WI Army Corps Highland Ridge Campground

We spent three nights at the Highland Ridge Army Corp. Campground near Spring Valley, WI earlier this week, and enjoyed our time there.
The campground has nice heavily wooded separation between sites, and has a couple of loops with a centrally located shower/bathroom facility, with a playground, and interpretive center building at the same location. It also has an equestrian area (for those with 560's) Lake Eau Galle is created by the dam the Army Corp maintains nearby, but because of the heavily wooded area between the sites and the lake, it is not visible for the most part.
There is a beach with a roped off swimming area, but it is not at the campground, but across the lake, so requires a drive to get there, and a permit from the camp host to use the area without paying it's normal separate fee for non-campers.

We did a little hiking on the limited trails around the campground, and a little biking on the loops, and the connecting roads. We spent time visiting with my sisters family, who were also there for their first time with two of their grandkids. They did go to the swimming area, and enjoyed it, but the water was still fairly cold evidenced the kids blue lips when they returned.

Crystal Cave is nearby, so we all went there one morning, and while we enjoyed the hour long tour of the cave, I had been expecting something on the order of Carlsbad, or some of the other caves of note in the southwest. Here the stalagmites, and stalactites were 1- 1.5 inches long and a 1/4 - 3/8 inch in diameter. More impressive were the honeycomb rock formations, and rooms carved out by the water flow over the centuries of these relatively young caves.

All in all I would say this would be a nice place to just setup camp along your journey, to enjoy the quiet peaceful sites it has to offer, as opposed to a destination for a lot of recreational opportunities.

The pic below can give you an idea of how heavily wooded it is.
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Thanks for the report. I will keep it in mind if I need a safe place to park for the night and a hot shower in the morning.

 

....and if like me, you have a National Parks Senior Pass, at $13/night for a site with electric hookups, and showers, instead of the normal $26, it's about as economical as camping can get without boon-docking. ( just so not to confuse anyone, the senior pass will entitle you to a 50% discount on camping fees at most national campgrounds like National Forest Service, Army Corp., National Parks, etc.)

 

I love this review as an another example of the hidden gems out there.
Thanks Dustin!

 

Yes I have one and have used it many times. It gets me into National Parks for free too.

 

+1. Time to renew mine!

 

....hmmm, I wonder if you have something different? The Senior Pass is a lifetime pass that you buy just once, and doesn't require renewal.

 

Lol, I wish! No I'm old, and forgetful too!
And easily confused...got this last year for free at NAS PCOLA, as a veteran. Looks like I need an annual...
Entrance Passes (U.S. National Park Service)

 

here is a link to info on the lifetime one: Changes to the Senior Pass (U.S. National Park Service)

 

I’ve had a Golden Eagle Access Pass since 2003. It was replaced a few years ago by the Disable Access Pass. Disabled Veterans also get a free pass in Washington and Oregon State Parks.

Here in Wisconsin I pay full price to stay at state parks.

 

One good thing about getting older --- only 56. I can only qualify for moving into age-restricted trailer parks

 

......and AARP membership!

 

I've got my cease and desist letter prepared and ready. The one good thing about "print" dying is that spam filter rules can easily redirect their junk back to their investor relations department email, or some other such place.