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$17 - $20 / night
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.
$15 - $21 / 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
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
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.
Legend
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!
Guide
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!
Scout
Nice campground. hiking, fishing, bike trails. Tent sites 19.00 per night electric sites 25.00 no full Hookup.
Legend
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.
Traveler
Pros:
Cons:
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
Sites are basic with water, pit toilets, tables and fire rings. I originally planned to stay here but came across the non-resident charges (my state does not do this). I made reservations at the Village of Norwalk and the town of Hillsboro instead. Both have City parks with free tent camping. Norwalk even has showers and RV spots. I've added both to The Dyrt library.
TravelerThis was one night tent camping in a very nice town campground as part of the city park. The sites were fairly close together and some were across the street from neighborhood homes on a quiet street. Lots of toys for kids of all ages to play on as well as a disc golf course! There was a scenic lake, but no swimming access. The bathroom and shower facility was well maintained.
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.
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!
Guide
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
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.
Traveler
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!
Legend
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.
GuideMy 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.
TravelerThis 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.
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.
Legend
This campground would be best for RVing IMO. The entire place is lifted from a swamp which means that it’s low, damp ground. They also must have used sand, as it drains very quickly. I describe the site as such because we spent the weekend in a tent and it literally rained the entire weekend. The site we were at turned into a lake four times, submerging our fire pit and picnic table. This made making a fire near impossible, let alone accessible, it was in the middle of a small lake! As we scrambled most of the fear to the car, we watched the water creep to the front door of the tent, from the highest ground. It’s a good thing we had a tarp under the tent, otherwise we would have been swimming in our tent. Anyway, busy place, near the road and a honky tonk. Not our preferred experience. Vault toilets, firewood, nice beach if the weather was nice.
Scout
Nice options to tent at and nice to walk around and do things
Legend
There are three campgrounds run by the Wisconsin DNR in this area (not counting the 2 site boat-in camp on the river) Castle Mound, Pigeon Creek and this one, which is the smallest and farthest away from anything. It's on the river, but not the scenic and most canoe-able part which is down below the town and dam in Black river falls. However there is a good shallow boat ramp for canoes/ kayaks.
There's a group campground away from the river, nearer to the marsh and 24 individual sites. Three of them are pull through (104, 113 & 120).
We are tent campers, so I didn't pay close attention to hookups, but I doubt there are any.
We were there in October, and the birds had gone for the winter, so had the ATVers. I don't know what it's like in the peak of the summer, but the area has lots of off-road trails for ATVs. Having said that, it was eerily quiet during our entire stay and we had maybe three other campers staying with us.
There's one trail leading out of the campground, but we were there to canoe and didn't hike it. We did hike the castle Mound trail which has cool rock formations and spectacular views (you have to climb an iron ladder at the very end, worth it).
We use Black River canoe rentals as our portage service so we could drift downriver to our car. It's run out of a liquor store, so that's convenient.
Legend
Great place for relaxing summer weekends surrounded by woods, lakes and countryside. Nice locals and stunning sunsets over rolling Wisconsin fields.
GuideThis park has a lot to offer.
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 lake/beach access is a nice bonus.
- Newer shower house and bathrooms, as well as vault toilets
- Decent trails.
- No apparent highway noise.
Cons:
- Despite the large campsites, it felt very "car campery" to me. The sites I observed didn't have much in the way of tree canopy, so it feels very open.
- Lots of campground noise and not secluded.
So, despite Buckhorn being well-appointed, it just wasn't really the campground for me. I prefer a more rustic and woodsy atmosphere and this was not it. I think it is likely better suited for campers/trailers than tents.
Traveler
Stayed here two years in a row with two families and we loved it. Bugs were sometimes bad but it was June in the woods in Wisconsin. Nice space and enjoyed the beach area with the kids.
TravelerWe camped on site 22. It was an easy walk from the parking lot to the site with the help of the provided carts. It was peaceful and lovely! It seemed like a good spot for kayaks and canoes given the lake access; it appeared shallow and sandy at this site. The porta-potty was clean and located in the parking lot. There was a basic fire ring with grill grate and a picnic table. Fish were jumping frequently. We were able to set up our screen house and tent with plenty of room to spare. The only reason I gave this 4/5 stars is because the mosquitoes!!! I know, it's nature in all it's glory but we couldn't leave our tents until sun went down so it was a bummer. We will revisit earlier in the spring in hopes of avoiding the bugs.
GuideGorgeous campground in the middle of no where Wisconsin! Perfect place to camp if you like to climb at Necedah! There are a few lake entrances and at one of them we saw a couple large gorgeous cranes!
Pittsville, Wisconsin, offers a variety of tent camping options for outdoor enthusiasts looking to immerse themselves in nature. From serene lakeside spots to secluded retreats, there's something for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Pittsville, WI?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Pittsville, WI is Coon Fork Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 14 reviews.
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