Rocky Arbor State Park

Let's be clear: this is not a destination park. You don't come to Rocky Arbor because it's Rocky Arbor. In this case, it's all about the Dells. It's literally one mile from Wisconsin Dells and all the stuff, so it makes for a great base camp for all of the vacation fun you want to have elsewhere. We were there for the weekend because we went tubing on the Wisconsin River with some friends.

As a campground, it's no better or worse than most of the other Wisconsin state park campgrounds. Nice and spread out, very private, but we had to fuss a bit to get level. If I were king, I'd have this campground high on the list for redevelopment and upgrades. There's very little in the way of trails, there's no concession, and there's no lake. For that you'll need to go to Devil's Lake or Mirror Lake which are both great parks. And with Wisconsin Dells just down the street, it's a very short drive to whatever food you want.

If you're a workamper, the data reception is very good, for one main reason which is why this is not a campground I can recommend: Interstate 90/94, the major highway between Chicago and Minneapolis runs adjacent to the park. If you're in a tent, the noise is constant. In a camper with the air conditioning running, you don't get as much noise, but the rig can rumble when heavy trucks go by.

Still despite that, Rocky Arbor is your choice if you want to stay at a state park while visiting the Dells without all the nonsense of a private/commercial campground (of which there are many). Compared to those, it's actually a nice value.

If you love the attractions of WI Dells and State Park camping, this place is perfect! Love the shade when rent camping in WI summers :)

Stayed Thursday thru Sunday mid June. Weekend was packed, you should plan to reserve in advance if you need Friday or Saturday.

Showers are ok, plenty of hot water, not fancy. Pit toilets are as is but they stock the TP.

The Rocky Arbor State Park Campground is very wooded with good site separation and lots of vegetation/trees between sites to provide privacy. The park was nearly empty when we pulled in for a one night stay on a Tuesday in late August.

The sites are all back-in with a choice of electric only (30 amp) or primitive (no hook ups). There is a dump station and water fill, but no water or sewer hookups at any of the sites. Bathroom and a shower facilities are also available. The park has a nice walking trail and playground area for the kids.

You will definitely want to avoid the sites closest to I90 or be sure to bring your noise cancelling head phones. :) We were in site #42 (about the middle of the park) and while you could hear traffic, it wasn’t disruptive.

The biggest knock was the pricing and park fee. The electric site was $31 plus an $11 park fee good for just one day. We generally prefer state park campgrounds, but with so many camping options in the area I can see why this lovely park nearly empty. I doubt we would stay here again - at least not unless we were staying long enough in WI state parks to make the $38 non-resident annual pass worthwhile.

Proximity to I90 meant we had 4 bars of Verizon 4G.