For our second adventure, we chose a spot a little further from home. The Chippewa Campground is near Gilman, WI. We were both pleasantly surprised that it’s a National Forest campground. We chose a campsite in the group sites area by mistake, but it was a beautiful site in a hardwood forest. The time we selected a site without electric, but still near a bathroom. The camper does have a battery which easily ran the lights and fan for the two nights we spent there.
The campground was very quiet and we noticed that there is a camp host situated in each of the three loops of camping sites. The bathrooms (flushies) were clean and there was potable water nearby. Since we are new to this, we fumbled through the process of using an envelop with cash to pay for our site. Just FYI…our National Park Pass gives us a %50 discount on camp sites in National Forest campgrounds.
This time, we brought a rug for the front of the camper and a tarp to put over the entrance and the fire pit. The tarp came in handy since it did rain overnight on our first night there. By the way, we stayed dry and warm inside the camper!
Another addition was a new mattress for my side. We decided to try one before replacing both of them. I thought it made a big difference and was significantly more comfortable than the camper mattresses. We also cooked breakfast and made coffee for the first time on our new camping stove. We’re happy with the stove, the ignitors for both burners failed after using them once or twice. Luckily, we had matches with us.
This campground isn’t fancy, but it has a pretty nice beach on the flowage, a small, rustic playground for kids, and a slightly questionable fishing pier. A nice walking path cuts though the center of the loops to connect them and makes getting from anywhere to the beach pretty simple.
Again, we really enjoyed the evening and are looking forward to next time. We’re starting to add “gear” that we need to try out!