Best Tent Camping near Mukwonago, WI

We LOVE site 20 as does everyone else who books this one up quick. Literally the only downside is that you have no flat spots anywhere on the site, which killed our backs sleeping in tents.

Pros - lake view, but a safe distance down the hill so no worries about the kids at the campsite.

On the end with tons of privacy, full row of trees and a ton of space until the next site. It’s like your own mini oasis.

Lake is also fabulous. We decided to rent instead of hauling our own kayak and they were clean, affordable and quick process.

Cons - lol that hill is no joke. Pit toilets I wouldn’t touch with a 10ft pole, but that’s pretty typical.

We visited this spot last summer as a place to stay for 1 night on our way farther north.

We really enjoy tent camping and prefer walk-in/hike in sites so we can have some privacy away from other campers. The campsites were decently dispersed and the ground was nice and grassy so it was pretty comfortable.

We always want more space between campsites, but I think the privacy level was fine. The tent sites are right off the parking lot where the boat ramp is so maybe on a busy weekend it would be a little loud, but overall a nice night for us!

We left in the morning to continue our drive so we didn’t spend much time checking out the hiking trails.

We did however go checkout the beach which wasn’t much to write home about. If I remember correctly, we had to pay a fee to enter. Always happy to support a state park. We just figured since we were already paying to camp there, it wouldn’t cost extra. I’m pretty sure we paid an admission fee and didn’t stay for long. It was across the way and requires a drive instead of a hike to get there.

Very impressed with this state park! It was huge, almost 3 miles just to our site! The showers were clean. The spots were large and wooded with nice fire ring set ups. The staff was very helpful answering any questions and giving recommendations. We stayed on a primitive/wilderness site for $12 with no electric. They will allow anyone on these sites-we even saw huge RV'S and 5th wheels on primitive sites.

There are amazing trails through park for people to hike, bike, or ride horse on.

Spring Grove is a tiny town nearby with a little corner bar called “The Grove”. They serve amazing food with great service. Very clean! I recommend checking it out if you’re looking for some good food.

We stayed on tent-only site 009 which gave us a small view of the lake through the trees, a direct trail to the lake to sit with our morning coffee, and plenty of space between sites so we couldn't see or hear any neighbors. It's a short walk in to the site from the parking area in that section (maybe 50 ft total) and parking is easy and plentiful in the lot. We brought our own potty so I can't speak on the cleanliness of the facilities, but I can say they store their firewood indoors which was excellent for nice dry wood that was easy to start and burned hot.

We arrived during a downpour, but our site was on a hill and didn’t get too waterlogged. The camp host in the store was an incredibly friendly and welcoming woman. They have lots of gear and products you may need—firewood, ponchos, bug spray, etc, etc...even camping chairs! To escape the rain, we went to Pig Minds Brewing Co, about 5-10 minutes away. The site itself wasn’t too exposed, and the back had tall bushes insulating us completely from the other side. The shower house was a nice 10-min walk from site 24. Not dirty, though there were lots of tube-shaped creepy crawlers in the shower grout lines. Kinda cute. The hiking was decent, you can hike around the large lake.

This is a relatively small, private campground mostly for RVs though there are some very nice sites that would be lovely for tents. There are a dozen tent sites that back up to a very charming river, each one has a picnic table and fire pit. The view of the river from these sites is lovely. Adding to the waterworks, there is a cute pond with a charming fountain in the center of the RV sites, and a nice horseshoes pit. There are a number of RV sites with full hookups. 

I spoke with the owner and they did not have tent camping in 2020. They were worried about people in too close proximity in the restroom. In 2020 they only allowed RVs that had their own restroom facilities. The owner told me that maybe there will be tent camping in 2021.

Thomas Woods campground has some great sites, particularly the tent sites. Many of them are set off a short distance from the parking area. I stayed at site 30 which was less than a tenth mile from the parking spot. There are no trash cans at the site, the dumpsite is near the entrance. Most of the roads are one way so after dropping the trash off you must drive all through the campground to get back to your site. The site itself had plenty of room and privacy. The woods are dense and block all views of the neighboring sites. Unfortunately, I think some people think if they can’t see you, you can’t hear them. Every site has a raised pad for a tent. This was very nice. I did track in some of the small gravel into the tent, though. It looks like kitty litter. Not a big deal. It was nice sleeping flat and not sliding off my sleep pad.

Near Marengo Ridge is a bike trail called H.U.M. Trail. It is only 3.5 miles long. From what I understand is they lost funding for the project. The path is paved and offers a scenic forested view. The hiking trails of Marengo Ridge are the true stars of the area. I walked for almost two hours and still didn’t see them all. Some of the trails have wide paths of grass while others are single-track dirt. 

As other reviewers have written, the mosquitoes are insane.  Bring plenty of bug spray!

My website:  https://www.lost13.com/camping/2020/7/13/marengo-ridge

My video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh4TzLzf\_PY&t=1s

*** reviewing as a baby/toddler camp family on the go :-) we chose the loop 11 was on because it was close to the path to the playgrounds and lakes plus bathrooms… avoid the first 2 sites from either end as the ones closest to the main loop aren’t very deep. Closer to the center of this row is best.

Pros- easy pull in sites and lots of walk-in availability. Sites are almost all flat thankfully, so no weird slopes to sleep on and easy for babies/toddlers to stay safe. Also seemed pretty respectful in the evenings with people toning down the noise.

Lots of electric sites, deep enough for 2 tents, 2 cars (although close to neighbors and no trees between sites), picnic table and fire pit.

Bathroom shower houses were decent (we usually just have toddler use her travel potty, but this one was fine).

Multiple playgrounds, access to launch sites for kayaks, little store to buy ice cream or snacks.

Cons - SO many ticks. With a baby crawling that needed to be set free, we were constantly doing checks. Luckily our screen house pop up on a tarp that was sprayed ahead for tick repellent plus a blanket on top of that did the trick, but they literally fall out of the trees into people! Plan for toddlers and babies to have a contained covered screen house and have them wear hats or a wagon shade on walks so nothing lands in their hair.

Also - the raccoons at night here are no joke. The second it’s dusky, they come scavenging for absolutely anything food has touched. So basically, eat dinner and do s’mores early, then everything must be packed into cars for the night and all surfaces wiped down.