Best Cabin Camping near Milwaukee, WI

Nice campground not far from Milwaukee.

It's a one-hour drive from Milwaukee. Nice, easy hiking trails. Facilities are kept clean. LOTS of RVs, so check out the photo of site before you reserve if you want to ensure your site has at least some privacy. They have one large teepee for rent that sleeps several people with cots provided, situated on a large wooden platform at the top of a hill with views of the lake beyond for $40 a night. Make sure you attempt to reserve it well in advance.

This was our first time camping in Wisconsin and we got to say we absolutely love this park. Most of the sites are pretty secluded so if you enjoy your privacy I will love this place. Everything was clean and updated including the bathrooms. The campsites are about a mile or two from Lake Michigan but it is an easy drive or hike as there are many trails that go through the park. When we went to the lake level was up so high due to flooding that we weren’t really able to enjoy the beach but normally there is plenty of coastline for enjoying some beach time.

My husband and I plus our 3 kids stayed in a rustic cabin. The cabin was exactly how it was described and thankfully so! Since it had air-conditioning we all slept great. The grounds itself was very clean, the portable toilets were cleaned twice a day. There were many activities for all ages both for a small fee and free. Our kids used the pools quite a lot and were a bit disappointed with the skatepark. They enjoyed all the airfilled bouncy activities.

We go at least once a year to see the Christmas lights. A great little after work trip on a Friday to cure the kiddos cabin fever a bit.

There is nowhere to swim here, they have multiple camp sites, a couple of group sites and a few cabins to rent. There is a concession area, however it is a moderate hike to get to from the campground area. This campground would be best for those who want to spend their time fishing, kayaking, or paddle boarding as it is connected to the fox river.

These campsites are as low as $12/night!! One of my favorite spots to test new gear. Family friendly. There’s some small trails around as well that are beginner. There was electricity, however those sites are $25/night. Bathrooms could’ve been cleaner but we were grateful for the facility which doubled as a storm shelter. There’s indoor showers and bathrooms. There are also cabins at this campsite, not sure on pricing tho

Second time camping here. Park very well kept; nice walking and biking trails. Sunrises over Lake MI worth getting up every morning! Kayaking the lake awesome! Definitely put this campground on your must do list. Due to Covid, Nature Center, inside pavilion and check in closed. Showers with great pressure. Due to high Lake MI levels beach reduced in size but still very accessible. Very nice Teepee that is reservable and ADA cabin the best I’ve seen in a state park.

Love this park. Nice little lake. Within 1/2 hour of Milwaukee. My favorite sites are the 2 walk to sites. I believe #334 and 335

Stsyed on South side of the lake. Great for all campers whether privative or big honking buses. Within an hour of major suburbs of Milwaukee but out of the way. Clean a peaceful with great beaches, fishing, and hiking. Please reserve especially on weekends.

The campsite itself was nice and peaceful. There is a lot of nature and the recreation area itself is massive. Definitely a nice getaway. The only issue was that generators aren't allowed, so we were kind of suffering in the oppressive heat with no reprieve of the AC in our camper. There aren't many electrical hookups so it's hard to get one of those spots. Apparently no state park in Wisconsin allows generators at any time unless you have a medical need. Kind of a bummer.

Very nice campground on Lake MI. This campground has it all-wooded sites, sites in the full sun, Teepee, and large ADA cabin. Laundry, nice nature center. Couple of complaints: 1) bathrooms were cleaned/closed daily from 10 am—11:30- which is the strangest and busiest time for use. Very inconvenient. 2) Both DNR and camp hosts seemed to be over the top policing only 2 cars per site, had to park with at least 2 tires on the asphalt, and they even hassled us about a truck with a tent in the back they considered a “camping unit”-they only allowed 1 “unit” per campsite (we had a small pull behind). In 6 days, we experienced at least 4 visits complaining about a different thing each day. Due to this-4 stars instead of 5. Beach beautiful and sunrises over lake fantastic.

Just outside of Milwaukee, Harrington Beach State Park is a quiet and quick escape to the good life. The huge sandy beach spans the entire length of the park - which features plenty of trails, a quarry, and a historical element. The campsites are clean, well-groomed and set apart from the rest of the park. A private, water accessible "walk-in" site is also available for those passing through on kayaks.

Yogi Bear campground is a nice, clean campground. Rental options and the big pool are wonderful. I can’t afford to go there often though because it is pricey.

Kohler Andrae is a jewel that has large pine woods, dunes, and beachfronts on Lake Michigan. Campground is clean, quiet, and serene. Great place for a weekend getaway with lots to do!

Nice quiet place to get away to. Sights are large. Good size lake for fishing or Kayaking. Large beach area for kids. Graded shallow so they can go a good distance into the water. Scuppernong trail is less than 5 minutes down hwyZZ.

Ottawa Lake is in the middle of Kettle Moraine State Forest's Southern Unit. It's mostly car camping with a few hike in locations. The state forest is expansive and wildlife is everywhere. Trails for hiking are in every direction. There are some pretty challenging climbs and some of those trails are pretty technical. The campsites have well-groomed pads and are mostly shaded. There are modern facilities as well as drop toilets for those summer months when a shower is in order. This area is absolutely gorgeous with many lakes in the area, various types of terrain and plenty of natural solitude. It is a short drive from either the Milwaukee area or Madison. You might need awhile to explore the Kettle Moraine area in depth. There's a lot of it to see.

We stayed in the Turner lake south loop, which has nice and private sites. This is in contrast to Honeysuckle hollow which is open and row after row of RV sites. Fox den and Prairie view loops are nice as well with mostly primitive sites. Be aware that the map on www.ExloreMoreIL,com(where you make your reservations) doesn't show where the restrooms are. In the Turner loop, the pit toilets are next to the path to the fishing pier, while the showers and full restrooms are between Turner and Fox den, there is a short path between sites 60& 61. Facilities are clean and well lit. Fire pits are slightly raised steel troughs with a heavy adjustable grill. This is a BIG park, the campgrounds are two miles from the front gate, and it's a drive to the main boat launch at Maple Grove, where you have access to the Fox River and Grass lake. This location has a huge parking lot for boat trailers, a very well stocked general store with fishing supplies, a cafe, boat rentals and good firewood. To get away from the crowd if you're a canoeist or kayaker it's nicer to leave the park and go back in at Oak Point picnic area and boat launch at the northern border. This will put you on the Fox river with developments to the north(including a bar& grill) or to the south which is all nature. I think the distance by boat between the two launches is 4-5 miles, but I'm not sure, Halfway there you'll meet up with the Goldfinch trail which is the shortest loop and the most diverse in term of flora. There are horse/ snowmobile trails, but no equestrian campground. Chain o' Lakes is one of the busiest waterways in Illinois, with motorboats everywhere in the height of the summer season. We canoe, and both times we stayed there it was October, so I can't tell you how crowded, but the vast number of picnic areas must be there for a reason. An odd thing is that you can hear a Steam Train whistle quite often, this is from Richardson's Adventure Farm in Spring Grove. We don't have kids so we went to Stade's Farm& Orchard(which is also large and kid friendly) because they have an orchard and vegetable market. One last thing, the gates close at 10:PM and there are tire shredders, you can leave but you can't get back in… unless you want to walk 2+ miles in the dark:)

This campground is a great family oriented campground. There were many seasonal sites that were located in the main portion of the campground. There is a playground and a beach area. You are also able to rent paddle boats to use on the lake. You are also able to check out horse shoes to play and a bar for the adults to enjoy themselves at.

There are three sections to this campground. The main section houses the seasonal sites and cabins that you can rent. There are also some open sites that you can rent by the night. We noticed that this section was much louder than the other two. With the number of people that come up each weekend and the bar there was a decent amount of partying that was happening. We walked back to the back section of the campground, which is past a marshy area, and found this to be quieter. There were also not as many people staying here the weekend we were there. We stayed in the front section of the campground, which has smaller camping spaces for rent. This was the quietest area of the campground, especially not many others were camping the weekend that we went. After walking around the rest of the campground, we decided to stay near our site since it was so quiet there.

The main section of this campground is very open with few trees. There were trees along the walk to the back section, but again it was open once you arrived there. The front section had the most trees, but was still fairly open. Water was located next to the bathroom and the bathrooms were clean.

I would try this campground again if we had children, because there would be things for them to do. However, if we would be going by ourselves and we were planning on staying somewhere for hiking and for peace and quiet, I would choose another place to stay.

This is our go-to state park when I need to get out of Chicago for the afternoon. We camped here once as a starter trip with our two kids, since it was easy enough to go home if it all went south.

Non-electric sites in the loop on the small fishing pond were relatively quiet, well shaded, with decent screening between sites. Easy walk to bath house adjacent the electric sites, which were jammed with RVs.

Nice easy hiking/biking trails. Boat rentals. Stocked concesion building.

Our kids, 4&8, really like it here. Nothing too hard or scary for my little city kiddos.

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.

The state park is larger than expected with decent amenities (boat rentals, concessions, relatively clean pit toilets) and areas designated for trailer camping and tent camping.

We stayed in the Turner South Loop, one of the older tent camping loops, and the age definitely showed. Most of the sites on this loop are pretty worn, with not much privacy. We stayed in T10, but would consider T9 if we returned to this loop for a different reserved site. The prairie loop looked a bit newer with bigger, less worn sites. Both loops had grill pits that were well-maintained for fires and campfire cooking.

Trails were geared more towards horses and bikes, but there are plenty of walking paths, and we were able to find some hidden trails along the lake (read: unofficial). Overall, a place for relaxing and leisurely strolls and not hiking.

The southern unit of this park is the perfect place to go for a weekend getaway, or an extended trip! Whether you're in a tent or in a camper you can find just as much comfort as you're looking for. there's a lake with a swimming area if that's what you're looking for, not to mention a dock with great fishing. We saw a guy with a catfish the size of my forearm. There's swimming, access to almost all of the hiking trails available in kettle Moraine, and all within walking distance of where you park your tent or vehicle. There are showers, although we did not use them. And bathrooms available if that's a dealbreaker for you. We hiked and swim and sat on the dock. It's the perfect place to bring friends for a weekend or week away, or for a romantic trip, just the two of you, looking to spend some quality time in nature.

Sometimes you don't have time to plan a long camping trip, or something special. In that situation, I choose Ottawa Lake for several reasons. First off, it's just about an hour from home so even if it's Friday morning and I decide to leave town, I can get there by sundown that day and still get some work done beforehand. Plus, I've been camping here since I was a kid. I know the amenity list by heart (see below). It's close to Scuppernong nature trail with springs bubbling out of the ground. For longer hikes, the Ice Age Trail is nearby as well. For bird watchers, it's a great place as all the water in the area brings a wide variety of birds. Even without leaving the Ottawa Lake area you might see cranes, wild turkeys and other fowl wandering across the highway and into the campground area.

Kids will find things to do on their own as well as with their parents which is great as well because sometimes you just want to quietly read a book in front of a fire but also want to take the kids with. Since I'm a new parent (my daughter will be three this year), this is a great bonus. A lot of the campers are there every year and so kids have opportunities to make friends that they will see year after year.

For a quick, get-out-of-Milwaukee-fast sort of camping trip, nothing beats Ottawa Lake in my mind and you can find me and my friends there regularly.

Amenities: Flush and vault toilets, showers, lake with swimming beach, kid's playground, water fountain (for drinking), electrical if needed, walk-in sites, sites with a view over the lake, volleyball, horseshoes, site host with firewood sales, and picnic areas. (As of fall 2016)