Best Tent Camping near Shawano, WI

Tent Camping Reviews near Shawano, WI

368 Reviews of 10 Shawano Campgrounds

• 

  Michael M.

  Ranger

  Oct. 3, 2017

  Dells of the Eau Claire Park Campground

  Nice views fishing not so great

  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.

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• P

  Paul K.

  Traveler

  Oct. 26, 2019

  Jordan Park

  Beautiful site on the water.

  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.

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  Jan. 14, 2025

  North Bay Shore Park

  Peaceful stay on the bay of Green Bay

  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.

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• S

  Sherry J.

  Scout

  Dec. 26, 2017

  Calumet County Park

  The park is on the shores of Lake Winnebago and the sunsets are fabulous!

  The park:

  • is well kept
  • showers & bathrooms are very clean
  • has a marina
  • has hiking and cross country ski trails
  • sites are spacious
  • many sites available on the edge of the water
  • electric hookups on most sites
  • some very private sites
  • a few close restaurants
  • Camp staff is always helpful and friendly.
  • Picnic table, & fire pit at every site
  • They take reservations, sell firewood, have a camp store, allow pets on leash, allow alcohol
• 

  Jimmy P.

  Legend

  Jun. 29, 2019

  High Cliff State Park Campground

  Ranger Review: Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 at High Cliff State Park

  Campground Review

  High Cliff is a generally wooded and shaded campground on a cliff overlooking Lake Winnebago. The sites are average to above average size, with a good mix of electric and non-electric sites. We are tent campers and the ground was pretty flat and there was a good spot for our tents in our site. Our site was nice and spacious with a good fire-ring that had a grate that rotated. Typically I use an adjustable tripod grill, but since was a rainy weekend, it was nice to be able to not have to get that out. The one thing about our site(and the campground in general) in the rain was the mud. Since it is heavily shaded there isn't really any grass, so the ring forest floor soil turns mucky and muddy.

  There is one main flush toilet/shower building in the campground, and a bunch of pit toilet buildings. The pit toilet buildings had some issues with the lights in some of them, but the shower/flush building was mostly clean and not too far away. There is also a really nice playground nearby.

  Within the park are plenty of hiking/biking trails, a lookout tower, and there is beach access. The beach/water is definitely swimmable, but this isn't the most beautiful beach for swimming. When we were here, it was cool and rainy, so the most we did was put our feet in the water. There isn't much sand, but there are large grassy areas.

  The weekend we were there a local theater group happened to be performing a minimal version of Romeo and Juliet. It was awesome.

  Product Review

  As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, this time I got to test the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 tent.

  I've owned a bunch of tents throughout the years, but mostly they were small backpacking size tents. We have use a large 8-person Cabella's tent for the past 9 years for car camping, but it is time-consuming to set-up, so we thought the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 would be a nice complement tent for us.

  The Ivanhoe is part of Wenzel's "Tribute" collection, with a retro-inspired design. The Ivanhoe reminds me of my parents' old canvas tent. The Ivanhoe is a single-walled house-shaped tent made of weather-treated polyester and taped seams. It held up really well in the rainy weather we had camping and there was just one small area that the seam tape failed: a"troubleshooting" tag that hangs down inside the tent.

  What I like:

  • The single pole design is simple and quick to setup

  • There is good airflow with the large screens on the doors and the two side windows; The rear vent is a nice touch

  • It has a great look and it well made

  • It actually fits in the bag it came in

  What I don't like

  • The top peak vents don't really work

  • There was a slight leak by the tag (I'll use some seam-sealer to fix this for the future)

  • Since it isn't freestanding, there are a lot of guy lines that are easy to trip over in the dark

  For a sub-$200 tent, this tent is awesome. It's easy to set up and looks great. It is a simple design that is spacious and comfortable for 3-4 people. It did great in rainy weather. I definitely recommend this tent for for those looking for a car camping tent around this size and want to spend less than $200.

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• L

  Layla R.

  Scout

  Jul. 5, 2022

  High Cliff State Park Campground

  Beautiful Park but Lots of Raccoons

  The park itself is beautiful, and the trails are nice. The tent sites were on the smaller side and kind of close together. The park ranger was good-natured and patient when we accidentally set up on the wrong site.

  Make sure to store your food correctly! The two sites beside us were ransacked by raccoons all night long because they left their supplies out. Three raccoons came to smell around our picnic table as soon as we zipped up inside the tents but left quickly after not finding food.

• 

  Annabelle G.

  Guide

  Jul. 30, 2019

  S’Mores Campground

  Wonderful family weekend

  I took my daughter and her friend here for the weekend, 10 years old. We rented a cabin for the weekend. Amazing cabins, amazing setup, they all have picnic tables and benches on porch. Cabin had three beds, fridge, air conditioner, two windows, plenty of plugs in. Bring your own sleeping bags/towels and etc as these are not provided. Fire ring provided down the stairs from us, even further down was the huge extremely clean pool, bathrooms, showers. Both of which were amazing! And free of use. Pool is very well maintained and kept, plenty of chairs to use and tables. Right next to the pool was a huge and brand new kids play area. They also have rock mining for kids located by the pool which the kids loved. They also liked the store; a lot of neat things in there for adults, kids, camp, and even animal friends. Commons area which is open at the front, made for a nice sitting to relax. Also located on the beach which was nice to see and the dock area was nice, kids liked it. The set up is great, a little confusing the first time but easy to learn. All of the Cabins were close except for the first two which were at the entrance of the park and bigger. They were two rooms compared to our one room. Permanent residence were extremely nice, the campsite is privately owned and operated which we loved and met the owners. We will certainly be back again! Additional information that may be helpful since I researched this campsite extensively May 15 th to October 6th is the campsites open/ closed dates. Check in for campsites and yurts are different. Campsites is at 2, cabin and hurts 3pm but we checked in early about a half hour. No additional charge. Animals welcome, must be leased and friendly. If you have visitors must be gone by 9pm- they actually let my husband stay with no additional charge or fee and accommodated our two vehicles. Otherwise one vehicle per cabin. Location was extremely easy with the signs directly off of highway. Not far from town, if you need something or go to store there; they probably have what you need. Basic sites, some with piers overlooking the beach and huge! Beautiful absolutely will camp there with our tent. Pull through and deluxe sites, seasonal sites, decks, and dogi pots(hint hint). All campsites babe electric and water, the yurt is amazing! It comes with couch, beds, tables, and so much more! It is located on the water scenery and a little more private by being set back. Yurt also has heat and ac; wouldn’t mind staying there in early May or late September. Outdoor picnic area, plenty of room for about 15 people and includes setting in a circular setting located directly by the playground/ pool and playroom. They have events as well, the kids and I not only used the mining system by the office but we watched a movie by the playground area- it was amazing and free! Camping lakeside or not lakeside. There was a secluded campsite and raised above, number 155- I’d suggest this one for anyone who want to get a way and be alone. It was a nice site and I didn’t notice it until we left. The cabin we rented was$80 a night, non refundable since it was last minute. This included two adults and up to four kids. I could see how four kids would easily fit because of the bunk beds and queen bed in our cabin. Oh forgot to mention there was also a microwave in the room and a broom, garbage bins. The door was rustic and still has a lock on it but it was the pulley door which the kids loved. To my understanding there are no pets allowed in the yurt. Also the only, one and only thing I didn’t like was that wood couldn’t be purchased else where. The wood purchased there burnt fast and didn’t last long, we only used it to cook food on our tripod due to how fast the wood burnt. Although there was also a park grill on the cabin premises too which we didn’t use; very used and had nothing to clean it with. There are seasonal sites, I don’t know how much they are but it’s a very quiet campground and everyone folllowed rules for the quiet time. Another thing I noticed is the seasonal all keep their yards very well maintained. They had beautiful landscape, yards were mowed, and nice fences- porches- decor- and sheds. Camp owner/ host lives directly across from the check in office/ store so that was comforting knowing someone was at the gate at all times. We walked down to the beach, lake area. At the tome it was being worked on but it was still beautiful and very quiet. No bugs in this area either. You can make reservations on line, see pictures on line, rates on line, and see the camp map. If i has to recommend any sites it’d be 151 for tenting and wanting to be alone, away from everyone. Campsite number 17 for camping with a tent/ pop up because it over looks the beach and has a huge deck to sit on, have dinner on or drink coffee while watching the beach another three sites I’d recommend, tents only is number 61 63 or 65. They are down further than the rest of the campsites, they are also a little more secluded and with a beach view. This would be perfect for a set of three friends camping together to rent. This is also main entrance to beach are. I also wouldn’t mind renting the first cabin when you enter campground as it’s bigger. There is one cabin I wouldn’t suggest and that’s 106. It’s in the middle of a triangle area for traffic. It was exactly across from our cabin and a lot of traffic going by it from many different ways. Finally thanks S’mores for the amazing stay; they truly accommodated us and we appreciate it.

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• 

  Molly M.

  Guide

  Aug. 2, 2024

  Old Veterans Lake Campground — Governor Earl Peshtigo River State Forest

  Rustic but great camping

  Beautiful little spot. Clear swim area, decent fishing. Saw turtles, snakes, and frogs. Wild blackberries along the trails and camp sight. Good fire ring, clean vault toilets, big camp sites.

• C

  Christine B.

  Guide

  Aug. 29, 2025

  North Bay Shore Park

  Beautiful

  Right on the shores of Lake Michigan Most sites have asphalt pads and there is water and electric at the site There is also a dump station on the way in, which was clean and easy to access The sites are fairly close with not much privacy This side of the lake is very Mari so there is no beachfront at all, for people with a boat and wanting to launch it’s perfect but for rock hounds and beach walkers like me not so great. Not much hiking around either.