MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – An increasing number of people are taking to Wisconsin state parks during the summer for an outdoor favorite, camping.
Suzanna Topel has camped at Devil’s Lake State Park for over 50 years.
“Well, we love state parks,” she said. “We’ve been coming here since I was little… probably… I remember age two, three with my folks and then we took over, we began family camping with my children.”
Her family books their campsite 11 months to the day, the earliest you can secure a spot at a Wisconsin state park.
“Well, they’re kind of tricky. I have to say,” she said about the reservations. “You have to look far ahead, you can’t wait. You immediately either call the 800 number, because I’m old-schooled, that’s what I do. Or you book online if you’re computer savvy.”
Business operations sections chief for the Wisconsin DNR Chris Pedretti says while campers can book 11 months in advance, not many do.
“There is a perception out there that you have to do everything 11 months in advance because demand is so high. That’s not really the case,” he said. “In actuality, about 10% of our reservations are done at the 11-month window. So, there’s a big percentage of reservations that are done in between then.”
Pedretti adds that certain campsites book up faster than others.
“If you want to go to on Memorial Day weekend to Door County, there’s going to be a lot of competition for those sites.” But there’s a lot of other state parks and forests around the state that have sites available as well and they all offer great things to get out and enjoy the outdoors.”
With over 6,000 sites spread out across the state, there are plenty of options this summer. Even if you have your site set on one spot in particular.
“Sometimes you’re lucky, people will get cancel and you can get it. But if you want electricity, you’ve gotta grab ‘em while they’re hot,” Topel said.
Pedretti says people looking to book a particular campsite should keep checking their website as cancelations are made on a regular basis. He adds there is a notification feature that can alert your phone if a property becomes available.
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