We camped here on our road trip back to MN. It was a great experience! I was a little nervous given…read moreall the cuts to funding lately and stories of state parks not having enough staff to keep the parks clean and safe but that was not the case here. The staff were all very friendly and available to help throughout the weekend. There was running water, bathrooms, and showers available. We would definitely stay here again.

Black River State Forest is chock full o' awesome things to do!…read more You can bike, hike, snowshoe, ATV, ride horses, dive, swim, camp, paddle, fish, among many other options. The staff at the main office at the Castle Mound Campground are friendly and helpful regardless of where you may be camping or recreating. I frequently camp with my paddling groups at Castle Mound prior to paddling the Black River. The sites are well laid out, and if you reserve sites 12, 13, or 35, you are closest to both the outhouses and the wood house. Racks of wood are available for $3. Just load up the handy rack located next to the shelter, and deposit your $3 in the collection box. Each site has a fire ring with a cantilever grill grate. Be sure to bring some aluminum foil if you want to cook right on the grate! The showers located near the main office are fairly clean and easy to use compared to those at many other state parks. They have a good potable and non-potable water station you can hit on your way out for the day's activities. The group campsite at the north end of the State Forest is very spacious. They only allow a relatively small amount of people to camp there, considering the space could host a county fair. It used to be a horse camp. Now it hosts group sites with large pads for RVs and campers. The rangers we dealt with at this location were very friendly, and the one high school kid who was assisting was a great help in finding where to access some of the local trout streams (a challenge in this watershed because almost every stream is in a box canyon). The only drawback to camping at the group camp, the East Fork Campground, or the indoor group camp (which I want to try this winter) is that they are pretty far from the paddling locations we use. It's a hefty drive from the Interstate to the north end of the State Forest. If you're in the area and the timing is right, stop in at the Ho-Chunk Pow Wow which takes place on the northwest edge of the State Forest. It's quite an experience, and the announcer is hilarious: "We're doing the same thing tomorrow. The same... damn... thing."

This place is clean and well-maintained. The Porta potty's nearest our tent camping site were…read moreliterally pristine even though it was rainy, and they had a nice little trashcan inside the Porta potty and outside of the Porta potty. It's the details! The land itself was gorgeous, the lady on the phone listened to the fact that I had six teenagers and put us at the spot right by the fishing hole where we had our own private beach for the river. The river the first day was up to our knees with a current that was manageable. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very cooperative with tubing ($11 a tube) which is what we wanted to do, but they also rented kayaks and canoes. The girl in the store was the family owner's teenage daughter and she was very sweet. At one point the four 14 year old boys took off on an Adventure down river, so I was in cell phone contact after hours with the owner of the campground trying to find out where they might pull aground when we spotted them coming in on an ATV from a local, friendly neighbor. They have a well-maintained volleyball court, gaga pit, badminton court with all the necessary equipment. They had covered picnic table area and a little camp store with cold pop and ice. They had cabins for rent at $149 a night which I looked into when there was a tornado watch. We were the only tent campers, (maybe other people had actually read the weather report), but it was a very quiet campground with only a crying baby early one morning from the many RV sites. None of us took a shower, but I did use the bathroom and peek into the showers and they were spotlessly clean like everything else. We also took a walk through their butterfly garden, so beautiful and peaceful. And for some reason not very many mosquitoes, not sure if they treat for them or we just got lucky but pretty much no bugs except for some flies when the teenagers didn't wash the dishes properly... it was about $150 for three nights of tent camping which included two sites and five packs of wood. A bargain! You won't regret it! Oh and my last bit involves cell phone reception: if you have T-Mobile you will get no service, if you have Verizon you will go from no service to 1 to 2 bars randomly, and if you have AT&T you will have full service the whole time.

Love this campground! We just spent three days here camping in an electric and water site. The…read morecampground is very well kept. The bathrooms are clean and the showers are hot. We stayed during the week and it was very peaceful and quiet. There were a lot of of children for my three littles to play with. The swimming area is so pretty! It is pretty shallow so it was perfect for my 2 year old and 5year old to play. Our last day we decided to float the river and it was beautiful and an easy float. The owner was friendly as well. My only suggestions are to bring lighter fluid because the wood is a little damp and some type of fly repellant. Mosquitoes were not bad at all which was great! Overall we absolutely loved Lost Falls!

I don't even want to rate 5 stars as this is a HUGE hidden gem. We stay nearby in warrens every…read moresummer and always take a day trip to Lake Wazee. It is beautiful and nothing like it in the Midwest (well what I have found) if you are in the area or have time traveling through you must stop. A day pass is $5 and well worth it. We always pack lunch and just enjoy the day. The water is SO clean and the beach sand is amazingly soft. Almost ocean like. Bring your floaty, beach toys and sunscreen and have the best day ever! New showers, bathrooms and even concessions on the beach. I like that there is NO lifeguard and no one hawking you about 'rules' *it can drop off pretty fast so be cautious about that. Lake Wazee is the best!

Lake Wazee Park and beach is amazing for $5 a car it's well worth the price. We have spent the day…read moreat the beach and on the lake. The water is clean and you can actually see the fish swimming in the water. Deep enough to scuba dive. Nice enough to kayak on. The beach is clean. Snack shack and clean rest rooms. It has it all for a nice day on the beach!

I agree with Jeremy N. Make sure to call and check about mosquito and tick season…read more We brought a deet-free, "natural" mosquito repellant that did squat against the heaviest mosquito swarm I've ever experienced. This was also the trip where I was introduced to ticks lol. Even with long sleeves, pants, socks over pants, a jacket, and hat in the hot weather, we still got multiple mosquito bites on our face, hands, and through our clothes. Found about a dozen ticks on us underneath our clothes. Had fun though hiking, setting up our tent and campsite, kayaking for the first time, cooking meals, ears of corn, making smores, experiencing a rainstorm at night. Ty Dad for giving us the tarp to place underneath our tent, otherwise we would've been soaked lol. Also, we saw the cutest porcupine! The porcupine waddled and tried to climb a tree, but changed its mind. Friendly employees. Would like to return during non mosquito/tick season.

We had an absolute blast staying here and can't wait to return sometime again in the summer. The…read morephoto was taken right by our campsite. So beautiful waking up to this in the morning. We saw SO much wildlife in the 30 hours we stayed there. Fish of all types, deer, wild turkey, toads, owls, eagles, and even a porcupine! The stars were beautfiul and the park in well maintained. Porta potties we're throughout the park and close to our sight, they were clean too. There's a little shop nearby with everything you would need from fresh bait/fishing supplies to grocery items like raw meat and butter. They also had snacks, sodas, beers and we saw a few to go orders of pizza leave too. Such a beautiful lake and amazing representation of Wisconsin wildlife. There's boat launches and kayaks launches in the park. It is also bear country so inform yourself on rules before staying!

We had a great experience at Red Ridge Ranch! There wasn't enough snow for the sleigh ride so we…read moredid the wagon ride. It was beautiful and so much fun. The people there are very friendly. They have 23 dogs which our boys loved to play with. We had a good time talking to the owner about the history of the ranch. She is very knowledgeable on the area and gave us a lot of interesting information. It was our first time to Wisconsin so she gave us some places to visit. We visited a few of her suggestions and they made our Wisconsin experience even more fun. We are thankful for the hospitality. *My review originally showed four stars but that was a typo. I changed that once I realized it. This place definitely deserves five stars!!

The ranchers were very friendly and helpful, especially towards my 7 year old son, who was riding…read morefor the first time. The grounds are pretty and the horses were a great fit for our family.

This place is the best for readying your hunting gear and really family friendly for group target…read moreshooting... The set up is totally user friendly and lets you control the action on the range. I would and have recommended this place to my friends. It's awesome. If you live near here, I would recommend you join, it's reasonable and fun for everyone.

This was the most incredible experience! My daughter is interested in maybe becoming a pilot and we…read morewanted her to have some aviation experience and wow this was so much more! The instruction was masterful and the equipment was world class! I think this has really lit the enthusiasm for flying! Oh and the photos and videos he was able to shoot are outstanding and will be treasured memories forever!