Castle Rock County Park, (Adams County), near Friendship, WI was a good find for us. We wanted a spot reasonably close to Wisconsin Dells but far enough out that we could escape the higher tourist rates of that area when all we wanted to do was visit there one day. The result was a week’s stay at this nice campground located on a large, beautiful lake. The campground is pretty big with around 200 sites and is quite popular with people living in the area. Most of the sites are leased seasonally but a few of the best sites (along the road by Castle Rock Lake), as well as other nearby sites are set aside and can be reserved for up to two week stays. Other sites, if not in use by seasonals, are also available to travelers. I think I’d call ahead to check for availability rather than just show up, especially on a summer weekend.
Most of the sites are level grassy spots, but several of the short term sites are nice gravel sites. There are no sewer hookups anywhere in the campground but there is a dump station. There are a variety of spots with one section in a pine tree filled area and other grassy sites in partial to full sun. One thing I noticed was that the electric pedestals and water hookups are often in odd configurations with outlets for multiple campers and often requiring extensions cords and hoses. In our case the shared hookups were directly behind the camper so there’s at least a good chance that the hookups will be close by.
The campground boasts a really nice playground, volleyball court, sandy beach, boat launch with rentable slips, and a neat waterfront tent-only area. There’s a stocked camp store and modern restrooms with coin operated showers. The staff is friendly and helpful.
If you plan on visiting this campground you might want to be aware that there’s another Castle Rock County Park on the western side of the lake (different county). We didn’t visit that park but I can imagine someone headed to the east side of the lake getting a bit confused by the signage. This review is for the park in Adams County and near the town of Friendship, WI on the east side of Castle Rock Lake.
We had one problem that you might want to know about. On a hot Saturday afternoon in the full park our electrical management system reported a low voltage of 102 volts and shut the electric down to the camper. The voltage coasted between 102 to 105 volts for about four hours. When it got above 104 volts our EMS would turn the electric back on for a while but after a short time it would drop again. I spite of the warmth of the afternoon we turned the air conditioner and most other electrical items off and moved outside. Around 7:00 that evening the voltage began to rebound and we were good to go for the rest of our stay. The campground staff didn’t know much about electricity and when they called their county guy he told them that having a voltage at that level wasn’t good but that it wouldn’t damage air conditioners. I’m no electrician, but my sources don’t agree. I’ll let you decide about that for yourself. Again, it took a combination of hot afternoon and full campground to cause the problem in the first place.
I think it would be really hard to get satellite TV in the wooded sites, but elsewhere in the campground it should be doable in most sites. Our Verizon 4G was solid. I think we’d return to this campground. The lake is beautiful and, if one can snag one of the sites along the lake, it’s a great spot for a visit to the area.