Top Family Campgrounds and RV Parks in the Midwest Region

The Top 100 Family Campgrounds in the midwest region were selected based on criteria requested by family campers, including park amenities, beautiful outdoor scenery and educational facilities. The criteria included parks that offer hot showers, laundry facilities, hiking trails, family beaches, radio-free zones, visitor centers, educational programs, children's events and locations within 100 miles of a major metropolitan area. These are the top family campgrounds and RV parks in the Midwest Region.

MICHIGAN

Sand Lake Campground, Huron-Manistee National Forest, Manistee
Sand Lake Campground is located about a mile and a half from Dublin, in a mixed hardwood forest on Sand Lake on the western edge of the peninsula near Lake Michigan. Campers come out to hike local trails, fish in the lake, or just get away. This campground is close to a gas station and grocery store, but off the beaten track. Sand Lake offers a wide variety of camping experiences. Both wooded and open campsites are available for families and groups. The clean sandy beach is a great attraction while camping or for a day visit. Facilities include 45 camp sites, flush toilet buildings, shower facilities, sand swimming beach and carry-in boat launch.

NEBRASKA

Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, Ashland
Family members of all ages will find a variety of fun and activities when they stay at Nebraska's Eugene T. Mahoney State Park. Just off Interstate 80 on Nebraska's eastern edge, the park is open year-round and offers tent camping, RV pads, several cabin options and a scenic lodge.

Diverse arrays of pursuits are available in the park, depending upon the season. Visitors can hike through the rolling hills, watch the park's wildlife, use of the tennis and basketball courts or softball field, or take advantage of the park's tackle loaner program to go fishing. A 70-foot observation tower offers an unequaled view of the nearby Missouri River valley, and a craft building and a nature conservatory can be enjoyed in all seasons. A theatre showcases melodramas and other offerings throughout the year. There are a number of facilities, some with kitchens, that are available for family gatherings and events. Camping conveniences, such as showers and laundry facilities, are available for use, and the park's free wireless Internet helps keep everyone happy and connected. During warmer months visitors can enjoy the family aquatic center's swimming and wave pool and 200-foot curling water slides, miniature golf, horseback trail rides and a trip to the marina for paddle boating or ice cream. Cross-country skiing, sledding, toboggan runs, ice fishing and a large ice skating rink are popular with park goers in the winter months, and the lodge offers dining throughout the day, served in a lodge setting with a wonderful view of the park.

Fort Robinson State Park, Crawford
The whole family will enjoy the journey into the past at Fort Robinson State Park. Visitors can settle into a tent in the historic Soldier Creek or Red Cloud campgrounds, or an adobe, cabin or brick officer's quarters. If larger accommodations are required, groups can reserve one of the fort's reconstructed barracks, complete with a kitchen and mess hall. Dating back to its establishment as a protective post during the Wild West era, Fort Robinson is located amidst the rugged and scenic Pine Ridge area, and offers a number of activities that harken back to its frontier days. Stagecoach, Jeep and horseback trail rides provide a close-up look at the park's buttes and valleys. Hikers, backpackers and picnickers enjoy the many trails, starting their days with an early morning hack rack breakfast and wrapping them up with evening steak cookouts. Swimming in Lindeken pool appeals to the young and old, as does a walk through the fort's original parade grounds and many recovered or reconstructed buildings. History buffs will enjoy the two on-site museums, as well as the old cemetery and numerous interpretive exhibits scattered throughout the park. Family fishing trips to Soldier Creek or one of the park's three other water bodies can be enjoyed by all, and who can forget an encounter with the fort's buffalo or Texas longhorn herds? Evenings feature buffalo stew cookouts, singing around the campfire or enjoying a theatrical production at the Post Playhouse.

Ponca State Park, Ponca
Families have been camping at Ponca State Park for over 73 years. During this time, camping has progressed from tents to pop-ups to large RVs and cabins. While the methods may have changed, the reason people camp at the park has not: Enjoying time with family and friends and the park's spectacular natural beauty. What makes Ponca State Park a family destination is the variety of activities and recreational opportunities that are available. The park offers fishing, boating, golfing, crafts, naturalist programs, kayaking, archery, horseback riding, hiking, wildlife viewing, biking, an interpretive center, hayrack rides, cookouts, special events and much more. Combine these activities with an evening campfire, marshmallows and some family stories and you have the perfect recipe for lifelong memories. A public swimming pool is available, and visitors can also enjoy the Missouri National Recreational River Resource and Education Center, which provides interpretive displays about the park's cultural and natural history and a great meeting area for family gatherings. There are campsites to accommodate everyone from family reunions to backpackers. In addition to many RV and tent camping sites, 16 cabins are currently available, with more on the way. Camping is scattered throughout the park's 2,200 acres, which helps ensure that the park rarely seems crowded and congested.

The combination of facilities, educational and recreational activities, and natural beauty has made Ponca State Park an annual family vacation or weekend outing for many generations--a family tradition. Ponca State Park is truly the place "Where Families and Nature Meet."

WISCONSIN

Roche-A-Cri State Park, Friendship
Roche-A-Cri is French, meaning "crevasse in the rock," as described by early explorers. The park includes prairie and oak woodland and surrounds an intriguing sandstone mound, 300 feet high, and smaller Chickadee Rock. Visitors can climb 303 steps to the top of Roche-A-Cri Mound for panoramic views of the State Natural Area and ancient landscape. At the accessible rock art observation area, visitors can see and learn about petroglyphs and pictographs. This is the only accessible rock art site for the public in Wisconsin. Listed in The Best in Tent Camping-Wisconsin for being a quiet, family campground with 41 rustic campsites. Visitors can hike on six miles of trails, picnic, fish in Carter Creek or nearby Friendship Lake, watch wildlife like turkeys, deer, and turkey vultures circling the mound, and cross-country ski in winter. Participate in the annual photo contest. The annual Pumpkin Walk is held before Halloween and features games and haunted hayrides through the campground. Naturalist programs are held on weekends during the summer.

Buckhorn State Park, Necedah
Buckhorn State Park is a 4,500-acre peninsula jutting into Castle Rock Flowage and is home to sand hill cranes, deer, turkeys, eagles, Karner blue butterflies and prairie plants. It has 42 unique backpack campsites that are accessible only by boat/canoe or hiking trail (equipment carts are available). There are 11 rustic drive-in sites, three of those are on the lakeshore. Three group-tent campsites allow up to 40 people per site. Breathtaking sunsets are part of the unique lake experience. One reason a camper gave for a refund was "Too much solitude!" There are many amenities for disabled visitors, including a furnished accessible cabin, and accessible fishing pier, hunting and observation blinds. Visitors come to the park to fish, hunt, camp, swim, cross-country ski, snowmobile, and hike. Visitors can explore sand blows, savannas and oak barrens, or the canoe interpretive trail. The park receives great photos each year from participants in the annual photo contest. Naturalist programs are offered on weekends throughout the summer at an amphitheater built by the park volunteer group. Visitors stop at the office to explore the nature room displays. Visitors escape the heat by coming to the swimming beach and picnic area. There is a cold-water rinse shower for visitors to get rid of sand or algae. Two picnic shelters are available for groups to use. There are five boat launches providing access to Castle Rock Lake and the Yellow River. Buckhorn is listed in a book, The Best In Tent Camping-Wisconsin.

Devil's Lake State Park, Baraboo
Geology classes come from far away to view and study the natural wonders. Rock climbers come from hundreds of miles away. Artists set up painting easels near the lake. The Nature Conservancy has named the Baraboo Hills, centering on Devil's Lake, as one of "the last great places on Earth." Would you want to camp here? Every year, over 250,000 people answer an enthusiastic "Yes!" There are RV dump/fill stations, but no water or sewer hook-ups on the sites. Still, RV campers flock to the park. There are nine shower/flush toilet buildings and seven non-flush toilet buildings. Restrooms are cleaned to a sparkling shine every morning in the summer. Hot showers are plentiful and free. Journey a few minutes' walk from your campsite, and you can begin one of the park's 29 miles of scenic trails, the mountain bike trail, cross-country ski trails, the Visitor Center, a 1/3-mile sandy swimming beach, reservable picnic shelters, and the Nature Center. Here your family can come nose-to-nose with living creatures or meet "Luke Woodswalker," who presents daily programs all summer. The four campground areas of Devil's Lake State Park provide year-round camping for family tents, pop-ups, motor homes, and trailers. If you want a wooded campsite or an open grassy one, Devil's Lake can accommodate. Wisconsin State Parks continue to support simplicity and a back-to-nature philosophy in its parks. You'll find no lodges or cabins. 121 campsites include electric hookups. Rangers enforce the quiet hours to support the family-oriented atmosphere. As a courtesy to other campers, generators and air conditioners are prohibited. Devil's Lake is an extremely popular park, so advance reservations are highly recommended in the summer and on spring and fall weekends. In the summer, you may get a campsite without a reservation if you begin on a Monday, Tuesday, ir Wednesday, if you want 1-3 nights on a non-electric site, and if you arrive early in the day.