky paths into the camp site which was nice given the amount of other day hikers (space to spread out). My boyfriend and I loved that our site was so secluded. There is also a lot of variety to the sites. The sites 1 through about 10 (if my memory doesn’t fail me) are fairly wooded. Our site had a nice balance of wooded area and open terrain/sky. We were lucky to get to see some beautiful fall colors.

A few notes: the wood provided is THICK. They must haul the logs in with a truck. Saws are provided at the wood site, but be prepared to take some time on it. We had a hand saw so we were able to pack our packs with some large pieces and do some sawing at our campsite as the sawing station was busy with families and other campers. Lots of bark available to get a good fire started. The wood is not covered so if it rains the night before you come in, be ready to deal with some damp wood.

Water station takes about 30 seconds to start up. There are also two bathrooms within the camp site that are what you expect them to be. Hand sanitizer and TP stocked.

Never saw a ranger while we were there. We loved the privacy. Lots of spiders. Comes with the terrain.

The site was perfect for our hammocks. They are super kind if you want to call ahead to get an idea of what your site looks like. It was also great to be able to see what other sites were occupied on the day we decided to make a reservation. There is a grill top on your fire pit (we packed our own grill top, could’ve left it at home).

Overall it was a great overnight trip. Close to our home so I’m sure we’ll be back for a quick trip next year.

This was an interesting little campground sandwiched between the road and the Trempealeau River. The backstory on the park is that the gentleman who originally owned the land had asked that when he died that it be preserved as a wildlife area. His death came much sooner than anyone thought, and the family worked with the county to donate the land to the county as a park. There are about six tent only sites set back near the river, with three of them in close proximity to each other (I think it is used as a group camping area). When I was there the sites were poorly maintained and only had two fire pits and tables for all six sites combined. There are 25ish RV type sites with either just electric or electric and water. Some of these sites are set up back to back in an open field, which is not very appealing. The grass had been let to grow very long before the recent cutting, so it was like walking through freshly mown hay. There is a horse arena (very muddy when I was there), and it looks like you can camp with your horses on the edge of the RV area. The showers were really nice and fairly new.

This campground/park is so beautiful. The campsites are all private and secluded. We really enjoyed that it was all so unspoiled, yet all the areas/paths were well cared for and clean. We brought our dogs and they had a blast too. My only complaint is about the campers who had our site before us. They pulled out of site 111 at 3:10 on Friday the 24th of July and left the site like a pigsty. The fire pit was filled to the rim with garbage; including dirty diapers and underwear filled with poop. It was disgusting. If people don’t know how to clean up after themselves, they shouldn’t camp. Stay home.

Site 27. This is a river landscape. Spiders and snakes..oh my. The parking lot is paved and has a dumpster. This is also where the nature center is. There are often music festivals and family events here. It is also next to Afton Ski resort. This park has a lot of beautiful prairie landscape with some temperate forest features. Wildflowers, shrubs, fungi, evergreens, and deciduous trees. Backpacking to the top hill sites has gotten easier as the park has curved the new wide groomed and wood chipped trail to spiral around the hill instead of a straight climb. There is a solar panel generated drinking water pump at the top and a honor system fire wood station. There is a bathroom, but not super close to this site. This site has a fire pit with grate and table but no bear box. This site does have a clear view to the trail and the site next to it, but it is set back a little bit. I can hear the joggers along the trail that wraps around the site. The sites are mapped out on a wide open prairie ground with some sites tucked back in the trees along the trail. There is not a water front view, but there is plenty of wildlife. The dear and flowers are beautiful. There is partial tree covering but we did bring a tarp for the rain.

We took site 87 for two separate tents, 2 vehicles, and an EZ-up over the table, and we really enjoyed it.  That site is very private with a nice hook in the clearing in the woods that made us feel isolated from the camp road, yet we were close to the water pump and to the back walkway into the bath house area.  We discovered the single family bathroom on the South side of that bldg early on, and that helped us feel more comfortable using facilities during this physical-distancing time.  

I wondered if the sites closest to the water have any access, but not sure.  The boat dock and beach launch for kayaks is close by car, and we used it twice.  You can also access the water via a 0.5m walk or by bikes on the main car road.  Lovely waters - if you paddle North towards the park shoreline, there are shady places to tie up under white willow trees, or to land and use secluded tie-up points just South of the beach area.  Further North of the beach gets busy with power boats taking off for the big waters of the lake, but worth exploring that shoreline too.  If you paddle south, it's a more calm section with private shorelines but terrific sunset views.