It’s a little black and white out there this afternoon. That backyard, so full of potential, is sleeping right now. (I always like the way the snow mounds on the woven slats of the chairs.) While some say up to 8″ of snow are expected, there’s not even 2″ out there yet. Still, they closed schools around here in anticipation of a big event. I’m using it as a pajama day to catch up on some computer work. Tom is listening to a webcast to pick up CE credits. The house is relatively clean and I know what’s for dinner, so I decided to play around with finding a campsite for a summer getaway.
We are fortunate that now we’re retired, we can hunt for sites available Monday through Friday. In fact, we generally try to avoid the weekends when camping without the extended family. Weekends can get busy and loud even at the most civilized campgrounds. At the known party campgrounds, the weekend can be obnoxious.
We’re new enough to camping in Wisconsin State Parks that there are still some campgrounds we’ve yet to explore. The Wisconsin Going To Camp website is notorious as one you love to hate. While the calendaring system will get you what you need in the long run, it’s not always intuitive, and at times can be downright frustrating. Every reservation comes with a fee. And while reservations can be cancelled and most funds returned, this fee and another for cancellation will put a cost to a trip you didn’t take. We plan on losing about $100 a season in fees for changes. But, using those changes is kind of the only way you can eventually manage the dates you need.
A camper is allowed 14 consecutive nights. This means that many at the first of the booking period – which is 11 months out – book 14 consecutive nights starting at the first available day for their favorite location. Then, later in the season, those reservations have days dropped where they just keep the weekend. It’s these dropped days that I start looking for about now.
We’ve had some pleasant finds over the last couple of years using this method. We’ve also learned a few things. Most parks are wedged in between a highway and a railroad. This one shows 90/94 on the west and the railroad to the east. There will be trains. There will be traffic noise. The trick is to head to the middle of the campground and hope for the best. Some of Wisconsin’s campgrounds next to Lake Michigan or Green Bay avoid this type of noise, but then you add boating or jet ski noise, so it all trades off.
I was really fortunate for this choice to find a clever Wisconsonite who drives the parks for you. Sconny Wandering has a You Tube channel with a number of parks including this one. Indeed the site I’ve picked has electricity (woot!) and seems to be relatively quiet.
This park on the northern edge of the famed Wisconsin Dells will let us drive about 20 minutes to a Tumbled Rock, a favorite brewery in that area. We can also participate in some other traditional Dells activities like hiking and kayaking.
Bottom line? Snow days are great days for dreaming about summer in Wisconsin.
I picked up a few tips here! Might you list some favorite campgrounds in a future site? We are fans of Brunet State Park near Chippewa Falls. Great kayaking!