Big Bay State Park Campground

Big Bay State Park Campground, WI: (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good (70 yr olds in 17’ trailer) Ferry Ride: $110 round trip with a 17’ trailer Overall Rating: 3.5 Price 2023: About $20 to $30 Usage during visit: Very full Site Privacy: Loop 1 - 29 Great site privacy. Loop 30 -60 some good sites. The overall privacy not as good. Site Spacing: Loop 1 - 30: Great. Loop 31- 60: Good Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: People noise while here. Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: Some sites Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Check out the campground map . The dump is on the way to the airport.
Potable Water Available: Yes, at the bathrooms Generators: Not specified. We used a low noise generator. Bathroom: Clean pit toilets and flush toilets in the showroom.
Showers: One centrally located.
Pull Throughs: Mostly, if not all are back in. Cell Service (AT&T): Sporadic Setting: In a pine forest Weather: Highs are 70’s Bugs: Some mosquitoes. I think they are decreasing. Have bug spray if you hike. Solar: No Host: They are short a host Rig size: Rigs I’ve seen are under 35’ Sites: The sites in Loop 1 - 30 is the best loop, are most all very private. Loop30 - 60: Not as private. Site 42 has no under brush between site and parking for tent walk in sites. Other than that, pretty good. Sites 48, ad 50 are the absolute least private sites. Trailer sites in Loop 30 - 60 are generally not as deep and thus less site privacy than Loop 1 - 30. (35 - 41 are walk in tent sites,)

I can’t speak highly enough of this park! We loved our site, behind we didn’t have any other campers just a wooded area. The island is teeming with life. Deer wandered all over. The lay out of our site was fantastic and very close to a trail for flush toilets/shower building. The island itself is magnificent and we were lulled to sleep each night by the sound of Lake Superior’s waves crashing against the shore. Never have I slept so peacefully in a tent. We plan to return every summer.

Stayed a few nights, extremely buggy. One had 2 ticks which was very surprising. Little to no cell service, I have us cellular. According to one of the locals, cricket works the best so far. Bring your own food, most restaurants close early.

Walkin #38. Walk in sites are nice and decently spaced and wooded—for walk in sites. My major issue was they are too close to the pull in sites and garbage cans. It could be very loud. Water was a bit of a hike and bathrooms were not convenient. Walk in sites are located in a lower, more wet part of the camp—standing water, cat tails, mosquitos abound. Lots of mosquitos. I think because it’s on Madeline island it also attracts a weird melange of people: they were obviously the families there, and then there were the hippy hikers there, but then there was also party people. Overall, I would go back to Madeline Island for a day trip. I would not however take all the time and effort and money and hassle to camp —let alone stay—on the island again. It’s just really isn’t worth it.

This is a great place for hiking, swimming, and kayaking. I loved the swimming beach it’s so clean and big that can never be too crowded.

The campground is clean and the sites are fairly large. The bath house is kept clean and the showers are hot. The beach in the state park is absolutely gorgeous with access via a nice boardwalk through the forest and along the beach. The only thing peeventing me from giving this campground 5 stars is that quiet hours were not enforced. There was a group playing loud music way past midnight when we were there.

Big Bay State Park is a perfect place for your summer vacation. You can camp with a tent or RV at Big Bay State Park. Don’t forget to look at the cost of the ferry over if you’re bringing your RV. It can get expensive depending on length, but still a better deal than renting an air bnb. Easy walking trails and cliffs to jump off. There are a lot of fun places to visit on the island. Definitely recommend bringing a car if you’re planning to tent camp, the park is far from town.

So many great things to say about Big Bay state park. This park is located on Madeline Island, the biggest island in the Apostle Islands. 

I have been to this park more than once. It isn't the easiest to get there (you need a ferry ticket or chartered boat) but you can  take your car or RV on the ferry (RVs generally need a reservation ahead of time depending on size). 

If you are not taking a car, you can rent scooters or bikes (or bring your own). If camping, you will want to bring your car to drive to the park. It is a 7 mile ride to the park located on the other side of the island. Make sure you have your annual park sticker (or park pass confirm) when headed there. 

The park has beautiful hiking trails along the coast, a swim beach (water is cold!!), Kayak and SUP rentals for bay paddling. 

The modern bathrooms were decent (vaults are cruddy). The campsites are nicely wooded. Since the island is small, you can explore all of it on a three day weekend, whether that is hiking, paddling on the interior of the island into backwaters (you may see black bears on the shore).

We love Big Bay State Park. Great hiking, easy camping with kids, and the sites themselves are very private and quiet. Easy to back in our 31-foot Class C and still had a lot of room in our site to stretch out, cook and for the kids to play. 

Also worth noting that if you're worried about the ferry, they can accommodate just about any vehicle that can go down the road. We had no problem with our Class C getting on and off the ferry, and in fact we had a dump truck behind us on both legs, so there's plenty of capacity for big vehicles. It was around $200 for a round-trip with the RV, two adults, two kids under 6 and a dog.

You need to hop the ferry (about 60$ round trip for car and 2 people). Once you arrive there are plenty of shops and restaurants to kick off your stay. We had site 49 at Big Bay state park and the tall grass throughout the park was a bit disapointing and the ticks were pretty bad. But the beach and the point were fairly bug free and we spent most of our time there. Cliff jumping, swimming, boating and hiking trails this park has a lot to offer.

First trip in the campervan. Beautiful setting, great hiking, beach is massive and pristine.  Did some kayaking and SUP. Campsites all had a picnic table and fire ring. Camping "in the forest" feel.  Amazing star-gazing at night. Biked around the Island but enjoyed most of time spent at campground.  

Bring the mosquito repellent.  They are off the charts bad!

We were visiting the Apostle Islands last summer when we stopped at Madeline Island and found Big Bay State Park! 

We didn't camp overnight here, but we did hike around through most of it and it was wonderful! The trails were well maintained and the view of Lake Superior was gorgeous.

It is definitely a ways out there as you have to take a ferry in and all - but well worth the trip if you are in the area!

8/23/19-8/25/19 #3

It takes a ferry to get here, but it is a must see!  Lake Superior is beautiful, and the campsites are nice and private.

Take the ferry to Madeline island and spend a weekend away from it all! Rent scooters to cover the whole island in a fun way!

Remember to use bear safety! It’s their home, not ours!

We visited this park in October - there was some rain !! - the owls were wonderful.  Taking the ferry across works easily, there was firewood at the park - There were plenty of sites to choose from in Oct.  (and sort of fun for us - it's a "new" campground in that the current picnic area used to be the campground - kind of like a field with the sites around the edge) Now the campground is lovely with pretty private sites in the woods.  Again the hiking is really nice, and access to the Lake is along a sand beach as well as a boggy boardwalk parallel to the shoreline - Getting ice for our cooler was a little iffy in October as the main options in summer were closed by but a local bar sold us a bag of their ice and all was good.  In addition to the hiking the State Historical Society runs a site on Madeline Island centered around the fur trade of earlier times.  Limited hours.

Sites were generous in size and most had trees for privacy, however there are only 60. Pit toilets but only one bathhouse with showers situated between the two campgrounds. Only two sinks and showers and when it is busy, this is not enough (I waited more than once to wash my hands). Boardwalk along Lake Superior leads to Big Bay Town Park, the other option on Madeline Island. Both are about five miles from town, easy to bike to but not walkable. Quiet hours were not enforced when we were there -there was a loud party going on across from our site that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning. Recommend you take a boat ride to explore other islands.

I wish the ferry ride was cheaper, but great place to bike and camp. We were able to get a decently secluded spot as well.

A beautiful campground. Small but has some decent trails. Lovely to walk by the waters edge and skip rocks.

We rolled the dice. Late spring Wisconsin weather made its presence felt, but we were undeterred. Its hard to be disappointed when faced with the spectacular views of the Apostle Islands. Kayaking was out but hiking was definitely in. A bit a solutitude on the trails was so rewarding. We chose a walk in site vs the drive in site and honestly we couldn't have made a poor choice after a nice walk through the campground. We will be returning for the kayaking of course and another camp in Big Bay is a given!