Yellowstone Lake State Park

We liked this heavily wooded campground in southwest Wisconsin. Site #2 was a back in with electric only. It was easy to get into and fairly level on dirt. We walked the campground and saw that most sites were level but there were a few we would not have been happy with. We had virtually no cell service using T-Mobile which made it difficult to pay for a day use pass which is required in addition to the campground fee. Bathroom nearby our site was a pit toilet and it was okay. It had hand sanitizer.
The best part was being visited by a good sized owl for about 15 minutes really close to our site. We could hear it after it had moved farther away.

A big beautiful man made lake with a dam on the eastern side of the waterway formed from the Yellowstone River is the feature of this park with boat rentals, fishing, an extensive and well maintained trail system, and a campground featuring tent, primitive RV back-in spots, or RV spots with 50/30/20 electrical. Water is available at the ranger station at the far western side of the park or a currently very slow fresh water fill at the free dump station. Generously sprinkled around the campground are water fountains and faucets, but none of the faucets have a threaded connection for a hose. Bring a water bladder for longer stays or be prepared to move the rig a few times to dump, fill, repeat. Vault toilets available throughout the campground; a single building on the western side of the campground has flush toilets and showers available.

Daily rate is in addition to the mandatory Wisconsin state park vehicle admission stickers which as of time of writing were $38 for an annual pass for non residents. See https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/admission for full details.

Sites to the east (1-36) for RVs almost all have power, and those that have power feature 50/30/20 electrical pedestals.

Cell phone service is spotty at best (you're in the middle of Amish country here, not a big iPhone using crowd). T-Mobile is roaming, so data does not work but has full bars. Verizon is 1-2 bars at best, occasionally dropping to Extended 3G, usually no data. Sprint, LOL nope. AT&T was full bars 8 Mb/s down.

A state park owned shooting range is about 2 miles away from the campground in the distance, but during the day you can hear the occasional pops of a firearm if the wind is blowing right or if someone decides they want to bump fire their "definitely not a full automatic" rifle. Don't panic, it's quite far away.

We've been guests here at least twice before, but the first time with the current rig. A couple of protips up front:

- When making your reservation, pay close attention to the vehicle length selector when searching for a site. Our coach snuggled in very nicely; anything larger probably would not fit that site.
- If you are a remote worker, make sure you have your best signal booster equipment! Data as received by a regular smartphone was VERY weak. Yellowstone Lake is located in a remote and hilly area miles from the nearest town, much less highways. Fortunately I didn't have to do any work requiring a connection.

Yellowstone Lake is a fine state park, especially for those who like their water activities. For bicyclists, the terrain is rolling, with isolated 8% climbs. Bring your lowest gears. For geocachers, there are a good number of sites nearby, but be sure to download them so you can use your app in offline mode. The data in many places is nonexistent. Perhaps not coincidentally, the park is in an area with a high Amish presence, so look for small shops with handcrafted Amish goods and watch out for buggies when driving.

Wood is available from a shed for $6 a healthy bundle. One bundle per night suggested.

PROS:
- Secluded location, miles from roads, making for a quiet background
- Well spaced sites, so even the family with 5 kids two sites down is tolerable
- Good assortment of geocaches for hunters
- Great for water enthusiasts

CONS:
- The fresh water fill is a copper tube instead of a conventional hose connection. This forced me to fill from the gravity fill port which on my rig is on the other side. Big hassle. This is the only state park I visit like this and it must be corrected.
- The concession/dairy stand was closed, presumably because of COVID
- The campground is in a hilly area. Can be a challenge for novices when parking their rigs. The pads themselves were fairly level.
- Poor mobile data (I know, that might be a pro for some)

A nice camp ground. The sites were very private. It was quite crowded the weekend we went. It would be a great off season get away.

Big campground, mostly deeply wooded with a wide variety of sites. Including tent sites tucked back into the woods. Picnic tables and fire rings. Because it was so humid, I picked one that was high and pretty wide open and ended up getting a good breeze at night. Lots of vault toilets plus a shower house. Plenty of open spaces mid-week but fills up on weekends. Oddly, there were few flying insects, none buzzing/biting. I have no explanation for that. Plenty of spiders. My noise complaint was very late arriving big loud trucks which had to sit and dither about where they were going.

Lake is very pretty. Has a small swimming beach and a dog swimming area, along with boat launches. Check with rangers before swimming or letting dog swim as there can be algae bloom issues. Lots of campers had canoes and kayaks.

FYI, the drive through the Wisconsin Driftless region at the height of the growing season is simply glorious.

We really liked this campground. As we walked around we realized that there really wasn’t a bad campsite in the place. Our site was sloped, but we were able to back our small trailer onto a level corner. All the sites have lots of mature trees and shrubs, providing shade and privacy. The park staff were very friendly. The flush bathrooms were clean. Cell service was poor in the park and also in nearby Argyle, WI. We had to drive to Monroe or New Glarus to get a signal.

We LOVED our site. All of the sites were pretty roomy and mostly private.
The whole park was clean and the staff was nice. Paved roads throughout.
It was only a 30 minute drive to New Glarus Brewery. This trip was to go to the brewery and kayak on Yellowstone Lake to see the fall colors.
Would love to come back again to hike on the trails!