Many Wisconsin campgrounds are making improvements in preparation for the 2023 camping season

WisconsinCampgrounds.com, operated by the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners, features campgrounds that are enhancing their facilities with new amenities. These improvements range from inflatable toys for kids to ropes courses and swimming ponds equipped with inflatable climbing structures. With so many family-owned campgrounds in Wisconsin, visitors have plenty of options for outdoor recreation and memory-making with loved ones.

“We’re excited to begin the 2023 camping season,” said Lori Severson, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners (WACO), which hosts WisconsinCampgrounds.com, the travel planning website that features family owned and operated campgrounds. 

“Several new campgrounds have opened in Wisconsin in recent years,” Severson said. “But at the same time, existing campgrounds have been reinvesting in their parks, providing better camping experiences, more campsites, more rental accommodations and new recreational amenities.”

Following is information on some of Wisconsin’s newest campgrounds as well as descriptions of some of the improvements park operators have been making in preparation for the upcoming camping season:

— Anchor Woods Campground in Spooner: The newest amenity at this campground is the “Red, White & Brew,” a full service outdoor bar that is built inside a horse trailer. Specialties include a red, white and blue drink with vodka, blueberry lemonade and a cherry. The Red, White & Brew is open on weekends. Live music is also occasionally scheduled on weekends. This is a relatively new campground that opened in 2020 with 32 campsites. This campground has a sister property, Anchor Bay Campground, which is located along Bass Lake. Guests also enjoy canoeing and kayaking nearby on the Namekagon River. Other attractions include historic train rides on the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad in Trego and the Spooner Rodeo, scheduled for July 6-8.

— Breezy Hill Campground in Fond du Lac: This family owned campground has been continually expanding and improving, adding 90 big rig RV sites between 2017 and 2020. The park currently has 190 campsites and eight rental cabins. In 2021 a second playground area was added to the park’s swimming beach. This past winter the campground updated its office, laundry room, bathroom and shower facilities, installed new fencing around its playground and jumping pillow area and purchased new water toys for its swimming pond. Campground amenities include a heated swimming pool and hot tub; a swimming pond and beach; beach volleyball; catch-and-release fishing ponds; a jumping pillow; wagon rides; a walking trail; and weekend movies. This campground is open year round and offers horse drawn sleigh and wagon rides during the winter season.

— Champions Riverside Resort in Galesville: Last year, this park expanded from 220 to 290 campsites, including the addition of nine cabins, including loft units. New amenities include a 1.5-acre pond with a floating climbing structures as well as three new land-based inflatables for children.  The park has also added cabana rentals and a snack shack. Other amenities include a swimming pool, a zipline, laser tag, a jumping pillow, barrel rides, and gagaball. Activities include teen dances and sports celebrity appearances.

— Duck Creek Campground in Pardeeville: This campground is upgrading all of its playground equipment and adding new water features, including log rolling. Park amenities include a spring-fed swimming pond with a large sand beach, a swimming raft and inflatable water toys, and a fishing pond stocked with panfish and bass. Guests can also catch catfish, walleye, northern pike and bass on Duck Creek, which borders the campground. Additionally, the campground has two playgrounds; a gagaball pit, and a sand volleyball court. The park’s onsite restaurant, the Du Duck Inn Grille and Bar, features all-you-can-eat wings on Thursdays, a Friday night fish fry, and gyros on Saturday, among other specialties.

— Emrick Lake Campground in Oxford: This is a brand new 417-site campground that is slated to open May 1 for seasonal campers and May 25 for weekenders and overnight guests. Located 21 miles north of the Wisconsin Dells, the campground was built on the site of an old Boy Scout camp. A focal point of the campground is its private 38-acre lake. Paddle boats and kayaks are also available for use on the lake, which has two beaches. Other campground amenities include a swimming pond the size of a football field with a 90-foot-long inflatable slide and a set of inflatable floating climbing structures. A playground and jungle gym are also provided for the little ones. The park also features a restaurant and bar, walking trails and is close to neighboring ATV trails.

— Hiles-Pine Lake Campground in Hiles: Jamie Schab and her husband purchased this campground in April 2021 and have spent the past two years renovating the campground. The latest improvements include remodeling the camp store and one of its shower houses. The Schabs also added two monthly sites and two camping cabins that can sleep up to six people. The campground has 88 sites, including 40 seasonal campsites. 

— Hitts Wildwood Resort in Chetek: Park owners Mike and Jenny Hitt are upgrading the swimming pool at this North Woods campground, which has 1,150 feet of frontage along Prairie Lake. Other recent improvements include replacing the park’s wooden docks with aluminum docks and adding new playground structures. Last year, the Hitts added four seasonal sites and two cabins.

— Holly Wood Hill Camping and RV in Crandon: One of Wisconsin’s newer campgrounds, which opened in 2019, this family owned park is located next to the Crandon International Off-Road Raceway. This campground features live musical entertainment. Onsite amenities include an RC track, a camp store, the Crandon Saloon and two food trucks. Cabin rentals will be available this year for the first time to complement the park’s RV and tent sites.

— Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in Caledonia: This park’s new swimming pool project will be completed this year along with a new recreation center and bathhouse. The campground also operates a sister park next door, Bear Paw Beach and Adventure Park, that will feature a new three-level ropes course that is 48 feet tall and has more than 60 obstacles. 

— Kinney Lake Campground in Marion: This campground has added a new 1.5-acre water pond with a floating water sportspark, which is expected to open Memorial Day weekend. The new aquapark complements the campground’s fishing and swimming lake, its heated pool and hot tub, organized crafts and activities for children. The park also offers rental bikes, kayaks and live entertainment on various weekends as well as onsite food services, including The Tortoise Club, which serves a wide variety of American food, while the Tiki Bar at the pool features tropical drinks. A new concession stand opening this year will also feature goodies for the whole family. This campground is also expanding, adding 60 campsites and 10 rental units, which the park hopes to complete by June 30.  The expansion will increase the park to 598 campsites and 14 rental units. 

— Merry Mac's Campground in Merrimac: This 40-acre campground recently added 15 seasonal campsites on the park’s remaining undeveloped acreage. The campground now has 171 seasonal sites, 75 overnight campsites and 25 rental units. This park complements its organized family activities with entertaining amenities, including a swimming pool; a swimming pond with water inflatables and a beach; a jumping pillow; a dunk tank; miniature golf; a playground; sand volleyball; basketball; and a gagaball pit.

— Pineland Camping Park in Arkdale: This campground, which features organized family activities, added a new Amish rental cabin last year and this year has added five new campers to its rental fleet, replacing five older models in an effort to improve the guest experience. The park has also remodeled its camp store, office, and onsite restaurant, which it has renamed the Pineland Grille. The campground’s arcade has also been relocated into the kids’ clubhouse so that all of the kids’ activities and amenities are centrally located. 

— Sand Haven Campground in New Haven: This 115-site family owned campground plans to add another 32 campsites this fall along with a second playground and a pickleball court. After the new campsites are filled the park plans to add a second pond or double the size of its existing pond.

— Skillet Creek Campground in Baraboo: This campground has added 37 full hookup campsites as well as a new one-acre swimming pond. Park amenities include a catch-and-release fishing, a hiking trail, gagaball, a jumping pad and a playground. Craft and other activities are also available on Saturdays. The campground is close to Devil’s Lake State Park and Mirror Lake State Park.

— Syren RV Resort in Siren: This predominantly seasonal campground is more than doubling in size this year from 70 to 150 sites. The new campsites are expected to be completed by Labor Day. The park is also adding a half-acre swimming pond this year and is upgrading its miniature golf course. 

— Spooner Lake RV Resort in Spooner: This is a brand new seasonal campground that expects to open its first 50 sites over Memorial Day weekend and eventually grow to 200 sites by the end of next year. The campground is located on over 500 acres of densely wooded forest and features nearly a mile of shoreline along Spooner Lake in addition to the campground’s own 20-acre swimming lake inside the park. Kayaks and canoes will be available for guest use. ATV trails are also located nearby.

— Stoney Creek RV Resort in Osseo: Last year this campground opened a one-acre swimming pond with a wraparound beach and inflatable floating climbing structures. New for this year is a new building that will feature a market with a snack bar, food, coffee, ice cream, retail items, as well as restrooms and showers. The campground features organized family activities and themed weekends. Other amenities include laser tag and miniature golf.

— Whiskey Creek Family RV Park in Sparta: Another one of Wisconsin’s newest campgrounds, which opened in 2021, this park is situated along the banks of the Little Lacrosse River. It features rustic tent sites, full hookup overnight RV sites, seasonal full hookup sites, and one riverview cabin that sleeps six. Whiskey Creek offers organized family activities as well as traditional Friday night Wisconsin fish frys, beach parties with live music or DJs, barrel train rides, outdoor movies, fishing opportunities and kayaking tours. The campground is also close enough to Warrens to serve as a base camp for families want to attend the annual Warrens Cranberry Festival or visit the Amish communities in Cashton and Viroqua.

— Wilderness Campground in Montello: This campground is adding 50 more campsites in preparation for the upcoming camping season. Roughly half of the new sites will be for seasonal campers with the balance being for overnight campers. Campground amenities include a swimming pond with a sandy beach and floating climbing structures, a heated swimming pool, fishing lakes, miniature golf, sand volleyball, and a skate park. The campground also offers organized activities and themed weekends.