Wyalusing State Park

Alright here comes the wall of text.
We stayed at the Wisconsin ridge campsites (northern camping area) so my review will be on that area and its amenities.
This camp ground is exactly what should be expected from a campground. No permanent/​yearly RV parking, just visiting tents and trailer campers. My only complaint is that there isn’t much «elbow room» between campsites and some of the fire pits were place in an awkward spot.
Campsites: 4 of 5 average
Our campsite wast next to the shower house/​restrooms so the only restrooms I can speak for are the modern restrooms. The restrooms were clean and we’re comfortable to use. The showers were also very clean. The showers were push button controlled with a preset water temperature. This wasn’t a bad thing however, as the water temperature was nice and hot.
Showers 5 of 5
Restrooms 5 of 5
There are plenty of things to do here and explore. Playgrounds for the kids a tennis, basketball and volleyball courts and plenty of hiking trails for the adults. The trails are very scenic and hide some spectacular sights to behold.
Activities: 5 of 5
The scenery at this park is absolutely jaw dropping. The ridge looking down on Prairie De Chein is beautiful, some people complain about the airstrip and Walmart but it really doesn’t take away from the view. There are a few caves here are awesome to see. My personal favorite was picture rock cave which has a small waterfall. Absolutely stunning. Words don’t do the beauty of this park justice.
Park beauty: 5 of 5
The birds in this park are extremely vocal, be prepared to hear plenty of Baltimore Orioles and the occasional owl.
I highly recommend this park.

I wanted to check this park out again because I haven’t been here in 10+ years. We came after going to Pikes Peak so we didn’t have as much energy to explore, but what we did see was awesome! We went up to point lookout, and parked at the parking lot on the left before the playground, because no one else was there. Beautiful views and if you go on the paved path to the right of the first outlook you will come across other outlooks and treasure cave! I may be an adult but I squealed with delight when we came across this cool little cave. The steps down to the cave are OK, but extremely steep when you go into the actual cave. I can’t wait to go back and explore more!

The confluence of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi is a sight to behold. Wyalusing is never disappointing.
The park offers more in the way of hiking and biking trails than do many parks in the system but remains quite a bit less busy than the more popular parks around Madison.
Wyalucing does, however, lack the perceived remoteness of other parks around the state. Despite being in a populated area (i.e. a short drive from Milwaukee), I’ve always found Kettle Moraine North to feel like it’s in the wilderness. I don’t get that as much here, like Stephen T. and Michael F. note the otherwise scenic panoramic views down the bluffs include a foolishly placed Walmart, and from many places in the park you’ll hear trains or barges, even at night. It’s a reminder that the Mississippi is a working river.

Definitely no crowds when I was there. I stopped in on a sunny Labor Day, stayed for 4 or 5 hours, and might have seen 10 other people in the whole park. Having come from Devils Lake where teenage buttheads were singing in the campgrounds until past midnight, this was perfect.
The high-​altitude views up the Mississippi and Wisconsin valleys are fabulous. Another reviewer mentioned freight trains, which are loud, this is true. I’d add barges, which are also a little annoying if you’re down by the river. The view of Prairie du Chien is a crime, I wish the WalMart there would go away in some big flood. But I had such a great evening at Wyalusing, I couldn’t possibly give it less than 5 stars.
Cool thousand-​year-​old effigy mounds up by the Passenger Pigeon Monument, where the views are great and the WalMart is out of sight. Also cool stuff directly across the river at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa — which is NOT flat. The Mississippi bluffs are truly small mountains.
There’s an astronomical observatory here. I couldn’t stick around to see the night skies, but (WalMart notwithstanding) I feel like light pollution out here in the Driftless is probably pretty minimal.
The sun — our star — disappears into a huge cellphone tower in Iowa every evening. If you can ignore some of the hideous zoning gaffes of the locals, like this, it’s a pretty great place to visit.

This is the third year in a row visiting this great camping park. At our campsite 135, there are great views of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. Not far away are accommodating restrooms and showers. I highly recommend visiting this place. I have camped in Yellowstone and Yosemite, and Wylalusing is just as unique. The hummingbirds are cool at the entrance — check em out!

We just returned from a Boy Scout outing there this past weekend. It was a blast. The park is very, very nice. The scenic overlooks viewing the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers are beautiful. The kids enjoyed the hiking trails, but mostly the cave structures that were found along the way. At one overlook, a bald eagle cruised past us no more than 15 yards away — very cool!
That Saturday morning, visitors were welcome to come visit the front office where they were tagging hummingbirds.
The kids also enjoyed the playground area and open field for various games.
I’d definitely return to this park — with or without the Scouts. The camp sites are nice and the views are spectacular!

I camped overnight at Wyalusing while taking a spring shakedown ride of the Driftless Region on my motorcycle. Not sure whether they were still on winter hours, but I didn’t see a single employee upon arrival at 5pm. Camground hosts were also missing in action, so no firewood was available. An industrious park neighbor has a huge stack of wood and an honor payment box, so I was able to precariously balance wood on my lap and the backseat of the bike while teetering back to my campsite. Other amenities include: no electrical sites on the outer loop where the good views are, blaring weather radio in the bathroom.
Speaking of the campsite, the views from the Ridge campground are spectacular to the north and west, over the Wisconsin and Mississippi River Valleys. The splendor peaks at sunset, after which the dim lights of the Prairie du Chien airport and the horrendously bright lights of the new Wal-​Mart dominate the landscape, which is really too bad.
Bring earplugs, as there is a dual main-​line of one railroad on the east side of the river and a single line to the west, and they are run at all hours of day and night. Approximately every half hour if my memory serves.
Nice park, marginal amenities, views destroyed by the PdC zoning commission. I passed up a park further south near Potosi (and its brewery) and won’t make that mistake again.

Just went back for the third time. Going in the middle of June promises the mosquito’s will be in full effect. However, the lush growth of early summer was inspiring. The trails are short enough you can do a couple of them in a day. The only downfall is that it can be such a draw that it’s not the quietest camping experience with lots of trailers, families, dogs, and such.

Off the beaten path a bit and overshadowed by Devil’s Lake and Governor Dodge, this is still one hell of a park. It is situated at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. A large part of the park is a huge bluff overlooking the confluence. The views are stunning. A few years back my wife and I stood at this vantage point and out came a bald eagle from the trees just below our vantage point. It swooped up right in front of us and could not have been more than 20 yards away. An amazing sight.
At Wyalusing, you can camp, hike, and rent a canoe to go paddling in the back channels of the Mississippi. Out here you’re not in a crowd like you are at Devil’s Lake. Sometimes it’s just you and the birds and fishes. Great time.

The coffee ain’t too great, but it is a fabulous place to rent a boat! They rent canoes and kayaks for $ 10 an hour our $ 25 for 4 hours. There is a nifty loop you can do, which is partially on the main channel of the Mississippi. There are lots of hiking trails and several scenic outlooks from the bluffs onto the river around the park as well as a couple campgrounds. Be sure to make camping reservations on the weekends during the summer well in advance and prepare to have a blast.