It won’t be long and Oconto County’s three Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest campgrounds will be open for business for the 2026 season.
Those campgrounds are located in the Bagley Rapids Recreation Area near Mountain, Boot Lake Recreation Area near Townsend and Boulder Lake Recreation Area near White Lake.
All three campgrounds are popular destinations for tent, camper and RV camping and are scheduled to open April 30 or May 1.
Bagley Rapids includes 36 sites, with about a third of them along the Oconto River. Boot Lake includes 36 sites on 263-acre Boot Lake, as well as a swimming beach and boat landing. Boulder Lake, located on 360-acre Boulder Lake, includes 99 individual camping sites, a group camping area, a boat landing, shower building and hiking trails.
Campgrounds in Langlade, southern Forest and Taylor counties are also expected to open April 30 or May 1.
However, some forest campgrounds in far northern Wisconsin may not open until as late as May 14, as cool temperatures and lingering snowpacks in April delayed preparation work across much of the forest.
“Some campgrounds in the northern half of the forest are expected to have delayed openings,” said Eric Britton, public affairs specialist at the forest’s headquarters in Rhinelander. “Campgrounds will open as the snow dissipates and staff can prepare them for the season. We do not anticipate impacts to existing campground reservations.”
Starting in May, four campgrounds that previously offered only first-come, first-served sites — Bagley Rapids, Pine Lake, Ada Lake and Lac Vieux Desert — will have reservable sites. Sites can be reserved at recreation.gov and searching Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
