Favorite Midwest campgrounds?

[thunderworks]

I live in Lawrence, KS. and am a new RV person. I’m looking for pretty, quiet campgrounds in the Midwest. Do any of you have particular favorites in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin etc? Maybe with small fishing lakes, streams, hiking trails etc.

Any and all advice and suggestions appreciated.

R.

[Iowa Dave]

A suggestion for Iowa
Visit MyCountyParks.org. There are 99 counties in Iowa and all have a County conservation board. Almost every county has camping. Most have a “flagship” park with a great campground and multiple amenities. Iowa, a place to grow. Old
Iowa Dave

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by thunderworks

Do any of you have particular favorites in Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin etc? Maybe with small fishing lakes, streams, hiking trails etc.
R.

For a weekend along the south shore of Lake Superior, Herbster, WI campground on the weekend of the Cornucopia, WI art crawl. You can walk the shoreline for miles.Picture is my trip home from Backus when the Scamp was new. (Second one was a rental from Minneapolis.)

https://herbsterwisconsin.com/ https://visitcornucopia.com/events/art-crawl/

[AC0GV]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

A suggestion for Iowa
Visit MyCountyParks.org. There are 99 counties in Iowa and all have a County conservation board. Almost every county has camping. Most have a “flagship” park with a great campground and multiple amenities. Iowa, a place to grow. Old
Iowa Dave

There are many small unknown campgrounds around Iowa. Albert the Bull Park and Campground ,Audubon, IA is a nice one. The cheapest was a home owner renting to RV owners in Grand Junction along the Lincoln highway. Their State parks are nice as well. I live in Wisconsin and do not use Wisconsin parks because they are high priced, and the rules change with every shift change.

[steve dunham]

There are many nice county / state parks in Wisconsin , Michigan , Iowa and Minnesota

1) Copper Falls SP - Wisconsin
2) Pattison SP - Wisconsin
3) Brunet Island SP - Wisconsin
4) Lake Arbutus - Jackson County Wisconsin
5) Dexter Lake - Wood County Wisconsin
6) Lake Wissota SP - Wisconsin
7) Lake Vermillion SP - Minnesota- great fishing lake
8) Whitewater SP - Minnesota
9) Fort Wilkins SP - UP of Michigan
10) Lake Gogebic SP - UP of Michigan
11) Baraga SP - UP of Michigan
12) McIntosh Wood SP - Iowa
13) Lake Macbride SP - Iowa

I would highly recommend state / county parks in Iowa
Nice parks - well maintained- reasonable camping fees and this time of the year ,perfect weather for camping

[thunderworks]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

There are many nice county / state parks in Wisconsin , Michigan , Iowa and Minnesota

1) Copper Falls SP - Wisconsin
2) Pattison SP - Wisconsin
3) Brunet Island SP - Wisconsin
4) Lake Arbutus - Jackson County Wisconsin
5) Dexter Lake - Wood County Wisconsin
6) Lake Wissota SP - Wisconsin
7) Lake Vermillion SP - Minnesota- great fishing lake
8) Whitewater SP - Minnesota
9) Fort Wilkins SP - UP of Michigan
10) Lake Gogebic SP - UP of Michigan
11) Baraga SP - UP of Michigan
12) McIntosh Wood SP - Iowa
13) Lake Macbride SP - Iowa

I would highly recommend state / county parks in Iowa
Nice parks - well maintained- reasonable camping fees and this time of the year ,perfect weather for camping

Thanks for the detailed list. Much appreciated.

R.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by AC0GV

I live in Wisconsin and do not use Wisconsin parks because they are high priced, and the rules change with every shift change.

I also live in Wisconsin and as much as I hate to admit it our states short sighted elected officials are slowly but surely destroying the Wisconsin SP system
They are purposely setting the cost of camping at a Wisconsin SP artificially high in an attempt to drive away customers and starve the parks of financial resources
While the State Parks crumble the assembly sits on it’s A_S . This is not an accident , it’s part of a sick plot !!

[thunderworks]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I also live in Wisconsin and as much as I hate to admit it our states short sighted elected officials are slowly but surely destroying the Wisconsin SP system
They are purposely setting the cost of camping at a Wisconsin SP artificially high in an attempt to drive away customers and starve the parks of financial resources
While the State Parks crumble the assembly sits on it’s A_S . This is not an accident , it’s part of a sick plot !!

I'm curious . . . what possible motive would they have to do that? What's the sick plot?

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by thunderworks

I'm curious . . . what possible motive would they have to do that? What's the sick plot?

I sm not going down that road because I know where it will lead and I have no desire to have this thread censored or shut down .

[Iowa Dave]

I know of and worked for municipal Parks, Recreation and Forestry Departments
For 32.5 years. As politicians attempt to appear fiscally responsible, they make apparently innocent changes in the allocation of funds which often cripple and limit effectiveness of some departments. So when the departments who logically generate revenue and are departments where personnel makes up the bulk of departmental costs, offsetting the wages with department generated revenue appears innocent enough. But what happens is revenue does not generate the intended projection for a number of reasons. This leads to personnel cuts and even higher revenue expectations (read that camping fees) but with less personnel, maintenance slides, customers avoid and the slippery slope is achieved. There’s a lot more to it than this simple explanation but if the professional upper management (city managers) and/or elected officials have other “pet” projects or improvements that may garner more votes (re-election) or
Greater efficiency (raise) the goal is achieved and you got yourself an overpriced substandard camp ground, golf course, softball complex, historic farm, museum, and on and on. Others may perceive this differently, personally I lived it till I retired. With a case of beer and a stenographer at hand I could dictate a book in about 10 hours. But what do I know, I’m just an old geezer.
Iowa Dave

[Perryb67]

We've camped just about every Minnesota State Park.

Our favorites:

Itasca
Maplewood
Sibley
Fort Ridgely
Camden
Kilen Woods
Upper Sioux Agency
Glacial Lakes
Jay Cooke
Father Hennepin
Whitewater
Beaver Creek Valley
Forestville/Mystery Cave

We love any and all state parks on the North Shore, but good luck in getting in even in the spring and fall.

Our absolute favorites are Itasca, Maplewood, Glacial Lakes, Fort Ridgely, and Whitewater.

Whitewater, Beaver Creek Valley, and Whitewater have no mosquitoes, because they are located in the karst region of Minnesota. OTOH, we've been using Thermacell Mosquito Repellers for at least 10 years in all the other parks. We have three different Thermacell versions and have bought them for our kids.

Because of too many people, we avoid any around the Twin Cities area.

Others may differ, but those are our favorites.

Enjoy,

Perry

[garycarolyn]

Michigan is blessed with a LOT of State Forest campgrounds and USFCGs, "all are on water of some kind" is their mantra. After Labor Day the crowds are at bay as are the mosquitoes. Try Sylvania USFCG at the Sylvania Canoe Wilderness area near Watersmeet and the WI border. also on the Keewenaw Penninsula is McClain St Pk where you can day trip to Copper Harbor on Lake Superior, old copper mines, trip to the heights where they count migrating birds, and the gauge where they count the snow fall for the year.

[thunderworks]

Love all the suggestions. Thanks to all who responded.

R.