High Cliff State Park Campground

Decided to get back into camping and decided to check out this semi local State Park. Alot of great walking and hiking spots, it was a bit chilly in mid April and especially windy down by the lake. Once up by the campground wind died down and was pretty nice. Site 53 was flat, had a fire pit, and picknick table. Despite being the closest site to the main road and entrance, didn't feel like it was too busy or distracting. Campgrounds were quiet and friendly. Will definitely come back once it warms up a little bit.

High Cliff State Park is close to Appleton and Green Bay and is situated along the Niagara Escarpment on Lake Winnebago. Camping is great however, even though there is a beach, it is not a very nice one and swimming there isn’t the best. The park is great for hiking and low elevation rock climbing.

Woodsy camping, multiple hiking altitude options including cliff views of Lake Winnebago, historic burial mounds, preserved lime kilns, equine trails, picnicking area, boating opportunities and a beach for swimming. Spend a day or a week! You’ll never find yourself asking what to do. I grew up in the area and have been here many, many times. To camp, to hike for the day, to trudge into the campground during winter to have a day-fire, coordinate family reunions, train with a backpack on the lime-kiln trail and swimming with the dog. Really, it’s all here. Mostly not super busy and when the traffic is heavier, everyone is very nice. Picnic areas can get buggy as can the lake get green, all depends on the time of year and season. Family and pet friendly. Great spot near the Fox Valley.

This was my first time camping in a Wisconsin state park and I thought it was great! Our site backed up to a trail along the cliff which was awesome for a family that loves to hike. I felt for a state park most of the sites were spacious, ours was particularly because we had no site behind us. Shower house was clean. Will be back!

No bug. Dense forest. Just beautiful.

Great trails, easy access to backing into spots and the most beautiful views you’ll ever see

The park itself is beautiful, and the trails are nice. The tent sites were on the smaller side and kind of close together. The park ranger was good-natured and patient when we accidentally set up on the wrong site.

Make sure to store your food correctly! The two sites beside us were ransacked by raccoons all night long because they left their supplies out. Three raccoons came to smell around our picnic table as soon as we zipped up inside the tents but left quickly after not finding food.

High Cliff was very easy to navigate and the park employee at the entrance was very kind and helpful. The sites in the 30s at the family campground have the cliff and lake as a nearby background (there is a hike trail that runs along the cliff, so if you are looking for lots of privacy, that might not be the spot for you - there seemed to be more private). The vault toilets were nearby and very well maintained - seemingly clean and not too smelly! All in all - I loved this spot!

Another spacious Wisconsin State Park site. #2 is level and listed as full shade but we had enough sun to recharge our Jackery everyday. It helps that it was blue skies each day! All sites were rented for the weekend and there were just a few no-shows. Even full there wasn’t enough noise to mention. We were near the entrance and enjoyed watching all the cars and campers coming and going. The shower house was fine, a very short walk for us. The camp host was friendly and quick to clean sites. There’s single stream recycling at the dump station and they take glass! Cell reception was good enough (Visible) There’s much to do in the park and in the area. We hiked, fished, golfed, shopped and ate well from what we find. I recommend the Appleton Farmers’ Market, Dick’s Family Foods in Sherwood Nieman’s Southside Market in Appleton.

Went to the state park with my daughter and son-in-law and their two dogs. The hiking was excellent through many different terrains and the scenery was spectacular. We didn't camp there but went by some of the campsites and they looked very nice when well maintained.

We went to High Cliff over the 4th of July, so it was quite busy. 

We booked sites 22 and 23 which are a double site. Pretty good space, we were able to fit 4 tents and a sleeping hammock. There is overflow parking directly across from the site. There is a main hiking trail behind the sites, but right beyond that are some nice rock formations. A short walk down that path is to a nice look out, especially for sunset. 

The beach was very busy, but it was a holiday weekend. There is a large grassy area above the beach with grills and picnic tables. The water at the beach was very mucky when we were there. 

The marina was nice. We didn’t have a problem parking. The water was very choppy, so we didn’t stay out long. 

There are some nice trails. We saw a lot of families with bikes. The park is also very close to a town with a grocery store (Dicks Family Foods) if you need to stock up. We had a fish fry in town which was delicious!

No matter what your skill level you can find a trail here from easy to challenging to hike or bike.  There is a beach, a marina, Lake Winnebago, horse trails, hiking, biking and pet beach and picnic area.  The park is very clean and pretty.  There is a playground, several vault toilet areas spread around and a shower house.   Some sites have electric and there is a dump station and water fill up.   

Both AT &T and Verizon provided good service and the ability to stream.  Spaces are large and have many  trees for shade and privacy.

High cliff is a nice place . lots of hiking trails to choose from and a big lake . Beautiful views. Camp ground had nice wooded spots and vary dog friendly.

Great clean camping. Very nice walking trails. They have a dog swimming area. Though swimming is not great after June/July when the algae gets bad. Great place overall!

Decent sized park. Nice hiking trails. Raccoons can be a pest and beg for food!

Really cool cliffs to climb/ hike. There is also a lime kiln to hike to and see. There are two playgrounds for the kids as well. Beautiful views of Lake Winnebago from high points of the hike

I took my family and my brother’s family for a weekend of camping the weekend of October 23, 24 and 25. Apparently there is an annual trick or treating activity that takes place with the RVs in the campground. It was an unexpected surprise that my kids loved.

The sites themselves were gorgeous because of the fall foliage. They were a bit close to the RV sites which were all alight with Halloween decorations. And there were people partying for most of the night, it was a little loud until about 1 AM.

The hiking was so much fun. The Lime Kiln Ruins were a sight to see for the kids and the path was full of fantastic cliffs for the kids. For me, too.

I have to admit that the weather was cold and overcast. I camped with one child under 10 and she had a hard time with the cold weather at night. The nighttime temps dropped under 30 degrees both nights, it got cold!!! She was a champ, tho.

We had a great time and will visit again.

Stayed here for 4 days in late October. Site 112 is nice pull through. Lovely state park. Hiking trails are short but nice. Lime kiln trail is difficult but so worth it.

Beautiful fall colors! The campsite was large and relatively private. We enjoyed hiking on the trails.

I’ve stayed here a few times the past couple of years both in summer and winter and it’s so nice. Awesome hiking. Wonderful sites.

I’m originally from the High Cliff area and spent a lot of time at the park growing up. It wasn’t until last year that I had actually camped there and it was a nice experience. We took our pup and she absolutely loved the hiking trails and opportunities to jump into the lake. We also enjoyed hiking up the lookout tower and watching the sun set over Lake Winnebago.

St park pass required in addition to camping fees, fire wood and ice available, ice cream shop not far from park, lots of trails, tower to walk up to, beach not in camping area but close by, on Lake Winnebago, butterfly fishing pond, plenty of fishing. No dogs allowed on beach, some new electrical work was done to add to sites, flush toilets w showers.

Lots of hiking trails

The staff was great to work with finding a campsite on a walk-in. The campsite was very clean and read for us to set up our tent. The hiking and lookouts were breath taking

Had a wonderful time. It was peaceful and quiet. Staff was friendly and helpful. Flushing bathrooms and showers were very clean, as well as the pit toilets.

Campground Review

High Cliff is a generally wooded and shaded campground on a cliff overlooking Lake Winnebago. The sites are average to above average size, with a good mix of electric and non-electric sites. We are tent campers and the ground was pretty flat and there was a good spot for our tents in our site. Our site was nice and spacious with a good fire-ring that had a grate that rotated. Typically I use an adjustable tripod grill, but since was a rainy weekend, it was nice to be able to not have to get that out. The one thing about our site(and the campground in general) in the rain was the mud. Since it is heavily shaded there isn't really any grass, so the ring forest floor soil turns mucky and muddy.

There is one main flush toilet/shower building in the campground, and a bunch of pit toilet buildings. The pit toilet buildings had some issues with the lights in some of them, but the shower/flush building was mostly clean and not too far away. There is also a really nice playground nearby.

Within the park are plenty of hiking/biking trails, a lookout tower, and there is beach access. The beach/water is definitely swimmable, but this isn't the most beautiful beach for swimming. When we were here, it was cool and rainy, so the most we did was put our feet in the water. There isn't much sand, but there are large grassy areas.

The weekend we were there a local theater group happened to be performing a minimal version of Romeo and Juliet. It was awesome.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time, this time I got to test the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 tent.

I've owned a bunch of tents throughout the years, but mostly they were small backpacking size tents. We have use a large 8-person Cabella's tent for the past 9 years for car camping, but it is time-consuming to set-up, so we thought the Wenzel Ivanhoe 6 would be a nice complement tent for us.

The Ivanhoe is part of Wenzel's "Tribute" collection, with a retro-inspired design. The Ivanhoe reminds me of my parents' old canvas tent. The Ivanhoe is a single-walled house-shaped tent made of weather-treated polyester and taped seams. It held up really well in the rainy weather we had camping and there was just one small area that the seam tape failed: a"troubleshooting" tag that hangs down inside the tent.

What I like:

• The single pole design is simple and quick to setup

• There is good airflow with the large screens on the doors and the two side windows; The rear vent is a nice touch

• It has a great look and it well made

• It actually fits in the bag it came in

What I don't like

• The top peak vents don't really work

• There was a slight leak by the tag (I'll use some seam-sealer to fix this for the future)

• Since it isn't freestanding, there are a lot of guy lines that are easy to trip over in the dark

For a sub-$200 tent, this tent is awesome. It's easy to set up and looks great. It is a simple design that is spacious and comfortable for 3-4 people. It did great in rainy weather. I definitely recommend this tent for for those looking for a car camping tent around this size and want to spend less than $200.

Nice campground - It was a May spring day - so filtered light through early foliage.  We had a cliffside site - non electric - (so very private as most were in electric sites) We could see the Lake through the new growth - but no clear view.  Imagine later in the season- there is no view.  Large site - with easy access to trails right from the campground.  And consequently we also had many hikers walking right in front of our site - especially towards sunset.  The trillium were in full bloom and added some magic to our site,  the limestone formations are really interesting and close to the site.  We did not have reservations but the campground hosts were very helpful and were also able to sell us some firewood (nice on those cooler May evenings).  The trails in the park are varied - from accessible (a lovely hike around a pond with MANY birds) and a more challenging hike along the cliff side and Lake - but lovely - especially this time of year.  Mayflies could be heard near the lake but we didn't run into any major issues with them (which we have sometimes experienced at Devils Lake) The history of the park is also part of the intrigue with the defunct lime kilns.

We came here this year in place of our usual annual camping destination. The camp site was very small. We rented two sites side by side and they were the size one site at other camp grounds I have stayed at. That is my only complaint however! The trails are great here!! There are lots of rock formations that reminds the kid in me of castle ruins. The group of us joked about how much it reminded us if scenes from The Lord of the Rings. Speaking of ruins, they have Lime Kiln Ruins to observe and learn about as well as Indian Burial Mounds. The trails wrap around a lake and provide great views. I'm looking forward to coming back here again!

This was quite a large campground/park on Lake Winnebago near Appleton, WI. We had two nice sunny days and the rest were rainy. I hope to go back and visit the park again as there was many different trails and a lookout tower we were unable to visit due to the weather. This park also features Indian mounds on some of their trails. The nearby area offers many different things to do. We went to Skyzone, the Children’s museum and the mall. If the weather had been better we would have gone to Bay Beach in Green Bay. The bathrooms/showers were nearby and clean. The only issue we had was with the notorious raccoons!! We only had the issue the first night as we wised up the second night and forward.

lots of people but a great place to camp. lots of things to do throughout the day

A beautiful park with lots of history! The park entranace sits just after the High Cliff golf course for all you golfers and then follows the East side of Lake Winnebago with beautiful views of the Fox Valley area. This park features many hiking and biking trails, none of which are over exhilarating but enough for everyone at all levels. Climb spectacular cliff formations or just walk through the many cliff crevice's is something kids will remember. This park features an awesome General Store with some souvenirs to purchase and lots of information and history of the park. This can be a busy park for day walkers so the park can seem busier than it is at times. This is a popular park and can get busy but It never seems crowed unless a typical wedding reception is being held toward the North end by the observation tower. There is High Cliff Restaurant as well as a pizza, sandwich and ice cream shop with mini golf toward the entrance of the park. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this park during the month of October, this park offers an awesome trick or treat weekend where the campground woods is changed into a haunting and fun campground. Check the parks web page for exact weekend. Kids trick or treat at each campsite and the campground is transformed into a Halloween city! This is a popular event and is super busy but safe and fun for the kids and the adults! The campers go all out to have the best decorations! This event is open to the public and campers. If you plan on camping during the October weekend book early by State of Wisconsin DNR website.