Twin Valley Campground

Huge, stunningly gorgeous and idyllic. The loudest sounds you hear are birdsong and the occasional kids having fun. There's an extensive trail system and two reservoir lakes. Sites are all back-in and electric only, 30 and 20 amp, and mostly level from what we saw during a walk around several loops. Potable water is available at the dump station to fill your fresh water tank. It's also convenient to House on the Rock, Taliesin (Frank Lloyd Wright's house), the Wisconsin River and the surprisingly lively hamlet of Spring Green. We absolutely loved our stay and would very happily stay again. Only drawback was cell signal was weak -- but we were there to enjoy nature and attractions, not stare at a screen.

Huge, stunningly gorgeous and idyllic. The loudest sounds you hear are birdsong and the occasional kids having fun. There's an extensive trail system and two reservoir lakes. Sites are all electric only, 30 and 20 amp. There's potable water available at the dump station to fill your fresh water tank. It's also convenient to House on the Rock, Taliesin (Frank Lloyd Wright's house), the Wisconsin River and the surprisingly lively hamlet of Spring Green. We absolutely loved our stay and would very happily stay again. Only drawback was cell signal was weak -- but we were there to enjoy nature and attractions, not stare at a screen.

The sites have quite a bit of privacy since they are set back in the trees. We struggled to get level in our site (4blocks still would t do it.)

Some sites are shared with the neighboring site like a mini group site.
Some sites have the fire pit and table away from the parking.

Just be sure to check what the site looks like before booking.

Camp hosts and ranger drove by A LOT. We counted them 6 times in one hour. Seemed excessive considering the campsite is so quiet and was less than half full on wed/thurs nights before 4th of July.

Water and dump station is available along with trash near the entry. There is water throughout the park at drinking fountains, the push buttons for water to fill buckets are a little cumbersome, but it is manageable.

Looks like the park has a visitor center, and plenty of hiking trails, and playground areas.

The bathrooms were ok at best. One set of pits was in rough shape from campers leaving it open, and the bugs coming in. The flush valve toilets were better, but still not all functioning well.

The only thing that this campground was really missing was showers. Even if they were paid, this would be a full service state park.

We camped here in our DIY RV Promaster van. We selected a non-electric site since we are self-contained, but the campground had electric sites and bath houses. Most of the sites were quite secluded and spacious. There was a good dump station with potable water and many biking and hiking trails. You will need a Wisconsin state park pass to enter. Happy trails from WanderingWakes.Net

Stayed here 9/16/19 to 9/20/19. This is a nice, big park with a lot of hiking trails and things to do. This was my first time staying in a Wisconsin state park, so the $38 sticker I had to buy for my vehicle was a surprise. The $34 nightly rate I paid includes taxes and fees for booking online, but it doesn't include the $38 vehicle sticker. I thought it was kind of frustrating that I didn't see any mention of this extra fee anywhere until the time I checked in at the park.

Otherwise I really enjoyed my stay here. My dog and I hiked a couple of the trails around the park which was fun. The sites were nice and easy to get into. They had gotten a ton of rain at the time I was there, but the sites were still in good shape. There is a dump/water station at the entrance that was easy to get in and out. This also appeared to be the only place with dumpsters. Dodgeville is just down the road and has gas, groceries, and most everything else you need.

5,200 acres makes Governor Dodge State Park one of the state's largest. This means lots of campers - over 300 camping sites - and lots of hiking and activities.

Very typical Wisconsin state park with camping set up in loops with paved roads and generally gravel pads. I look for sites on the outside of a loop so no one is behind me, and site 335 in the Twin Valley Campground backed up to a deep ravine. It's a smaller site but was perfect for my 16 foot teardrop camper. Since it had electric I didn't need Solar and was happy for being mostly in the shade. Although it was in the 80's during the day, it cooled off to the low 60's at night and I didn't need my air conditioner.

While I didn't get a chance to do any of the water sports, most of the folks around me had kayaks to take out on the two lakes, created by damming some rivers decades ago. There's fishing as well and although you need a license (not available in the park, but at any bait shop right outside the park), they will provide equipment to use free of charge.

The hiking trails are great, and my favorites are the Lost Trail and Big Cave trails, but there are many others. Lost Trail goes by Stephen Falls, one of the scenic attractions. A hike down to Cox Hollow lake gets a good view and a concession stand. At times during the year they run plays, and educational events at the amphitheater. If you happen to use the All Trails app for hiking, I noticed while it was spot on for the main trails, the app indicated secondary trails where none existed. I walked around my campsite for about 30 minutes trying to find a trailhead access using the app only to realize those trails don't exist any more. So, if you're thinking about a short cut shown on All Trails, better get the park provided map and view that first. If you stick to the main trails however, it works great. There are bike and horse trails as well.

The park has both pit and flush toilets throughout and every one I used was clean. Fire wood is available for $5 a bundle. I did a "reconnaissance walk" and noted that empty sites were generally very well kept with no trash left anywhere . Spaces are pretty well spaced but that doesn't mean you won't hear your neighbors. That said, it was amazingly quiet at sundown - so no noise issues where I was.

Bugs were not too bad - although admittedly I was wearing a generous coating of Deet. I think I got two misquote bites and didn't see a tick - which is a big plus. There are tiny nats everywhere however, and although they don't bite, they didn't pay any attention to the Deet and kept bouncing off my head, neck and even my sunglasses. Oh well, that's summer in Wisconsin

The park as well as the drive to it are beautiful. Definitely going to see if I can get back there for the fall colors.

Be aware that regardless if you're a resident or not you need an admission sticker. For out-of-staters it's $38 for the annual pass to all parks, but if you don't have that, it's $11/day at Governor Dodge - plus whatever your camping fee is. So, it only takes four days to more than break even. The reservation service also charges $7.95/transaction.

Governor Dodge is one of our new found favorite Midwest state park campgrounds. Maybe my expectations are a little different as we avoid groomed RV parks so take it for what its worth. First trip was around Halloween a few years back and now Easter this year. we have yet to be there in the summer to take advantage of all the amenities so we plan to go again this summer.

About the park: the park is heavily wooded and plenty of (summer) shade in the campsites. Wisconsin seems to make point of only having electricity at half the camp sites. there are two lakes with small sandy beaches and separate Dog beaches. Boat rentals, fishing, hiking and ATV trails. There are several (tent) group camp sites separated from the main campground with newer shower building. Our kids like doing the junior ranger programs and collecting the badges. I’ve only seen national parks and Wisconsin do these so far. Even though we were in the off-season, the park was well kept and all the water turned back on after winter. Recently there were trees cut to remove deadwood and the ranger encouraged us to collect it from anywhere as firewood. Sounds like we were helping to also do cleanup.

Not being from Wisconsin I do have to show appreciation and compliment the park staff. The rangers were super cool and always happy to chat. You are required to have a state parks pass or pay daily access fee. Not too bad though, I think it was $35 for the year.

In the region: with AT&T cellular we barely had internet but at least 4G roaming. There is basically no cell service in the park. Dodgeville is a nice small town with all the services. Gas, Fast food, Walmart and pharmacy. Its about an hour west of the capitol city and College town. Madison has a great farmers market and a graham crackers comic book store. Ten minutes north you have House on the rock. Twenty minutes east is cave of the mounds and a Duluth trading store in Mt.Horab.

Wisconsin is so beautiful and I am sure any of the state parks are great to camp at. We stayed at Governor Dodge State Park; the campground was great. It was quiet, clean, and comfortable. The sites were pretty spacious and privacy was okay. The bathrooms were clean. They had some great hiking trails within the park- we loved Stephens' Falls. The parks location was somewhat close to Madison and Wisconsin Dells which we visited both. If you go to Wisconsin do yourself a favor and get the fried cheese curds- to die for.