Best Campgrounds near Waukesha, WI

This is a nice campground.  A little better than the average Wisconsin state campground.

Pros:

- Clean

- Flush toilets (did not use showers)

- Very nice, sandy and swimmable beach (not true for some campgrounds that I've visited!)

Perk:

- If you call and place and order, a local baker will deliver fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls to your campsite.  You can pay via mobile payment services.  Just look for the signs on the road as you drive in.  The only problem is now camping without waking up to fresh cinnamon rolls will be such a let down! :)

Cons:

- The campsites in the 900s didn't have a lot privacy.  

- Walking from the 900s to the beach was a bit of a trek.

This was our first visit to Kettle Moraine and this site was completely booked. We were able to grab a nonelectric site and transfer to an electric site when one cancelled last minute.

The site was spacious and clean, complete with the basics (fire ring, flushing toilets, showers, drinking water). Shower house #2 was clean although a bit older (paint was peeling off the walls due to humidity) but the water pressure was fine and as hot as I needed it to be. Not all sites here have electricity so be mindful of that while booking.

The ranger was very nice and so was the company at the campground. The road noise is absolutely noticeable. It was incredibly loud when we drove through the loop closest to the highway and was significantly better even just one section over. Although it didn’t disturb our sleep, certain loud vehicles were more noticeable throughout the day and night.

The campground was close to our intended hiking trail — the Scuppernong section of the Ice Age Trail. It’s absolutely gorgeous and will be why we come back again.

In terms of Ottawa Lake, the beach and lake was incredibly clean (they had a triathlon there we weekend we stayed). Scuppernong Springs was also a treat for the kiddos although I highly recommended planning for a solid 2 mile hike if you’re with kids.

In short, a very solid and straightforward state park campground that is well maintained and convenient to hiking and family activities.

First, it’s a really nice location, well laid out, well-maintained, with very generous spaces, nice features (swim pond with a huge bouncy float, etc), and the hosts seem nice.

However, The Dyrt lists them as having sewer hookups and they DO NOT have sewer at any site on the campground, though they do offer a pump-out service to come by and empty your tanks (for a fee…$15, I think). The error is presumably The Dyrt’s fault, and the campground does have the usual free dump station.

My big gripe, though, is the bathrooms. There are exactly TWO unisex showers and FOUR unisex “restrooms” (sink and toilet), with one shower and two restrooms currently “closed.” The facilities are perfectly fine and clean, but that leaves one shower and two restrooms for the entire campground, and the shower is PAY.

A quarter gets you three minutes, which isn’t much, except that campground is charging similar prices as other full hookup campgrounds we’ve stayed at recently (around $60/night). It just cheapens an otherwise great place, to be honest.

Lastly, The Dyrt also says they have WiFi. They do, but there is a daily “per device” charge for it. It’s not a lot, but again cheapens the place. A charge of $5 per person for any visitors you have adds to this feeling (plus an additional $5/car the visitors arrive in).

It’s really a shame, because it’s a VERY nice campground in many ways, but the shower, WiFi, and visitor fees really irked me. And at $60/night and no sewer, this campground is a bit overpriced, IMHO. If you don’t care about WiFi, bathhouse, visitors or sewer hookups, it’s fantastic, but if you do, consider the above.