Best Tent Camping near Mountain, WI

This campground is right on the Ice Age Trail and a nice place to stop off during an extended hike.

There are not that many sites available here and most do supply electricity. More people tent camp here rather than RV camping. There are pit toilets but no shower house although there are water spigots for drinking water. The sites are closer together than some campgrounds but it's not like a city block of camps like some KOA's I have camped at. The night time temperatures dipped in the low 30's in the middle of May when I was there. The campground attendants were on site twice a day to sell firewood and collect camping fees. The DNR rangers do patrol the campgrounds on a regular basis. There is places all along the river to fish and I was told the fishing is good, however I did not have very much luck when I was there. The campground firepits with cooking grates were OK and the wooden picnic tables are worn, but there is level ground for pitching tents.

The scenery and hiking along the river and on the Ice Age Trail is great. If you had better luck fishing than I did this would have been a great camping weekend. Bring warm cloths and a great sleeping bag.

General/Site Quality: Small (35-site) campground on the west shore of the Bay of Green Bay; some have water and electricity, and some just have electricity. Sites 14-23 are on grass while the others have paved camper pads. All are level and very generous in size. While they don’t necessarily have a physical separation between them, sites are spaced a good distance apart from each other. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. In the center of the loop, there are some nice mature trees. 

Bath/Shower: At one end of the loop, there is a two-stall, one-sink restroom for each gender plus two showers; at the other end of the loop there are two vault toilets. All were clean. 

Activities/Amenities: There is quite a bit to do here. Fishing, boating (separate fee for the boat launch), swimming, kayaking (but you need to bring your own – although the literature says there are boat rentals, I did not see this). There is a nice playground and a smaller swing set; both are in different locations behind campsites, making it a bit awkward to access. In the day-use area, there is a fish cleaning station, a basketball hoop, and a somewhat dated playground. There used to be a volleyball area, but the net was no longer there. Self-serve firewood is available. There is a dump station.

The fee of $20 per night was very reasonable and our stay was very quiet and peaceful for a campground that was about 2/3 full on a Monday after Father’s Day.

We stayed at the Heron's Retreat campsite on the Caldron Fall Reservoir. We checked in at the Gov. Thompson State Park headquarters then launched our canoe from the boat launch at the state park. From there it was a short 1 mile paddle to our campsite on the northside of the lake. This site was wooded, with many tall trees which gave great shade, and also spots for hammocks. A fire ring and grate were included along with a picnic table and two chairs.

Bathrooms consisted of a pit toilet on site, about 40 yards back into the woods along a path.

This was our first time in "bear country" so we found trees to hang our food and garbage from to keep from attracting wildlife at night. Many downed trees provided enough firewood that we needed for the couple of days we were there.

The lake had very little boat traffic considering it was a holiday weekend when we stayed. This is definitely a site to consider if you are seeking seclusion as the next nearest campsite is a half mile paddle away.

The Chequamegon-Nicolet forest roams throughout middle Wisconsin. A variety of national forest campgrounds are found. Choosing Ada Lake would be a great move. Only 3 other campers stayed the night. A local family drove in to spend the day at the Ada Lake beach. My neighbors brought kayaks and their puppy joined them on the water. Birds chirping and minimal mosquitoes were also part of making this a beautiful stay.

Campground review:

To get here, you must negotiate a few miles of gravel and dirt road but others brought their larger rv’s. The site we choose is right on the water. A few trees added to the scenic view of Ada. Sites vary quite a bit. One was a multi-layer setup while others were more hidden as they moved further away from the lake. The picnic tables look very new and the vault toilets are well kept. We had room to set up the teardrop camper and the screen room with plenty of space left to roam around in. Once the night settled in it became very dark. I’m glad we sought out the toilet before having to find it by flashlight.

Insider tip: There is a atv trail right at the entrance. This trail connects to others and gave us some nearby hiking options. I didn’t find these on the maps that I had so it was a good bonus! There is a boat ramp a bit further on if yours is too big to carry (ie a kayak or canoe).

We planned to only stay for the night but our neighbor convinced us to give it a longer look. We’re glad we spent the extra day here. Driving over to the Cathedral of the Pines and hearing the nesting herons was a highlight. This will be on my list of places to come back to.

Product review:

As a Dyrt Ranger, sometimes I get products to review. This time I was sent some Snapbuds to try out. Their tempting claim is to solve the tangled mess of headphone wires that happen in your pocket or bag.

The packaging was straightforward. I loved how the plastic also held the different pieces in place - a promising start to keeping things organized! Next I noticed the color choices - white, gray or black. These should fit with a variety of headphones. The rubber bands holding the upper and lower pieces together were labeled and I found myself checking them to be sure I was using the right parts.

“Snapbuds will permanently attach to your headphones!” This warning was in several places. It also means that they don’t move around on your cord. The directions unfold to the length of standard headphones. They have 2 styles laid out and offer more on their website. I choose the wrap around style that fits wrapped around my phone or hand. The directions label where to put each magnet but I didn’t follow those locations.

My phone and case must be larger than the one their design calls for. This was easily accounted for by measuring how many inches it was around my phone - 7 if you are interested. This helped me locate the first lower magnet. Once that was attached (it’s a really easy snap on design) I just wrapped the cord around the phone to get the next location. As with to the upper magnets when I got to the single strands going to each ear and it was installed. Snapbuds are a snap to attach :)

Trying them out:

I carried them wrapped around my phone in my pocket as we hiked. Even using the phone for a map or to take photos was not a problem. The cords stayed snapped together. When listening to music, I found the magnets can snap together to take up extra cord. This was handy since my dog’s leash is a challenge. Normally I have to put the cord inside my shirt to avoid the leash or my hands.

I wrapped the cords around my hand and the magnets snapped together nicely. The anchor has a spot to tie in your earbuds to the headphone jack. This whole thing I put in my pocket. I wanted to see if they would stay untangled this way. After hiking and driving I pulled them out. This time a couple of upper magnets came undone. When I tried to unravel the headphones there were a few snags. Even with some tangle, this was still better than the pile I started with. Looking closer at my installation led me to discover that the upper magnets try to snap together opposite of the lower ones. I must have put the magnets facing the opposite direction. Something you should pay attention to when you put yours on.

I paid more attention to how I put the bundle in my pocket and this time the Snapbuds stayed connected throughout our hike. Carefully placing them in your pocket will pay off in the end.

Pros:

Lightweight, magnets adhere together quickly, straightforward installation, great packaging, Snapbuds stay in place on the cords, anchor holds headphones to jack once attached

Cons:

Magnets caused a tangle on one hike but not on a second, use your own phone as a guide in addition to the one provided, anchor is difficult to attach both headphones to (this might be user error but it takes me awhile)

Overall:

The Snapbuds do a great job at keeping things better situated. I give them a thumbs up and say you should check them out. They may even give me more options as I continue to use them on our adventures. 5/5 on Snapbuds doing what they are designed to do. 4/5 for usefulness in my gear set up. This may rise with more use.

Check them out at www.snapbuds.us

We stopped here for a quick overnight pit stop on our way from Minneapolis to our final destination camp site in Rowleys bay , Door county, Wisconsin. We were in a bind & needed something last minute but we still had specific wants.....like privacy! Their online reservations were easy. Pics of the sites were clear. Electric hook up & a great rate!
This camp is well off the beaten path , narrow windy roads abound. But all paved & no traffic. In fact, we never saw a soul. The drive is lovely thru the Nicollet State forest. Although, you will lose service & it your relying on GPS directions, you’ll find yourself in a bind like us. But we got out our trusty map & winged it. Cell service kicked in just in time & we made it!

Check in was a breeze. The gal was lovely & helpful. You will need a Wisconsin park’s admission sticker. The drive is still a 2.2 mile trek beyond the check in building. Our site was perfect. It was lush, green, & private . Well sized, easy to find, part grass, part gravel. Picnic table & fire ring. If you need it , they have a few bathroom buildings peppered around the loop & a very well kept shower & bathroom building upon entering the campground. I’m telling you, this place is PRIVATE. It is out there.. but still very well maintained. We were impressed by that.

If anyone one else was camping , we didn’t know until we walked the dogs around the loop. Our site was surrounded by forest & the dogs were able to roam our site freely. There were mosquitoes, as it was slightly humid & rained a bit. But nothing mosquito spray couldn’t handle. FYI- if you have kids they will be bored. There is no playground that we saw. But if you just want some peace & quiet - this is the place for you! Most of the campers were older retirees. It looked like there were trails to explore but since it was a quick stay, we didn’t get a chance. We plan on coming back for sure & checking it out. For reference: We have a 19ft travel trailer & a ford truck. We stayed at site 19 , it is pull in & it was perfect,with plenty of room for everything. We took a walk to be nosy &also liked site 20, it was even bigger! Site 14 looked great for a pull thru site. There were also some much larger sites for bigger rigs. There also plenty of tent sites that looked great too. Dogs are welcome. As an added bonus- there were raspberry bushes everywhere! They were just coming in , but if you catch it right. You’ll be up to your eyeballs in fresh raspberries.. yum!