Best State Parks in WI.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:30 am

Hello Everyone,

We need help deciding which state parks to do some camping in this summer. Looking for good camping, hiking, and of course geocaching. We'll be attending the WGA Campout and have plans to camp at Big Bay State Park in Madeline Island as part of our honeymoon. So those two will already be visited. Tell us some of your favorites and why. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated Smile

Thanks in advance!
- Kelso & Kelly (Gonzakel)

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:39 am

We are partial to Roche-A-Cri State Park (30 miles north of the Dells), and Hartman Creek State Park (SW of Waupaca). Both parks have many, many caches in them, thanks to recent WGA events being held at those.

RAC is more rustic, with no showers or flush toilets, but all of the campsites are wooded. There is a newly-rebuilt 303-step stairway to the top of the mound that provides great views (and quite the workout). Nice variety of caches (icons, degree of effort expended), within 10 miles of Castle Rock Lake, and (as said before) 30 miles from the Dells.

Hartman Creek has tons of trails to hike or mountain bike, a nice beach for swimming, great fishing, lakes for kayaking and canoeing, and is close to the Waupaca area Chain of Lakes. The Ice Age Trail also goes through the park. Facilities are modern (shower, flush toilets), but the sites fill up fast for summer weekends. Most are in the shade now--pines or old apple trees. Very roomy sites, maybe half with electric, if you want that.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:47 am

I don't know if I'm an expert, I haven't thoroughly explored all of our state parks, probably not quite half of them. But Harrington Beach SP is an easy drive from where you live and it is beautiful! The shoreline looks like the ocean only it's not salt water. The quarry lake is also very pretty. I know that there's a campground there.

Rocky Arbor SP is a pretty small park but it's near the Dells and all of the attractions there. The rock formations there are really pretty! There aren't many caches there but it's an easy drive to lots of caches by Lake Delton, the Dells or Devil's Lake.

We did a small sampling of the SP's up in Door County a few years back and they were all very beautiful but I hear they can be crowded when you don't go in March, like we did.

The park where the campout was last year, Governor Dodge, was really nice and there was lots of caching!

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

Governor Dodge and Hartman Creek are two of our favorites. Both have great hiking and lots of caches. They both have good swimming and fishing too. They fill up fast and we make our reservations at least 10 months ahead of time if you are going on a weekend. Easier to get in Monday-Thursday.

Harrington Beach is nice, but very small and you would have to make reservations as soon as the 11 month date comes up - hard to get a spot otherwise. The same would apply to Devil's Lake and anything near the Dells.

We like Point Beach too and it's easier to get a spot. Lots of things to do in that area, but most of the caching would be out of the park. Great bike trail.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 9:25 am

If you're heading north, I'd recommend stopping at Copper Falls on your way to the Island.

WGA Member Joined: 2004-05-19 Posts: 730

I love Rock Island State Park. Takes some effort and money to get there - but definitely worth it if you want to "Get away from it all".

WGA Member Joined: 2006-12-23 Posts: 5961

I haven't overnight there but I liked walking Coon Fork:

GC2W5F

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:01 am

Slightly off topic. Kat, are you guys doing the getaway again this year?

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 10:30 am

Our State Parks offer much more than geocaching! If I were to choose from ALL of Wisconsin, I'd choose the NW part of the state. Big Manitou Falls, Interstate, Copper Falls. They are less frequently visited and there is less commercialization nearby. You can visit during the week and never run into another person.

When my daughter was married 3 years ago, they planned a 2 week honeymoon to Central and South America. In the end, they saved their $ and toured State Parks in Northern Wisconsin for 10 days. They still talk about what a good decision that was!

Just my opinion...

WGA Member Joined: 2009-08-17 Posts: 126

I would check this website http://www.stateparks.com/wi.html

One nice thing about this website is that it shows a map of the state broken down by area and you can click on the area and it shows which parks (and other areas) in that part of the state. We love the south western part of the state – we often drive over there along the Wisconsin River. If you don’t have a copy of the Wisconsin Atlas & Gazeteer – get one.

Don’t over-look county parks - here is a website that I like http://www.huntfishcampwisconsin.com/index.html

It offers more than hunting & fishing. Click on county parks and it bring up a state map with all the counties – we love La Crosse county. It shows a Goose Island park – beautiful park with a lot of caches and a great camping area.

It’s neat driving the back roads along the Mississippi River. Wisconsin is a beautiful state – get out and enjoy…

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:54 am

its interesting to see the different opinions. weve probably visited about 2/3 of the parks, and it seems like we enjoy whatever we dont commonly experience around here, so the lakefront parks like those in door county or kohler andrae get our attention. i agree about the county parks, too. coon forks is nice. eau claire dells east of wausau is also pretty cool. the state forests also have units with camping and various attractions, like black river state forest or the various kettle moraine units.

all i can say is...weve done all counties. we did both delormes two separate times, and we still discover more wonderful places in the state.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

Trekkin and Birdin wrote:

its interesting to see the different opinions. weve probably visited about 2/3 of the parks, and it seems like we enjoy whatever we dont commonly experience around here, so the lakefront parks like those in door county or kohler andrae get our attention. i agree about the county parks, too. coon forks is nice. eau claire dells east of wausau is also pretty cool. the state forests also have units with camping and various attractions, like black river state forest or the various kettle moraine units.

all i can say is...weve done all counties. we did both delormes two separate times, and we still discover more wonderful places in the state.

What's with no capital letters? Is your shift key broken? Sorry to be picking on you, but your typing is HUMERUS.

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:34 pm

Willow River State Park outside of Hudson has a bunch of caches in it...some of the cachers over in that part of the state have some unique and interesting caches and containers that I don't normally see around my part of the state...they cater to a lot of the MN crowd who make "raids" across the border...neat little park with a waterfall and some great trails.

Lake Wissota S.P. is outside of Chippewa Falls...just a short jaunt from the Leinenkugel Brewerey...the WGA had its fall picnic there a couple of seasons ago and we had a great time... caching, that is Laughing

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 1:50 pm

watch out, mr. g. this thing will heal, the pt will make my arm stronger than ever, then.....who knows?

consider yourselves lucky you get punctuation and word spacing Rolling Eyes

there was a really nice looking county park up near mountain...goodman, maybe? waterfalls, trails, nice looking campground.

WGA Member Joined: 2009-08-17 Posts: 126

http://www.exploringthenorth.com/waterfall/marinette.html

Marinette county has some great parks and waterfalls. My wife's family owned land just a few miles from Dave's falls on the Pike River - one of the wild rivers of Wisconsin.