Lovely campsites and what could have been a wonderful experience was ruined by loud, drunk and noisy campers... partying, swearing and obnoxious throughout the evening. The entire area quiet and peaceful except for these two families who chose to make it miserable for the rest of us. We've camped at numerous WI State Parks and have never experienced this kind of rude behavior. These campers proudly displayed they were from Oconomowac, WI. Ugh ...!! We ended up moving to another site. Camp office was gracious and accommodating. read more

What a hidden gem! The Yellowstone Lake is beautiful!! Boat rentals available along with beach, picnic areas, fishing and campsites. read more

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Maiden voyage at this location was quite the surprise. In the middle of rolling luscious green hills. It felt pretty safe with the warden and Ranger making frequent passes. The host was very friendly and helpful with the 411. The sites are close enough together that it doesn't feel very remote though. Unfortunately, it was very extremely high temperatures so I didn't get to explore the hiking trails. But the beach and amphitheater were definitely worth checking out. Educational programs and food truck Saturdays. Wi-Fi is a little spotty so they recommend cash. The grounds are very clean as well as the restrooms and showers. Definitely feels like you're someplace else even if you're from the state of Wisconsin. read more

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What a hidden gem of a state park. They have a beautiful beach with yellow sand. The lake was huge and looked perfect for skiing and fishing. There are tons of picnic tables and plenty of people had parties meeting up at the beach. The bathrooms by the beach were pits, but were well maintained. The pit toilets did have a good amount of coop flies. The campground had very nice bathrooms, and has showers for after your swim. Many of the campsites were further from the road which made it a bit more secluded and gave us a sense of privacy. Will definitely be back! read more

Yellowstone Lake State Park - Beach - Parks Near Me - Blanchardville, Wisconsin

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Last month we drove down to this state park that I had never heard of. We attended a picnic being held here - the first since Covid - thus why we ventured to this area. Since relocating back to Wisconsin we have now been to at least a half dozen state parks so we have a bit of a reference. This park is nice but certainly nothing I would rush back to visit. The park shelter was typical and there was the lake and some hiking trails but it is a relatively small park without any landmark attraction. There is a campground but since we did not camp I cannot say how this ranks against other state parks' campgrounds. There is a shooting range nearby, not sure if part of the park or not, but when hiking it sounded like we were in a war zone - not exactly peaceful! read more

Great park, lots of stuff to do. Hiking, fishing, and a shooting range on property. Second time here and it's been great.

A nice camping experience awaits if you're looking for a park not too far from the big midwestern cities, isn't crowded like the Michigan parks (at least in my experience), and feels somewhat removed from civilization. Yellowstone Lake State Park may be relatively small (968 acres), but it still provides a nice getaway. You'll find what you need: water, hiking trails, spacious camp sites, and clean facilities. An additional quirk regarding this park is th 4,000-strong bat population. Assembled in houses around the park, campers gather at dusk to see the bats begin their work (one bat at a time). While it isn't as cool seeing thousands of bats leave at once, it's still a fun thing to do before you head back to the site to enjoy a near-mosquito-free evening. All in all, a trip to Yellowstone Lake State park is a good time. Try to keep it a secret, okay? read more

Yellowstone Lake State Park - Parks Near Me - Blanchardville, Wisconsin

I spend a late weekend here for my first visit. As far as lakes go, I would say that Yellowstone is more a recreational lake than, say, the lakes at Governor Dodge SP. Well, it is also referenced as a day-use park. Yellowstone seems to accomodate fishing, boating and swimming very well (multiple boat launches, lots of people fishing on the shore, dam and quite a few in boats.) You have boat rentals, multiple vendors for firewood (I found the boat rental place offered good-sized bundles for the price,) hiking trails, clean camp sites with showers, toilets and running water (obviously.) If you are looking for elevated terrain, Yellowstone has it. It rests in an area of Wisconsin untouched by the more recent glaciers. The park was very clean and you can make reservations online. Overall, enjoyed my stay. My only cons are the overall size and that the hiking paths did not have much variety to them. If you haven't been there for camping/hiking, its worth a trip. read more

This has got to be the worst kept State Park I've ever experienced! We were camping nearby and thought we found a gem of a State park to hike during our second day. We brought our pups along as we do any trips and excitedly set afoot. We parked at the Park Office and started on the Blue Ridge Trail. We walk about three fourth of a mile to where the trail was parallel to the road. You have to be extra vigilante to keep your pets on a short leash because of all the through traffic as this was the main road. Continue walking on the Blue Ridge trail and you will go through some hilly elevation changes. The higher you hike, all of the lush greenery and shady trees began to disappear. 3 miles in, you are walking in the open fields of tall, unkempt brush and grass. The trails really needed some grooming and maintenance as they were over a foot tall. An inconvenience? Yes, but the worst part of it all were the dozens of TICKS hiding and lurking in these tall wild grass. We had to make multiple stops because as I mentioned there were no shade and it was an extremely hot day. Every time we stopped, we had to perform a tick check and pulled 6 or so ticks off of each dog! This is ridiculous, the State Park system just raised the annual park pass prices. This type of lack of care is inexcusable. These would have been otherwise very nice trails, just be aware if you go through the Savannah Loop or Blue Ridge Trail, to do a tick check on yourself and anyone else traveling with you afterwards. read more

Beautiful manmade lake. Stopped here for an ice cream on Mother's day at the dairy bar and then went for a walk along the dam that creates the lake. The views are beautiful from the damn. It's great that the park has limited development along the edges of the lake, so you see a well preserved environment. I also learned a bit about the numerous bat boxes that are setup around the lake. Apparently there used to be large mosquito problems and the park service sprayed a lot of chemicals to control the mosquitos. They then shifted to a more natural approach by putting up bat boxes to eat the mosquitos. I love that solution! read more

Yellowstone Lake State Park - View from the dam - Parks Near Me - Blanchardville, Wisconsin

Went for a weekend camping trip and was completely impressed. The lake is unbelievable! I can't wait to go back after Memorial Day to kayak. Our campsite was good sized and although a little slanted, it was great with tall pine trees. Two hour drive from Chicago suburbs. Definitely a hidden gem that I'll be returning to often. read more

I love this place! My husband and I discovered it when we were exploring hiking trails around Madison. We took the Oak Grove trail with our pup, which was a lot of fun (my one criticism is that the signage leading to the trailhead is unclear and not completely accurate, so we played a little game of hide-and-seek before we could hit the trail). At its highest point, we even got peekaboo views of the lake! While the weather wasn't good enough to take advantage of all of the campground amenities, they offer boat rentals and an extremely cute dairy shop where they sell ice cream. Everything looked very clean (which is hard to do in the immediate aftermath of winter). The woman at the front desk was helpful, very friendly, and patiently explained the trails to us. The lobby had very cool examples of the wildlife around, as well as bathrooms. Also, added bonus: They sell state park stickers, which is awesome. Love this park, and can't wait to come back as campers! read more

just got back from the 3rd annual camping trip to yellow stone lake! it was awesome as usual. the campsites are awesome, (especially if you get the select few in the 12-20 group) and are completely surrounded by trees so you can't see the tents next to you. its pretty quiet, family friendly place, but if you get too loud the 14 year rangers in their night vision goggles (not kidding) will give you a friendly warning, which will give you a good laugh for the rest of the evening. there is even a little diner on site, which is AMAZING for those of you who spend the night drinking and should not play with fire in the morning. and located right below the diner is the boat rental, and if your lucky you can boat across the lake to the cliff for a hefty jump and nice swim for the rest of the day. i am already booking next year! ps. be careful of the coons, they are ninja like in their ability to open coolers and unzip baggies... and they are not scared of your flash light! read more

I love this place. I went there over Memorial Day 2012 weekend. The facility is very well tended. My kids loved the seeing the bats take flight at sunset. It's quite the event with lots of campers congregating to see it. The beach is a lot of fun. As another reviewer indicated, the park rangers are VERY serious about keeping the noise down early in the evening. We were listening to some music at a level where it was in the background and could be easily talked over. A ranger stealthily appeared out of nowhere and told us turn it down. The restaurant/ice cream parlor overlooking the lake is pretty good and worth a visit. I am from Chicago and would recommend that, if you are from Chicago, that you plan to stop and catch a movie at the Sky Vu Drive-In in Monroe, Wisconsin on the way back (or even drive there from the park one night). It is a great piece of Americana and a great time. read more

We are avid campers and are always finding places not too far from home that are awesome - this location fits the bill!!! Highly recomended ^_^ read more

Went up there last August with a couple buddies and had a great time. We stayed in the walk-in sites, and since we went in the middle of the week we had all of them to our selves. If you do go during the week try to get site 18 as it is the most secluded. If you plan a buying food prepare for a fairly long drive. Also, although I'm sure there would be much more mosquitos if there were no bats, it is the woods and there still are a great deal, so don't let the othere reviews fool you as they did us. Comments about the raccoons are spot on though, they got our peanut butter and bread. There's not a whole lot of hiking, and there is a fairly small wimming are on the lake. But by far the most fun we had was jumping off the cliff that g b mentioned. Its right across the boat rental, and we made a day out of if. Be warned though, its a lot higher up thatn it looks, and you should be careful, although it is perfectly safe if you jump outwards. Definately worth the trip just for that. read more

Went with wife, 2 kids, and large dog for a 2 night early July weekend. Campground is as good as state park camping can get. Nice clean sites, very private, and so dark at night that you can't see other campfires. The one flush toliet/shower building is cleaned daily and has very conveniently designed shower rooms. Staff was very friendly and helpful. The hiking trails were well marked, and surprisingly scenic. Ice and firewood are easily available, but don't expect to find much else. You should bring plenty of garbage bags because while there are dumpsters in the campground, there are literally no other trash cans in the park. The lake itself was the only disappointment. While driving into the park you will drive by a beautiful scenic overlook. This got our hopes up for a weekend of fishing and swimming. On the weekends there is so much speed boat and watercraft traffic I did not dare taking a child out on a small boat. Shore fishing was a bust because of the constant crashing of waves from the boats and thick layer of algae on the surface. The beach was nice and clean, however it was very crowded with a shockingly small swimming area. Room to spread out did exist but there is no avoiding the one predictable group of loud, drunk, foul mouthed, tattoo covered derelicts that made sure they were noticed by everyone present. Kids managed to enjoy swimming as kids always do, until they realized that a thick film of algae had adhered to their skin under their suits. The big thrill of the weekend were the bats. A small crowd gathered by the amphitheater just before sunset. There is a larger cluster of bat houses located there and when the sun actually set, the show began. Literally hundreds of bats awoke and flew out of the houses and into the woods. Quite a spectacle and worth seeing. Don't worry, didn't see a single bat at our camp site. Overall I would return because the campground was so well designed and kept up that it far overshadows the lakes shortcomings. I will not bother bringing fishing tackle next time though. read more