Sparta Campground — Elroy-Sparta State Trail

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Sparta

The Best Camping Near Sparta, Wisconsin

This is a straight forward, few amenities campsite. There is a pit toilet, water, garbage and recycling. Campsites are large, so if traveling with a group would have room for 3-4 tents in one site. After biking 47 miles was a welcome respite on our first day of biking the Elroy-Sparta State Bike Trail. We spent a second night on our out and back along the trail. The site is close to I90 so traffic noise is great, particularly during the week. Our first night was a Thursday and truck traffic was loud all night, our return stay was a Saturday and traffic noise was considerable less.

Basic, but welcome! 

This is a walk-in campground intended for very light camping, particularly for those biking the Elroy-Sparta or Lacrosse Trails, as it is right on the Elroy-Sparta trail and only a 10 minute bike ride into the town of Sparta. We are a family of 4 that camped from Friday through Sunday while we attended a swim meet in Sparta. We had site 3 (103 on the DNR campground map), which was about a 600 yard hike in from the parking lot, down a trail that can get quite muddy, especially during rain (which it did while we were breaking camp). Some of the sites are even further down the trail. The site was small, but we did manage to fit a 4-person tent, two 2-person tents, a screen-house, and 5 bikes. I was advised by our camp neighbor that their site was equally small. Water, trash, and bathroom access was great and clean. No noise from other campers, and there was even a boy scout troop on site while we were there. The most disappointing factor for me was the highway noise. I had read about that from another reviewer, and it was indeed bad, all weekend long. I had to wear noise-cancelling headphones to drown out the noise in order to sleep. So, it is a great site for someone biking in and/or carrying a very light load into the campsite and, I would say (only because of the highway noise), if there are no other camping options. I should mention that although there are no showers here, I saw that the Sparta Aquatic Center (10 minute bike ride) allows shower access for $3 (at time of this review). Also, the Sparta Family Restaurant is a great place to eat, having good food, service, and prices.

Good for light/bike camping

A comfortable experience that was simple and not to far off the Beaton path 

Comfortable

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.

Non-resident upcharge ($30 vs. $15 plus fees)

The sites are simple, well separated with a very short walk, easy to take multiple trips. Going when we did we were met with swarms of mosquitoes. 

Additionally it's very near the interstate so not the quietest of places. 

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