Sunrise Campground — Richard Bong State Recreation Area

We love a nice, quiet place to camp and were delighted when in August only half of the Sunset campground was full and those in it were quiet. Our spot, #320 had great tree coverage for privacy and while most of the spots did there were some on the inner circle that didn't have as much. The State Park was quite pretty and we loved that it was only an hour and a half from our apartment in the city.

They said the ticks were bad but we sprayed intensely and just didn't walk in the brush and we didn't see one so I think with basic measures you can avoid nasty experiences. Mosquitoes were out but not the worst out of the campgrounds we've been in.

We weren't by the flush toilets but the pit toilets weren't even that bad and the campground on the whole is really well taken care of. We loved the little book available for our daughter with activities in it too by the camp host.

We will definitely be back again!

The campsite itself was very nice. It was grassy and had made private by the bushes surrounding it. The sites are well spaced and pretty big. Be sure to stay in Sunrise campground if you want flush toilets and showers. Otherwise, there are only pit toilets.

The bathroom was about what one would expect at a campground, but the showers were very nice. The showers are new, clean, and private. The water was very warm and did not smell like well water. The only down side to the showers were that there was nowhere to set your stuff in the stall. I had to set my clean clothes on a bench outside the shower.

There are many hiking/walking trails, bike trails, and horse trails. The blue/green trails are near the campgrounds and are very nice. They are mostly prairie, but there are some forested parts of the blue trail too. The blue trail was a moderate 4.8ish mile hike with 5 or 6 steep hills. Otherwise, it was completely flat land. The green trail is a shorter hike that would be better suited for kids. 

Now, when it comes to the "beach", don't get your hopes up. It is more like a marsh than it is a lake, so the water is very murky. I could not see my hand below a few inches of the surface. The water smelled like horses and because the ground is not sand underwater, it was uncomfortable on my feet. There is a sign that says the water quality is fine, but it wasn't a pleasant experience.

I am not one to be deterred by the murkiness of water, but something about this one just felt kind of gross. The smell probably played a large part in that, but it didn't seem right. Also, the water remained pretty shallow so it was more of a place for kids to splash around in than for swimming. 

There was a playground by the beach and a volleyball net. There seems to be many more activities to do at this State Park, but if you are just going to camp, it is just fine. 

It is about a 20 minute drive from town. You need a state recreation pass to enter (can get one there) so that added $11/night to the price of the campsite. I would probably give it a higher rating if I was a kid, but that lake was a real bummer for me. I heard there was a beach and was really hoping to be able to swim.

Depending on what you're looking for obviously during the week like most campgrounds very peaceful and quiet lots of places to hike and kayak depending on what kind of camping you're doing RV travel trailer tent camping I found my campsites pretty nice mostly campsites are surrounded by woods so you don't see your neighbors as much as you would at a standard Campground. Only have camped here in the fall so I am not sure what a summer camping trip would be like there but overall it is a very nice place to visit

I drove through this state park to find some great campsites for future camping; I didn't actually stay here and glad I didn't. While I found some great sites which I list below, overall, I didn't find much appeal for the state park itself. There is a large, flat and boggy section that has specific areas for radio control airplane and rocketry practice, but otherwise, I didn't see much appeal for visiting this state park except the campsites. It was also super buggy with mosquitoes in both campgrounds. Maybe I missed some of the appeal but I think I drove through the entire park

The purpose of sharing the following is that is difficult to figure out what are nice sites from the online reservation site. For anyone who is interested in camping here, the following sites, in my opinion, are the best campsites in terms of shade, not being flooded during a rain and privacy

Sunrise loop 11, 17, 28 (really big!) And four really great sites 115, 117, 119 and 131 - which is really great, really big and flat.

Sunset loop 312, 333, 314, 327, 329, 328

Campgrounds were pretty tight together, lots of people during the weekend didn’t abide by the “Quiet Hours”. We had kids screaming and playing at 6:30am from the campsite across from us.

excellent

Nice campground with nice hiking trails. Our campsite was huge, bathrooms were decent, and it was really quiet. The only thing that was a little annoying was how often the park rangers drove by.

The park itself is really nice with unique areas to explore. The sites are nice with good privacy and the bathrooms and showers are clean. What we did not like was the rangers who seemed to never leave us alone. We definitely felt targeted since we were a small group of 20 something's. We were very quiet, went to bed early and didnt cause any issues besides at one point having one too many vehicles on the site when we were unloading kayaks. We apologized to the ranger but told them we were already going to move to the over flow lot. From then on we were visited by the ranger every night coming into our site to see what we were doing. Very annoying but overall a nice place to camp.

We stayed close to the campsite majority of the time so did not go out exploring much of the grounds. Bathrooms and showers were decent though.

We camped during the early spring so the bathrooms/showers weren’t open. But our campsite was great, lots of trees and a good spot to put up your tent.

The Weekend we were here they had a free Kids fishing weekend and John the naturalist was amazing!! There is a ton to do at this park the nature center has activities all weekend long

rv sites electric are at sunrise, not sunset, with the exception of the handicapped site. It was a hot weekend, so the sandy Beach and warm water were great! kayaking was nice too on wolf lake. Bummer that visitors have to pay $11 but the 11 pm visitor curfew is nice. Wi State parks also require a sticker- $38 annually. And, reserve America hides a $9.65 credit card transaction fee when booking. Not sure if calling is better. Sites are super tight and wooded, so expect to be breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an army full mosquitos. Couldn’t even sit outside at the site really. It would be better if they could cut back some. oh! and take the drive into Burlington for some Adrien’s Frozen Custard! Yum! #OurBoxcarAdventures5

we had a nice time tent camping here! the property is HUGE and most things are about a 10 to 15 min walk from the campsites. lots of hiking, boating, swimming fishing and more! a great place for anyone!

Used to stay at this campground every year after watching shows at Alpine Valley. We always stayed on a group site which isn't by any other sites which was really nice. Just had to worry about our group and not others around us.

It was easy to get reservations to this campground. We picked it because it was an hour and half from Chicago. We went for the ATV track. We took our bikes down by the pond and park. They have flush toilets and showers.

This is our go to place for the first outing of the year to check out our gear. It is close enough to home that if we have an issue we are nearby to get it fixed. The trails are great for hiking and bird watching. We love going out in the spring when the bull frogs are out and listening to their chorus. There is a great winery just down the road if you want to take a field trip and have something to sip by the fire at night. There are lots of activities at the nature center and you can bring your own toys ie: ATV's, rockets, bikes to enjoy the vast amount of acreage that is available for use.

It was an ok park, wooded and flat for the most part, there is a dirt bike course which makes it a little noisy at times, but all in all, a subpar park

I grew up in Burlington and used to visit this place often. This place has a little of everything except mountains. You can fish, hunt, hit the trail in your boots, or on your ORV. There is swimming but as kids I remember some people getting swimmers itch or chiggers from time to time. There is a picnic area for family events. There is a drop off point for your trash and for your recycling if you are not packing-out. The tent sites and nature center were great when I was in boy scouts 20ish years ago. If you are a teenager in the area and looking to partake in activities such as this places name implies - sorry for ruining it for you a while back! LOL Seriously if you are in the area this is a great place right off a county highway. Easy access and a very decent park.

There's much to do. Rocket launch (bring your own,) atv (no rentals-bring your own), water fowl hunting (during season), fishing, wildlife watching, swimming at the beach, playground for kids, and my favorite- nice trails. This is the largest recreation campsite in Wisconsin. Have fun.