Musky Lake Campground — Northern Highland State Forest

Beautiful crystal clear lake. Loons common. Great sites on the water. On bike and hiking trails. Great for swimming and kayaking.

My yearly northwoods escape

Beautiful clear water, bike paths galore, big sites. Close to Minocqua, cute touristy town. Lots of trails connecting to other lakes.

One of our favorite spots

Walked around, connected by trail to Crystal Lake. Beautiful area, lots of hiking and biking. 

Small quiet lake

We planned to stay 2 nights, our site was so beautiful we ended up staying 4! Our site had amazing water views morning and night. The water was super clear and we listened to loons every day. Close to Boulder Junction, fishing, biking, hiking, swimming all available. Showers available within a 5 minute drive, our site restrooms were always clean and the camp host was very friendly. Couldn't ask for a better place to stay!

Beautiful! 

Just south of Boulder Junction, WI. New and clean bathroom facilities with showers and flush toilets. Lakeside sites have their own path to the lake. Campers would leave their water “toys” ashore for use the next day. Loons singing; very peaceful.

Peaceful and secluded!

Big Muskellunge Lake is one of many campgrounds situated in the North Highland American Legion State Forest and one of three in a two mile radius that offers modern facilities with  showers and flush toilets.  You enter this campground at the same entrance as Crystal Lake campground.  The park headquarters building is at the entrance  and is an excellent place to stop in and get information on all trails, campgrounds and conveniences you need.  I would suggest that if you need fire wood that you purchase it at the time of check in at this building as well. They will give you a ticket for the woodshed and you will be able to pick your wood up between the hours of 4-7pm.  You will drive through Crystal Lake Campground on your way to Big Musky. Big Musky is a little further back and seems to be a bit less crowded. I do prefer the atmosphere of Big Musky and camping under the Jack Pines.  Big Musky has flush toilets and showers For swimming, there is a walking trail that  takes you from Big Musky Campground to Crystal Lake. The lake is crystal clear as the title states!  There are two beahes on the lake and parking is available at each beach incase you want to throw a picnic or bring swimming toys!  Picnic tabels and grills are available at each beach. Not far from the beach there is also a wonderful nature center that can supply kids and adults with education materials and activities.You can not visit the area without bringing your bicycle! If you don't bring one you will wish you had! This is the bicycle capital area in the state! 

If you need conveniences Suh as food, shopping, etc....you have multiple towns with in 10-15 min. drive. Be prepared though that they are tourist towns and traffic can be hectic at times.  

Bring You Bicycle!!

Musky Lake Campground is a nice campground. We camped mid-late June and had a nice little trip. Here's the good and the bad.

The good:

A surplus of dragonflies means that mosquitos were NOT a problem. As someone who gets eaten alive this is important.

Deer are rampant in the area. The loons on the lake are the epitome of the north woods! I camp to enjoy wildlife, so this is a plus.

Nice hiking trails nearby. Numerous bike paths as well.

Large bathroom facility with flush toilets and showers.

The bad:

Sites are close together. I prefer a bit more privacy than they allow.

Lake access from the site is...existent at best. I was able to launch my inflatable kayak very carefully between the sticks and weeds, though I'm not sure anything bigger or heavier would be worth launching from the site.

No beach swimming areas for dogs. There's a dog friendly picnic area, but it is certainly no place to let your dog swim.This was disappointing. Many of the trails are also off limits for dogs which is beyond me, though this is unrelated to the actual campground I'm sure.

All in all Musky Lake is worth checking out. There is a nice human friendly beach at nearby (you can walk there) Crystal Lake. The location is good, not too far from civilization for those who like a grocery store nearby.The sites were level and had plenty of room for our 2 tents. This area has to be on your list if you are a bike rider! I felt out of place because everyone up there had their bikes, and I could see why.

Wooded Sites Along the Lake

Big clean sites. Clean bathrooms/showers. Between to lakes. Near hiking, kayaking, swimmimg.

Fall asleep to loons!

Loved this site. Big open site. Great for star viewing. In between two great lakes. With hiking, biking trails. Loons will sing you to sleep. Sites are big and nicely spaced out. Nice shower-restrooms. Lots of mature trees mean lots of places to hang your hammock.

Great place to camp!

My family have been camping at Firefly for years! Beautiful campground with private campsites. Quiet lake that's great for swimming and kayaking. Many different hiking and biking trails to explore and you definitely have to go visit the Corner Store just a few miles down the road for some delicious ice cream!

Favorite Family Spot

Stayed here late in the fall on a warm weekend....it was perfect. not many people and lots of leaves on the ground but still felt like things were private. There are a lot of sites...lots. 

  

Showers and bathrooms are very clean, but that is probably harder when things get busy. Really enjoyed the different sites too choose from. If you can't get a site on the water look to get a site away from the water as best you can. It is less busy. 311 and 310 were good sites to me but really any along the water were pretty great views.