Are you planning a tent camping trip to Nelsonville? We've got you covered. Find the best information on tent campgrounds near Nelsonville, including sites, reviews, and tips. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
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
Scout
Nice campground. hiking, fishing, bike trails. Tent sites 19.00 per night electric sites 25.00 no full Hookup.
Traveler
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.
Traveler
The tent sites at this camp ground are in the back of the campground located in the woods! There is a small pond with in the campground which you are able to swim in, kayak in and go frogging in! A play ground is present and the owner is wonderful! Very friendly place!
Traveler
Stayed for the first time at this campground in July and loved it. We stayed on a tent site, it was huge and had electric. I love that the campground is right on the lake and there’s quite a few amenities for people who boat. It is pet friendly and the bathrooms are quite a walk but clean and hot water is available.
Traveler
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.
Traveler
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.
Ranger
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.
Scout
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.
Guide
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!
Ranger
Place is filled w activities for kids, heated swimming pool large large pool, water slide, free movies on fri night cartoons sat morning, the tent sites are on a mowed grass area w porta potties, but free showers and restrooms are in park, very crowded on weekends. Many rentals available pass for water slide includes free mini golf, arcade free games for kids to participate in.
Staff does well to keep up with the crowds, holiday weekends usually live music in pavillion. Its a place to have fun and enjoy others, not a quiet place, just depends what you are looking for.
It is on lake partridge for fishing and boating activities, also connected to the Waupaca chain of lakes, fishing pond w in park, canoe rental. They added a newer section for campers a few years ago, there is one trail for walks but along the lake shore swampy and tooo tooo many mosquitoes.
Ranger
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.
Guide
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.
Scout
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.
Legend
On the Wisconsin River, there are four “loops” of campsites, with some on the river side of the road and some off the river. The main RV loop looked crowded, but it is also where the very clean bathhouse is located. There are restrooms on the other three loops, but they are not as updated as the main bathrooms and bathhouse in the RV loop. Most of the tents were put on the sites around the ballfield which is across the street from the river. The good thing about that is that the dust from the ballfield seemed to keep the deer flies at bay, which was not the case on the riverside sites. It’s a good thing the road is not too busy as you have to walk along the side of the road to get to the shower house from the other camp loops. There is a nice dock that is a good spot to watch the sun set over the river if you can stand the bugs.
Scout
Nice options to tent at and nice to walk around and do things
Legend
Great place for relaxing summer weekends surrounded by woods, lakes and countryside. Nice locals and stunning sunsets over rolling Wisconsin fields.
Scout
Very nice place to camp. Quite and friendly. Small but accommodates all types of campers. Has 30 and 50 Amp hookups. Tenting up to cabin, they have two. My second year long term camping here. On the edge of the city and close to everything.
GuideThis park is overly crowded with campsites. There’s not much privacy between the sites. It is very noisy loud and you hear all the conversations from other campsites. They also seem to attract young party crowd and it’s loud through most of the night. The ground was difficult to put tent stakes in as it was very hard. There is great hiking as the Ice Age Trail is part of this park. They do have events for kids on the weekends and some great playground so would be great for families!
Traveler
Chill and relaxing camp ground in Roche A’ Cri Wisconsin State park. Sites surrounded by old growth pines and adjacent to park’s name sake, Roche A’ Cri mound.
Camp sites are spacious and if you arrive during the right time of year, you can find wild black raspberries (forage responsibly please)
State park and campground are on the smaller side but the natural beauty makes the park standout.
LegendAn excellent place for hiking and camping. We didn’t camp but spent the day hiking, identifying mushrooms and prairie native plants and had a picnic. There is a tall tower to climb to a splendid overview of Friendship-Adams, many playgrounds, a paved path, hiking trails through the woods, streams, and fascinating hieroglyphs which put Roch-a-Cri in Wisconsins Region of Historical places. Very cool! Great place for families, couples and singles adventuring alike.
Ranger
As a father with 3 young kids, I thoroughly enjoy this camp for the activities and amenities available. The water area is a favorite for kids and the grounds sport plenty of things to grab their attention from mini-golf to the lake. The sites themselves had enough to meet your needs, as well as enough tree cover to still help you enjoy the feeling of being in nature. The drive in is nice and accessible even for bigger rigs. It's a good entry point for the nature in Northeast Wisconsin.
GuideWhenever I mentioned to people I was camping at Roche-a-Cri State Park, I'd get, "Huh, never heard of it" as a response. Most of the campsites were filled, but it still felt like finding a hidden gem.
Pros:
- Most of the sites were relatively large. We had 3 tents and 2 cars on our site and it wasn't a problem.
- The rock formations and carvings alone are well worth the trip! Super interesting.
- The pit toilets were clean and well maintained.
- Could hear some highway noise, but not terrible.
All in all, we really enjoyed the campground. Nothing too fancy, but it is worth the trip! Happy camping!
Ranger
A great campground with out of this world lake views. Most sites come with amazing lake views. Great for watching the sun rise up over the lake. Great swimming, fishing and playing. Facilities are some of the best anywhere. Plus paddle and boat on Wisconsin's second largest lake. Lots to do in the area too. Take a Auto Tour at nearby Sandhill State Wildlife Area. Get out and explore nearby Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and its world class visitor center. Perhaps catch a glimpse of the rare and endangered whooping crane. Into rock climbing, nearby Petenwell Rock provides some of the best climbing in the state.
Ranger
The thing that impresses me most about this campground is that they manage to do a lot with a little. The Falls are a beautiful little site which the campsites themselves manage to wrap around to maximize the space and fit spaces for all to enjoy. Fortunately, the river itself adds more space for folks to enjoy the water on rocky outcroppings and trees lining much of the banks.
The small town in which the camp is placed gives a true Wisconsin-Midwestern veneer to your stay. Some basic amenities are close by, and the community itself feels safe and inviting. I would have enjoyed a longer stay but I hope to visit it again soon. 5 stars for making the most of what they have.
GuideOne of the worst camping trips I’ve had and it was a bummer. The campground is cute and small but the people working at the park then were awful. We had 6 people at the site 4 adults and 2 children. I’ve never in my lifetime of camping been told that each couple had to pay to camp at the same site together. Not only is it not cheap (25$ a night) they made us and our friends both pay so it was 150$ for us to camp 3 days. That’s outrageous. Also they had leaf blowers going at 7 am and came right next to our tents. Then lawn mowers did the same. It was obnoxious and I swear it took them 3 hours to do it. It’s a small campground. It also rained one day which we usually never mind but our entire campsite was a lake. It sucked. I would never go back.
RangerLove this place!! We camped here once when I was growing up and i can honestly say it was one of my most memorable family camping trips. I remember checking out the petroglyphs and climbing what seemed like a million stairs to the top of the rock formation. But I specifically remember all of the turkey vultures when you were climbing all of those stairs! Wisconsin state parks has a really great junior ranger type program for kids my parents checked us out an interpretive backpack loaded with fun park activities that kept us all busy the whole weekend. Would love to make it back there someday. This park has an incredibly interesting history.
GuideWe made a last minute camping decision and booked the very last available site at Roche-a-cri and were very happy with our experience!
We camped on site 40 which was very flat so it was easy to find a position for the tent. The sites are small but practical and offered a nice bench in addition to the picnic table.
The hiking trails were very well maintained (we did the Acorn trail) and it was a beautiful hike. Sadly, the petroglyphs and stairway to the top look-out were closed due to COVID so we weren’t able to take in the beautiful view from the top that others have shared in their pictures.
The park ranger that went around to each site to check everyone in was very friendly and added to an overall nice experience!
Nestled in the heart of Wisconsin, tent camping near Nelsonville offers a blend of natural beauty and outdoor adventure, perfect for families and solo adventurers alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Nelsonville, WI is Camp Wilderness with a 5-star rating from 1 review.
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