Ottawa Lake Campground — Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit

Escape the everyday and immerse yourself in nature at Ottawa Lake Campground. Nestled in the heart of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, this welcoming retreat offers lakeside fun, scenic hiking trails, the quiet beauty of a true Northwoods experience, all without a long drive.

We have visited the Campground 5 times this year already, we love hiking all the trails in the Kettle Moraine Southern Unit.

https://youtu.be/xl4uAtNWclM

We've been full time RVers for 4 years and this is a beautiful campground close to "home". We stay here a couple of times each year for doctor and dentist appointments, visiting family and friends, and general relaxation.

The lake is very clean and the site are a good size. Gets very busy on the weekends!

Site was spacious but very close to your neighbors. Lots to do in the area. Bathrooms and showers were clean. The beach was not clean and very hard to walk on, very rocky. Electricity on site and water near by. Great trails close by.

Campsites are kept up and quite clean. Some have a beautiful view of lake. Some water fountains did not work, however sinks were always working. So many little trails all throughout the campsite. Family friendly (parks, beach, pet friendly)

It’s a family friendly and decent campground. Sites are not too secluded, but they’re clean and well taken care of, the facilities weren’t clean, they have volunteer hosts on site for any needs, the lake is beautiful during the sunset, sandy area and playground for kids, car noise is noticeable but not too loud (in the inner camp sites). Few trails around for hiking. They charge an extra $11 for each car’s entry at the gate but you can use the car pass for visiting all the state park’s trails around the area (you need permit for parking at the trailheads). It’s good for family with kids or beginner campers, but not if you’re looking for a relaxing or adventurous time.

Excelent

Nice quiet place to get away to. Sights are large. Good size lake for fishing or Kayaking. Large beach area for kids. Graded shallow so they can go a good distance into the water. Scuppernong trail is less than 5 minutes down hwyZZ.

We've camped here before and like it. The sites are spacious and most seem to have shade for at least part of the day. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit. Ours had a grill the folded in and out, not sure if all have it. The beach is great, open and lots of room to set up for the day either on the grass or sand. There are flush toilets at the beach. There are rentable pavilions. We didn't see any garbage bins nearby so bring a trash bag to carry out. The showers are hot but that's the best thing about them. They're not very big and don't have a curtain to separate changing area and shower. With 2 kids, things tend to get a little wet. However, they get the job done. We love the location. Close to hiking: Scuppernong Trail on the Ice Age Trail and Scuppernong Spring Nature Trail and a few others. Close to shopping and restaurants, if needed. Only downside to our site was the highway (CR-ZZ) was on the other side of the trees and busy. All said, we'll most likely be back again.

This large campground was filled up with an upcoming triathlon. Even with all these campers there is still plenty of greenery between sites to give us privacy. We didn’t feel as if we were part of such a large place - such a great experience to have a small vibe amongst many campers.

The campground is a series of loops with a mix of electric and non electric spots. There is also a variety of shade versus sun. We saw a few people on bikes but enjoyed the lack of visual stimulation for our dog.

The road out into the forest area of the campground was closed off to cars for the triathlon. Not to worry, a couple miles away is a great hiking trail system. It’s for skiing during the winter. They keep it one way for the skiers but summer hiking gave us freedom to do an out and back hike. We loved the solitude on the trail. It’s wide enough for our dog to walk next to us and has plenty of rolling climbs.

This is a nice place that would be a great weekend getaway from Chicago.

This park is a bit smaller in scale but has flat roads for biking and hiking.   Our site bordered the road and was noisy, suggest you look for a  site in the  middle of the campground where it was much quieter.   Saw some interesting birds and enjoyed the picnic area at the lake

It was nice and I really liked how large the campsites were. Kids had a place to run around and I didn't feel like they were encroaching on other people's sites. We were up against the forest and they could play in there too.

Beyond the little forest was a busy road which kept my husband up. He didn't feel it was very safe and that anyone could walk into our site from the road. No one did but that thought kept him up.

We bought wood from their store and had to use a lot to get a good fire going. It was protected wood and didnt feel damp but it was not catching very well.

We enjoyed the hiking in this park but had to drive to it. Keep that in mind if you've got little kids.

Spent the weekend and was impressed. Most sites are well spaced for a state park. Clean bathrooms with flush toilets and showers. Wood and ice available to purchase. Walked down by the beach but it was too cold to go in. Sandy beach but looked like a rock bottom. Great hiking right across the street with views of little springs. Kids lived it.

Nicely nestled in the kettle moraine but busy in the summer. Bring bug spray

Great for RV camping but not quiet a bit ! Like being in a noisy city! 👎🏼

I drove through this state park to find some great campsites for future camping; I haven't actually stayed here yet. overall I wasn't particularly impressed with the campground or sites. Nothing really stuck out as a super duper winner, until I arrived at five sites that overlook the lake. If you can get them, this is probably the cheapest lakefront property you could rent for a weekend :-)

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. 332, big level and shady

380 overlooks lake

382 overlooks lake

388 over looks like, not private

377 overlooks lake, nice view

Great for families, nice beach. We stayed in site 324- too close to freeway, constant traffic and lights. Avoid this side of campground- the campsite basically backs into freeway. Very buggy in Jujy.

What a great place to go camping! Sites are private with lots of trees, so there is plenty of shade. We were on site 317 and it was very level which made setting up our travel trailer a piece of cake. Water spigot was right next to our site, and bathrooms with flush toilets were just a short walk away. The lake can be accessed by driving or walking via trails connected to the campground. Water was warm and clean, and just perfect for the 90+ degree days we were there. We could hear the road from our campsite, but it was pretty quiet most of the time. I was really surprised to see that the roads through the campground were not 1-way only. We thought maybe someone just didn’t know the first time we saw someone driving the wrong way, but throughout the weekend there were are least 6 other vehicles that drove the “wrong way.” That would be the only negative of our time there .

This was my first time camping with a couple friends. We loved everything thing about Ottawa Lake. Didn’t have any problems. Other campers were friendly and the campgrounds were well kept. We had site 353. Close to showers and bathrooms. Campsites were secluded in the trees away from others. I would highly recommend this campground.

No showers in winter but awesome

The campground is well kept with several bathrooms and showers. We have a 30ft travel trailer, and it was easy to maneuver around the campground. We did have to wait in line to fill the water tank, but the water pressure was good and it didn’t take too long. We stayed at site 327e, which was very easy to back in to and was mostly level. Easy access to electrical and plenty of space for slide outs. A nice big fire pit with large flat grate for cooking, one of the best set ups I’ve seen. Would be perfect, but there’s a loud highway WI-67 traffic about 20 ft from the campsite. Tons of loud motorcycles and trucks with constant traffic. If you want solitude I would avoid sites 305e-328e, all of the odd number sites back up to the road. Evens, except for 328e, are inside and are better. Video shows traffic and noise. I would come back, but pick a site inside the campground and away from highway.

Absolutely beautiful, reasonable prices, electric available. Tons of restrooms, showers, laundry, and wonderful camp hosts. Huge beach area, dog park, fishing as well. Shop to buy items you may need and absolutely wonderful place. Open all year round

Had a great time here in April.  Plenty of trails in the area for a day hike.  Loved it so much that i already booked another trip! 

Feel free to check out my youtube video of the trip, and please like and subscribe if you want to see more adventures!

https://youtu.be/hIqISZLiZJ8

Nice size camp sites. More privacy as trees and bushes fill out throughout the spring. Shower house no hot water, made for a quick shower.

We stayed in site 334; absolutely gorgeous space. Very nearby and convenient pit toilet, well maintained fire ring, nice sandy spots for tents and a beautiful view of the marsh. It was a bit if a bike from the parking area, so keep your packing to a minimum or bring a heavy duty cart to pack it all in and out. We had to bug out a day early because of some weather, but will definitely try to book this site again

We've stayed here twice. Nice, clean, well-run campground with some electric sites and several bathroom/shower buildings if needed. Nice little lake to swim or paddle on. 20 minute drive to the awesome Kettle Moraine biking trails. Yee haw!

I would give Ottawa 5 stars but unless you jump on the lakeside campsites early, the 5-10 mike drive from your campsite to the lake can be a little annoying; obviously not at all the state park’s fault.

The Ottawa Lake campsites are clean and convenient. Each site comes with a fire pit and grate, a picnic table, and two spaces for parking. We love camping at Ottawa with our kids because it’s so family-friendly.

Ottawa Lake itself is very clean and a great spot for swimming. The lake has a very large space for wading. You can go out about 100 feet from shore and still be in only about 5-6‘ of water. Ottawa Lake is relatively small, so no motorcraft are allowed. It makes for peaceful swimming and fishing.