Marinette Waterfalls - there's Good News and there''s Bad News. On top of that, we need to know The…read moreGood, The Bad and The Ugly. The Good News: Marinette County bills itself as the "Waterfall Capital of Wisconsin" and judging from the amount of fast water on the rivers in the county, there is plenty of evidence to back up that claim. The county tourism people would like you to come visit and tour the waterfalls. The Bad News: No one publishes a dedicated map to help you find the waterfalls and plan out a route to see them. There are too many to see in one day, possibly even two days. Without a map or a plan, you're liable to take three or four days to see them all and do a great deal of criss-crossing and back tracking to accomplish your goal. Incidentally, Marinette County does publish a map on their website that has waterfalls in the legend. It is one of six maps on the website and is not identified as a "waterfalls" map. It is the first of three maps listed as "Marinette County Waterfalls, Recreation & Snowmobile Maps" but once you print it, there's so much detail you can't see much of anything. It is next to useless as a PDF file, too. Now for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good: Some of these waterfalls are breathtaking and well worth the effort to see them. The Bad: Others, not so much. The Good: Some are easy to reach without an real hiking experience. The Bad: Many are at the end of unimproved trails and will require some creative hiking to reach them. The Ugly: Some of the trails are a bit dangerous and downright scary to reach. A few caveats for potential waterfall hunters: 1) Most are off the beaten path, several miles from main highways. 2) Most of the access is on narrow, gravel roads, shared by enormous logging trucks. If you like your car to be kept in pristine condition, waterfall hunting in Marinette County is not for you. Drive with care! 3) Most of the waterfalls are in county parks. A nominal daily fee is required, however, once the fee is paid for the day, the permit is good in all the county parks. 4) Plan your day(s) before you head for Marinette County to go waterfall hunting. 5) Many of the waterfalls are actually whitewater rapids, very popular with rafters and kayakers but not so exciting for people looking for dramatic drops. I took a few hours and located the waterfalls on a map app and located the GPS coordinates. I was surprised how many of them are actually close together, but how far out some of them are. You actually have to go to Michigan to see waterfalls on boundary waters. My own favorites? Dave's Falls, Four Foot Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Twelve Foot Falls, Strong Falls and McClintock Falls. There are others that I need to go back to Marinette County to see.

Simply the most beautiful spot in all of Wisconsin. This park has a nice campground along the…read morePeshtigo River, and the park itself has trails snaking all over. Stop in here for a breathtaking view of the Peshtigo from one of the picturesque foot bridges that criss cross the numerous islands and side channels and the entrance of Swamp Creek into the Peshtigo. The islands themselves have quaint little cabins that can be used to protect your food from the insects and the elements during a summer picnic, party, or family reunion. There are numerous grills and firepit/grills with chimneys. These things are so cool! The park looks like it should be teaming with trout because it is home to every type of prime trout habitat. Within 100 yards there are rapids, riffles, pools, runs, pocket water, sand and boulder structure, timber, and more. However, I have yet to ever see much less hook into anything. But it is nice to enjoy such a beautiful scene. There is a trail that connects this park to Goodman Park. Be careful to go left when nearing the beaver dam, as the trail skirts the damn, and it is treacherous if you are in a hurry.

(Bagley Rapids Campground)…read more One of the best campgrounds in the state, in my opinion. This is a semi-wilderness campground, and that's why I love it so much. No electricity is provided, something I love about this place, but you can pump fresh water from the well, and outhouse toilets are on site. The best sites are along the river, but only a few of them offer any real privacy or seclusion. Site 21 has the thickest surrounding vegetation and offers the best privacy of any site along the river. However, if being on the river is not as important to you as it is to some, the sites along the back loops offer the most privacy, and most people choose not to use those sites. On more than one occasion I arrived to find all the river sites full and had to stay in one of the back sites. Most of the time I was the only camper in the back loop, giving me the ultimate feeling of being truly alone. The rapids offer some great swimming in certain areas, but fishing on the river doesn't offer much. I also wouldn't recommend floating down the river, especially not along the campsites. There are areas along the river that are potentially very dangerous or deadly if you are not a good swimmer, so I advise caution at all times. Bagley also offers some fantastic hiking trails for those of you who love to be out in the thick of it. I would advise against wearing shorts if you decide to hike through any part of the forest that is not a trail. Poison oak and poison ivy are everywhere. If you are looking for an extremely peaceful and relaxing camping trip, one where you're not surrounded by campers, RV's, and loud annoying music, then I highly recommend giving this place a try.

Classic forested lake country. There are a ton of mosquitoes, but not particularly voracious. On a…read more sunny day hard to beat for natural beauty anywhere in the lower forty eight. Unlike Boundary Waters, a gentle, inviting woodland, however, the infernal combustion engine arrived long ago. The campsites are thankfully primitive. There are, to my knowledge, no rip off 'family' type campsites, the crash commercialism of which has become so widespread in recent years.

This is the perfect little park right on Lake Minocqua. We enjoyed when our children were little…read moreto pull the boat right up to it and let them out to play on the beach or have a picnic. Today I was there just to enjoy the fall weather and take a walk down all the trails near by. A lot of people were eating their lunches out on blankets and soaking up the last bit of the warm sunshine. They have a beautiful area with play equipment for children, a tennis court area, and a pavilion with a lot of picnic tables.

Great park with lots things for the kids to climb on. We loved the beach. We went in the middle of…read moreJune and there was a lifeguard on duty the whole time. There is a nice on site bathroom and shower to rinse off. Be sure to bring sand toys for the little kids or kayak, paddle board or canoe for the older kids. Within walking distance to the downtown shopping area.

Nice place to walk around and very pretty. Love that they have bathroom in the park and water…read morefountains.

Great place to stay with kids and the director of the park & recs is outstanding she goes above and…read morebeyond to help others. Love this place...

Beautiful, it reminds me of aa private oasis in front of an old posh home. Plenty of things to do,…read moreand explore. Our Great Lakes are worth protecting, invasive species and otherwise.

I remember this from my childhood and this place is just really too cool to bring family and…read morefriends, have picnics. Excellent stop if you go through the Menominee area.

Wow what a great park! We were looking for a place to stop on our road trip to let the wild beast…read more(cooped-up 3 y.o.) loose for a while to burn off some energy. Found this place on the trusy Yelp app and it definitely did not disappoint! This playground area is FIRST RATE. Huge, good for young and older kids and the whole place is fenced in so you don't have to keep TOO close an eagle-eye on your kids especially if they are a little bigger. Plenty of places for parents to sit both in the sun and in the shade which is nice and there are also decently lit and pretty clean (for a park) bathrooms right next to the playground. The sand pit was pretty big and nice although one of the shovels was broken. I also liked how it was a bit distant from the rest of the playground so that sand doesn't get tracked all over. Overall a very nice community playground we'd definitely stop again on the way through town.

Awesome!! Brought my kids here today to wear them out, and we were really pleased with this park…read more Huge playground, nice surfaces, clean and well-kept. And the bathrooms were already open! I would definitely recommend this park for anyone with young kids, and we will definitely be coming here again.

Busy, busy, busy during the sunset months, but sometimes, I can squeeze in a solo dip in if I go…read moreextremely early. The water is so refreshing, and I'm beyond pleased now, I've been in many Minnesota lakes myself, but the sunset is still more special on Sunset's shore than all of the NM shores combined. If you go before 9am or after 6pm, you'll perchance get my jg with a place to park your car and lay out that towell

Best beach in the state of Wisconsin!!! The lake is set in a small valley that adds to the charm…read more The water is clear and calm even on windy days and the sand is really great. Many people talk of how clear the water is (a lot of water by beaches in Wisconsin is muddy). Old pines provide shade on a small section of the beach and up on the grass too. A lot of tables and charcoal barbecues scattered about. Cell phones don't work here...bonus right! I've been to beaches in the Caribbean, Thailand and South America but this is my favorate North Woods syle beach. Sunset lake truly looks like something out of a movie or better!

Boot Lake Recreation Area is wonderful park on the shores of Boot Lake…read more There's a hiking trail, beach and swimming area, as well as a campground. We recently stayed in the campground, which was great. Their sites are large and offer plenty of privacy. We were in spot #26 (there's only one loop of camping spaces, so it's definitely on the smaller side) and it was a long campsite with our trailer nestled at the back. We had tons of privacy with a canopy of pines overhead. Each campsite has a fire pit and picnic table. There aren't hookups but they do have clean and well maintained pit bathrooms (no showers or plumbed bathrooms). Like most campgrounds, they ask that you purchase your firewood within 10 miles of the campground, which was easily done. We purchased a huge load for $20 at a nearby house. The lake itself is gorgeous (so clear!) and we enjoyed kayaking and swimming. We stumbled across a rope swing and had fun swinging into the lake. There's a hiking trail that seems to go around the entire lake. We took it about 1/4 of the way before turning around but had we had more time would have made for a fun (long!) hike! One of our favorite campgrounds thus far in Wisconsin! Get to it!