Kickapoo Valley Reserve

Loved this reserve. We read other reviews that praised site J so we attempted that site first. Upon arriving to J, we saw 2 other campers there. We wouldn’t mind sharing sites but just prefer having a site to ourselves whenever possible, so we drove to scope out site AA. Site AA was a liiiittle tricky to find but we were able to find it after a few minutes. It was a quiet, secluded site with a small trail (~0.5 mile roundtrip) right on the site, which was awesome. Loved the views and everything about this site. There are bathrooms at the visitor center which we drove to use the next morning, a Kickapoo Valley Reserve ranger also allowed us to refill our water jugs before leaving which we appreciated.
There were deer legs and shotgun shells in the area of AA, nothing too alarming-we didn’t hear any hunters during our stay. A bit buggy but to be expected.

All sites are first come first serve. Each site is remote and no other site can be seen from the campsite.15 campsites are hike or canoe/kayak in and 14 sites are dive in. When we arrived we found the site we had been hoping for not occupied (J), so we were able to take it. J is up on a hill overlooking a valley and meadows. The site was large grass site with fire ring and no other sites or structures of any kind within sight, which meant the dogs could run off leash the entire time. There is no electric, water, garbage or dump station, but could use the Wildcat Mountain State park for these services, which cost us $10 or free at the Kwik Trip in Tomah. The drive in sites are$15 plus permit fee of $5 a day per person or $35 annually for family to hike or park at canoe landings.

We stayed here for eight nights and saw deer. The site had direct access to the hiking trails. The nearest landing for the Kickapoo river was right down the road. We hiked about 10 miles of beautiful trails and canoed about 20 miles of the Kickapoo river. Most of the sites and trails are equestrian as well. There are small towns within a few miles to the north and south. This was one of or best sites so far this year and will be back again. The only drawback was some highway noise during the day.

We recently camped here again. Site J was taken when we arrived, but we were able to get our second pick AA. This is a large site, we had four campers on it for our weekend and could have easily fit six. There are no campsites even close so it was excellent privacy for our group. The views were great, especially at sun set. For this trip we used the La Farge Village Park to get fresh water and dumping station, which is just outside the Reserve and about three miles from this campsite. Fresh water is free, to use the dump station it is $5.