Best Tent Camping near Nekoosa, WI
Looking for the best tent campgrounds near Nekoosa? Finding a place to camp in Wisconsin with your tent has never been easier. Search nearby tent campsites or find top-rated spots from other campers.
Looking for the best tent campgrounds near Nekoosa? Finding a place to camp in Wisconsin with your tent has never been easier. Search nearby tent campsites or find top-rated spots from other campers.
The area offers 12 rustic campsites with pit toilets and water, 9 miles of hiking trail, 3 miles of surfaced bicycle trail, a large beach, picnic areas, handicap fishing pier, boat launch and several scenic vistas of the surrounding forest land. Reservations are accepted on 6 of the 12 campsites. Reservations can be made for camping Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. Reservations require a 3 night minimum and are subject to a $7.00 reservation fee for each site reserved. Reservations can be made by credit card, the mail or in person. Checking the availability of desired sites is encouraged when making reservations through the mail No refunds. Reservations are accepted from December 1 - Labor Day for the following year. Exceptions are made for seasonal campers (anyone staying 50 days or more in a row) who can start making reservations the first week in November.
We invite you to set up camp on our quiet shores of the Little Plover River and enjoy a break from the fast paced world. Located on 150 yards of water frontage, Plover River Retreat is situated by an old lumber mill, complete with a dam, which provides bountiful Northern Pike fishing during certain times of the year.
We have a wooded 5 acre homestead, with plenty of areas to set up your tent campsite. Trash bin and fire ring are available. We have one main site at the base of the dam, where the grass is mowed and maintained, with other areas available for additional tents. Can accommodate larger groups, but additional sites are very rustic. Each tent will be an additional charge. You are able to see our homestead from the river bottom, but natural foliage such as large fiddlehead ferns and trees block our view from the home, so there is privacy.
Come wade and splash in our slice of river paradise! Our water frontage is shallow, between 1-3 feet, and mostly sandy/rocky. Highly suggest water shoes for ease of walking and swimming.
If you’re more adventurous, kayaks and a canoe are available for rent and can be put in on either side of the dam. Tubes are also available for rent and can be used for a 45 minute float or a 3 hour float down the Little Plover River. It’s not uncommon to spot Bald Eagles, turtles, otter, and deer on our stretch of the river.
Each site is a short 3-4 minute walk from our main home where we are available to field any questions or address emergencies. Shores are quiet and mostly undeveloped. We are a 15 minute drive to Stevens Point, and a 25 minute drive to Wausau.
Firewood available for purchase on site. Flexible check in/check out policy.
$30 / night
Two primitive canoe campsites are available south of Black River Falls. These campsites are on the east side of the river and include a picnic table, fire ring and portable toilet. The sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis and limited to a one-night stay. A free Special Camp permit is required and can be picked up at the Castle Mound campground or the Black River Falls DNR Service Center. The permit can be filled out online or, if you’d like us to mail you one, please see our contact information. For additional information, including a map of canoe landings, see our Paddling the Black River brochure: https://p.widencdn.net/ixm7ly/Paddling-the-Black-River
The Elroy Campground is along Highway 71 near the intersection of Highway 80 in Elroy. An underpass allows campers to walk under Highway 71 and up a 100-yard asphalt road to the campground. This is a walk-to campsite. You must park your vehicle and walk approximately 0.4 miles along a steep incline to access the site.
Very wooded campsites, which allowed for some privacy, but you will still see your neighbors. The campground was pretty and very well kept by all standards. It is one of the 3 campgrounds of the Black River State Forest, but this one appealed to us because of its location to the town and to the highway. Its a very nicely spread out campground that had a lot to offer. When you first pull in you are directed to the pay kiosk/office park. Note that you can't pay right now due to the virus, so you will need to have a sticker on your car ahead of it.
As for the sites. They can be large or small depending on where you choose. The majority are for tent camping and not larger RVs so if you have a bigger RV make sure you are looking ahead at the size of the pad. We saw a variety of people in different rigs from medium winnebagos and airstreams to small tear drops. Some sites are electric and that is where the campground was full. The tent sites were nice and we could get our scamp into one of those fairly easily. The nice thing is the trees...they provide great shade and also allow you to hang your hammock up if you choose. We did see warnings of ticks so just be cautious.
The showers were very nice and looked to be housed in a new shower house. They were working on the water heater when we stopped so the cold water was all they had, but that was fine as it was a hot day. The toilets around the campground are pit, but they are more than just an outhouse so you are safe.
One random thing was the firewood was the cheapest I have ever seen it at any state park. Nice to see them offering up a good deal on what nature provides!
I camped here last summer and wasn't impressed at how close the camp sites were. We camped in a tent and there were several RV's nearby. Additionally when we went to hike around the area we couldn't seem to escape the sounds of the nearby highway. Aside from that the bluffs were beautiful and really fun to climb!
Nice campground. hiking, fishing, bike trails. Tent sites 19.00 per night electric sites 25.00 no full Hookup.
This campground is nice. Good tent sites, camper sites and is well maintained. There are several hikes around and good fishing. I would recommend for the young and old alike.
Pros:
Cons:
A basic state park, mostly for tent camping. Clean bathrooms with showers. Pretty quiet and lots of trees. The first time we stayed they had a terrible gypsy moth infestation that had denuded all the deciduous trees. There was a carpet of caterpillars on the ground as well as caterpillar poop falling from above. Not as bad as it sounds. Ok, it was.... It proximity to The Wisconsin Dells is one of the attractions to this campground as it is about 5 miles north of town. An inexpensive way to stay near an expensive destination.
I camped on the handicap site as I am disabled. The site is near the bathroom which is good it's a nice big site. It was big enough for an camper and a tent. Site was clean and well kepted. Was one of the better sites that I've been on.
My gf family has been camping at this resort for years as a summer tradition and it has now become part of our summers. Pros:
Cons:
Quiet little campground, I was in one of the three canoe/ walk in sights and they were right on the water. All three sights were separated from the rest of camp and are tent sites. All have a picnic table, grill, and fire ring and are big enough for 2-3 tents depending on the size of the tents. Set back from a county hwy and state hwy, however not too much traffic and the traffic that does exist was not very disruptive. 2 night minimum, 14 night maximum reservation.
Campground is adequate, it has a functioning shower house and private spots. I used a primitive campsite and it cost me $30 ($15 if your from WI). That was on top of the $11 non resident park entrance fee. So $41 for a primitive tent site, $47.50 if you count the bundle of firewood I bought from them. So yeah, keep that in mind if coming here as a non resident. I’m sure there are cheaper places nearby.
I was just there for a night, but as I drove to my spot, I had to dodge and weave around cars parked on the road, as the tent sites looked like Burning Man had a baby with a homeless shanty town in Hawaii. Tons of tents, packed in side-by-side, so only space for cars was on the one-way roads. Outside of the feeling that at any moment a kid was going to come flying out of nowhere, they had good facilities, friendly staff, and decent Internet connection.
If you have kids looking for adventure, this is a great place to be. The camp is primarily used for a program similar to Boy Scouts called Royal Rangers. There's primarily tent sites with trails, a lake, an obstacle course and more right nearby. Camp Wilderness is a good place to initiate your kids with the outdoors and teach them fun skills. I last visited in July and look forward to the day when my kids are old enough to fully engage.
Located Within 1.5 miles of I-39 with easy access on & off I-39. Diesel fuel & gas also available at the exit. Campground has 3 pull through sites, big rig friendly, sewer, water, electric, level with easy in & out as well as multiple back in sites for overnight stay or longer. Tent camping available. LP refill onsite, firewood, & Dump station on site available to non guests for $10 fee. Free Wi-Fi, Bar with very good food and pool also on site. VERY CLEAN showers & restrooms. Very safe area for a good night's rest.
The campground is well-kept, and the restrooms are clean. Some bath houses have full baths with toilets, sinks, and showers. Other bathhouses has restrooms separated from showers. The campground is kid friendly, with a playground and a pool. I am tenting. The sites are a reasonable size that you can park on. They are mostly flat, but not all of them. All the tent sites are shaded, have electricity, and access to shared water. There are dishwashing stations around the campground as well. If you have an RV, the sites look relatively easy to get into, with many pull throughs
Note: I have not camped here yet, but I will be in the summer at the tent sites.
I have been going to this campground for years, walking around, going to the beaches, launching the family pontoon and fishing in Lake Petenwell. Everyone is always so friendly upon arrival. All of the tent sites are right on the edge, it is the best view of the lake. Other RV spots are partially shaded or full sun depending on the location.
I have US Cellular, it does work excellent in the area, but is very spotty lakeside. I am not sure what other providers are like.
There are two other camping areas that also are apart of this park. The second one is down the road a little and is west to the main grounds. It has been there for a while and is a spectacular place for sunsets! The park also just added a third campground right across the street as another option for additional camping. This one is atv/utv friendly where if you are on the trails you can drive right in that area. One thing to note is that they are not allowed in the main campground. There is a small atv entrance about 200ft passed the car entrance where you will need to check in.
There is a pretty nice beach to relax on, the lake is a little green and mucky sometimes- but hey its a lake! There are playgrounds for the kids to let the energy out and plenty of activities to do in the area.
Overall, I would highly recommend this campground!
We stayed with a group for Memorial weekend. We have such a great time. Some of our group was tent camping and said the showers were nice and hot but tended to be a little muddy after awhile. Our site was a little hard to get into. We stayed at site 116 with a 40 ft 5th wheel. I would recommend booking early to get a better spot for a big rig. That spot would be easier to get our 30 ft travel trailer into. Water filling stations are all over the campground. It was our first time and we though the dump area was the water station. It was not. Other than that we would definitely recommend.
119 is paved ada 116 can fit a TT and atv trailer comfortably 115 - tight for a 32 ft travel trailer the trees are very close 132 - the area is below the street level which flooded out with mud
There is not a lot of frill with this campground, but the sites are nice and secluded from one another with great foliage and tree cover. We came during a downpour but were able to move our camper into the trees to keep us a bit drier. It is a smaller campground that is a little bit further away from the craziness of the dells.
The closer you get to the interstate the louder it gets and one of the loops backs right up to the interstate. So be aware if you are booking the loop it will be a constant hum.
The shower building and pit toilets were kept clean and clearly marked when they would be cleaned during the day. I was surprised that they were being cleaned at 530 am as well as another time in the afternoon.
Most of the campground is ideal for tent campground and smaller RVs.
This campground has been my favorite so far this year! Great customer service and the other campers were the best. The seasonals were all friendly and welcoming. The other weekenders were all friendly and respectful as well. Upon arriving we were checking in and the owner was explaining where our site was. She asked if we ever have been there before, I told her no. She said she had a last minute cancellation and moved us to a different site just down the road from the store/bar/game room. She said its a better site, the site was amazing! Big and spacious, had tree coverage. It was a corner site so it had busy traffic, we were ok with that as we met many new people and it was close to everything for our kids. There were plenty of activities for the kids and adults. Theres a man made swimming pond, filtered and aerated. Like i mentioned before an arcade for the kids and a onsite store with all the basic necessities if you forgot something. Bar served food if you didnt want to cook. Everyone was respectful and quiet at a decent time. They had motion activated street lights to light up the roads at night when needed without staying on all night. They have water/elec sites. As well as rustic tent sites. You wont be disappointed with this place! Definitely will be going here again.
The campground is part of a larger park. There are multiple playgrounds, tennis courts, splash pads and even an amphitheater and ice rinks within the park.
There is a lot of traffic during the day from park visitors. The evening is mostly quiet, but with traffic noise from the outside of the park streets and occasional loud vehicles that can be disruptive. Morning was largely quiet as well.
The campsites themselves are small — if you have a camper there’s not much room outside. Even the tent spaces are small.
There are no open fires allowed - which didn’t bother us given it was just an overnight stop. You can use grills etc though.
Being a city park it is quite well lit - which has its pros and cons. The back left corner where the nonelectric tent sites are seems to be one of the less bright areas. We slept fine with the rain cover off.
There is a 2 day minimum for online reservations. That’s not required for walk up self registration so you can do one day as a walk up. Self registration has a 3 day maximum.
There is a bathroom/shower for the campers. As a walk up registrant you will have to contact the phone number on the board to get the code. Not sure if online registrations get it in the email. There are other bathrooms (no showers) that are not locked that are a further walk into the park though.
Overall it was a nice place to stay over spending $100+ for a hotel room on a quick overnight on our way further north.
I had read about this being a really nice, quiet campground for tent camping, and though I was not ready to stop for the night (on my way to a wedding up north), I did get off the highway and drive through it. Honestly, I wanted to stay!
It was not a huge campground, and facilities were basic (I guess they call that primitive), but each campsite was generous in size, well separated from the next site and nicely landscaped by nature's appointment of trees and shrubs. It was clean, well-kept, and enticing.
I wanted to take a picture of one of the attractive sites, but couldn't decide which one! The small lake was so peaceful, and there was some new-looking children's play equipment, as well as some benches perfect for reading or eating on its banks. I only saw one campsite occupied with a tent, and one small camping trailer elsewhere, which may have simply been stored there. It was Friday afternoon in early June. I would have expected to see more activity there. Perhaps, as some have mentioned, there is an abundance of mosquitoes and other insects from the river (which I was unaware of) that disuades people, I don't know. I didn't notice any when I sat by the lake.
The author of the camping book through which I had found it also said he had found the place quite charming, and he did not understand why it was so little occupied. He, apparently had spent the night there. I'd like to stay there next time I am driving north on 94.
I gave it 4 stars even though I have not stayed there, because it has much of what I want in a campground, and which is getting harder for nature-loving tent campers to find--simple, quiet beauty. I took off the extra star only because I haven't actually stayed there, and want to give East Fork a chance to live up to even more!
We stayed in site #59 for memorial day weekend.
The campground is pretty close to the freeway, but you can avoid the noise if you stay on the opposite side. The freeway travels along the outer ring of campsites in the #70's. I included a google maps picture of where the freeway is in relation to the campground. We tent camped at campsite 59 and it was just a bit loud, if it was louder I would maybe not have enjoyed our stay. After a couple minutes, it just became background noise and we didn't really notice it. If you are looking for the absolute farthest sites from the freeway, they would probably be anything in or near the sites in the 20's.
Our campsite was very nice and spacious. It was well shaded near the firepit and mostly hidden from next-door neighbors. The site is just across the road on a diagonal from some vault toilets. The toilets were surprisingly very nice, always clean and no smells. However there were a lot of mosquitos in this park. So many that we drove to Walmart and picked up some 2 Thermacell Patio Shield Mosquito Repeller, they actually worked great.
All in all, I was a bit nervous that camping in the dells was going to be undesirable, but it ended up being a great weekend. We really enjoyed that you can drive anywhere in downtown dells in less than 10 minutes. I was shocked that the strip was so close to the campground because after getting off the freeway and to get to the park, you felt like you were almost in the middle of no where.
My husband and I picked this park because of it's friendliness towards kids. We took our 2 9 year old nieces on their first tent camping adventure. We chose site 28 because it was a walk in site and on the water. When we arrived and checked in we grabbed one of their pre-loaded GPS units for Geocaching; It's something the park offers for free. They give you a bag, GPS and information book on all the Geocaching sites. We drove to the site and started loading up the cart to walk in. We walked past a very open campsite that was right next to ours, could be bad if you have loud neighbors but ours were great. There are 2 other sites in this location but far enough away and they don't walk past your site to get to them. The site was spacious and has a great fire pit for cooking. There is a small trail leading to the water with an extremely small beach front but it was enough to keep the girls entertained. Set up camp and started our geocaching fun. We hiked to the kids fishing pond & the tower. Trails are easy and well groomed. Following hiking we made our way to the beach; unfortunately, the algae was in bloom so the water was caked green! However, it doesn't do any harm so we made our way out into the more clear portion of the water and had a blast! The beach area has showers and a great area to have a picnic. The evening presented itself with an amazing sunset from our beach and lots of crickets chirping. It made for a peaceful night. In the morning we took the girls fishing off the dock and then over to the kids pond; the park also offers free poles and tackle. We ventured into the campground area for fresh water. From what we saw the sites were spacious and fairly private. The shower area was well maintained and is also accessible for anyone with disabilities. We will be coming back to this park; it was great! We didn't run into any issues with mosquitoes or other bugs while there.
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.
This campground is owned and operated by the village of Wilton, Wi. It is primarily marketed toward cyclists riding the Elroy Sparta Rail Trail. The trail’s halfway point is about 5 blocks away, so one could easily do the southern half one day and the northern half the next. It is part of a community recreation center that includes a nice swimming pool and various ball fields. Camp sites are for both RVs (towed and motor homes) and tents. Sites have access to 30 amp and conventional electric outlets grouped in a multi outlet board. Depending on your proximity to the board and the length of your cord, this could be problematic. Showers are easily available and will run you 50 cents for 4 minutes of water. The swimming pool is also available for a $5 admission. Hours are irregular due to a shortage of available lifeguards. Individual campsites have a picnic table and fire ring.
Camping the in Wisconsin Dells area is always a challenge because there are such big crowds in the summer heading to the waterparks. If you are looking to stay in your camper while enjoying the Wisconsin Dells tourism, this KOA is fine. The lots are very small, but overall paved and level so you will have a quick set up. You are on top of your neighbor and your fire pit is close (too close) to all your stuff. There is a pool, but is was crazy crowded with obnoxious campers. If you have a camper (travel trailer, motorhome, pop-up) you should have everything you need for an in-town stay at the Dells. If you're in a tent, I wouldn't chose this campground and would stay further away from the main strip.
This park gives the option of both tent and camper sites. Many of the sites are separated from others by some space and numerous trees, tucked back away in the pine forest. The secluded nature gives it the feel of a National Park with beautiful stretches of pine and rocky ledges. Most sites are quiet, with only the slightest hum of the interstate in the background (although a couple may be loud, so beware which site you book). Staff is friendly and helpful, firewood is available at the park. Many pit toilets are available, as well as running water/showers. Playgrounds are also in the park, a pet area, water fill up station, some trails (nothing much for hiking). Very very close to the Dells as well! Mosquitoes are terrible during the summer, but that’s to be expected anywhere in Wisconsin.
Nekoosa, Wisconsin, offers a variety of tent camping options that cater to outdoor enthusiasts looking for a peaceful retreat in nature. From serene lakeside spots to secluded forest camps, there’s something for everyone.
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