Buckhorn State Park — Attraction in Town of Germantown

MOSQUITOS: Don't listen to these fools who post negative reviews without the proper context! I just camped at this beautiful state park for 2 nights with my 4yo son, and the mosquitos were not bad at all. The park ranger station has a "mosquito meter", and it was set to the 2nd highest "threat level".

There are 2 camping choices here: The family camp ground set back from the lake, and the walk-in campsites within spitting distance of the water.

ON-THE-WATER-Firstly, if you choose a campsite that has water on 3 sides you are going to battle mosquitos. If you have a problem with that you should really make better and more informed choices when camping as nature does not exist for your exclusive comfort and preference.

CLOSE-TO-WATER-These sites are a bit better, but you are still mere yards away from the water's edge. Mosquitos are going to be a problem here if you are not prepared.

The walk-in campsite areas are surrounded by non-manicured forest, bogs, and tall grass...all of which contribute to mosquitos. How to deal? Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts (2 layers), and buy a case of high-Deet repellent. Candles, coils, foggers, etc. don't do crap here so if you can't suck it up and deal with the constant buzzing about your personal space and about 2 dozen bites a day then stay away from the walk-in sites. Also, a screen tent works pretty well here.

OFF-WATER-At the family campground mosquitos were very tolerable. They came in waves and I got a total of about 12 bites in 3 days. I wandered around without a shirt on for hours and an occasional dusting of run-of-the-mill Off spray and worked just fine. Mosquitos barely registered on my experience here.

TICKS: I had 1 tick I had to pull off on our 3 day trip, my son didn't get any...do a tick check every couple of hours. It's camping in Wisconsin folks...you'll get them occasionally...ticks are part of the deal.

FAMILY CAMPGROUND These are a bunch of nicely varied campsites cut into the forest with toilet and shower facilities. I went up the day of our trip with my son without a reservation and had a choice of 8 campsites. Honestly, all 8 sites would have been fine. There are trees between them, they are mostly set back 40-70 feet (except the pull through sites), nice fire pits, a picnic table, flat spaces for tents, etc.

I am a quiet camper even with my 4yo but even the "loud" families were manageable. There was a bachelor party across the way but they kept it on the level and quieted at a reasonable hour. An issue with the walk-in sites is that they are subject to noise across the lake from a popular watering hole, although noise from other campers is a bit dampened.

We rented a canoe from the state park service and paddled into the lake to a nearby island where about 50 boats were anchored. I found a nice group of pontoons with a bunch of kids that were splashing in the 36", 80 degree water. My son and I met some very welcoming and hospitable people, had a great time. There's also volley ball nets, hiking on the island, and a concession stand right on the lake you can walk up to.

PARK RANGERS: They were very nice. One guy came walking through and was mobbed by kids. Took a few pictures, was very pleasant. Rangers are law enforcement...treat them with respect and let them do their job, and you won't have any problems.

I've been camping in WI for 15 years and this is definitely the best camping I have experienced within 2 hours of Madison. Hands down the best. Don't let the whiners and entitled city-folk deter you with their exaggerated "mosquito-nightmares". GO FOR...

My family and I camped at Burnhorn in late July of 2017. We really enjoyed our camping experience minus a few exceptions. I'll explain after I tell you the good parts of the park. We virtually had the park and swimming area all to ourselves during the week. We camped in the newer section of the park and found those campsites to be big, flat and grassy. Some sites have more shade then others so if you're looking for total shade you'll have to search out what works for you. The bathroom/shower building is nice due to it being new and modern...and there are plenty of nice pit toilet buildings, again they are new and modern. They have plenty of trails to hike on for those who love hiking. Before we camped there for the first time I was reading other reviews and was hesitant to camp there due to a bad reputation for mosquitos. Yes they have mosquito's but nothing you can't cope with and manage. Bring plenty of bug spray and mosquito coils or whatever is made to lessen the mosquito population. Durning the day the mosquito's are a non issue and after about 9 pm. Once the sun goes now they will come out. We kept a nice fire in the fire pit to send smoke around our site and that was helpful. One piece of advice...do not camp in the older part of the park. You will be over whelmed with mosquito's and everything else that flies. Those nasty biting flies where worse then the mosquito's. The older part of the park, (which by the way is far away from the newer camping area) is spooky, depressing and overgrown...really ungroomed. The other thing that I didn't like was the staff only cleaned the bathroom/shower building once during the week. By the end of the week the building got quiet messy. We ran out of soap in some despenpers and ran out of tiolet paper in some stalls. There are two hosts at the park and one of the hosts were gone the entire time we camped there. However when we did bring up issues with the host that was there he was friendly and attended to our concerns right away. The Park Rangers really never came by and checked up on things. Like I said we had the park mostly to ourselves. Maybe the hosts felt they didn't need to check up on us so they didn't come around as I've seen at other State Parks. I enjoyed the water at the beach, clean and clear. The kids loved the beach and lake. They have a great boat ramp area too! I have heard of the Rangers turning away campers when the mosquito's are just too bad but we camped none the less and would go back again. If you're in to fishing...there are plenty of spots to fish. Hope this helps because knowledge is helpful if you've never camped at a certain...

We are very avid campers. We have been to many Wisconsin State Parks. This one is by far one of our favorites in Wisconsin, we do two to three trips here a season. If you like to camp right on the lake or riverside you can't go wrong here. If you choose a shoreline site, your basically camping at your own sand bottom beach. These site's are great for floating, swimming, fishing, boating or just sitting and enjoying a water view. If you bring a boat you can moor it in front of your site. Another great plus is that most of these are nicely spaced out and are very private and secluded. Some will be very close to parking other's are 300ft. to over a mile walk in distance. Each walk-in site has a cart provided at the parking area for hauling all your gear to your site. You can also boat your gear in. Showers are private with hot water but you will most likely have to drive to them because they are near the beach and family campground. Walk-ins share pit toilet type porta potty. If you don't bring wood don't worry they have plenty. The cart comes in real handy for getting that wood back to your site. There is a small store/gas station that serves hot food and a bar right near the park entrance for anything you might need for your trip. And now for one deal-breaker for a lot of people. Can't always be perfect right and that's why we read reviews for the tips. It's about skeeters, you need to prepare yourself for them, they are usually very heavy at this park because it's a giant peninsula like Island with areas of standing water and marshland. My suggestions are these, if you think you've brought enough bug spray bring more and definitely nothing under 40% Deet. Just get the strongest you can find, you will need to reapply and sorry to suggest that if you have younger kids don't bring them to the walk in sites at Buckhorn, they wont be able to handle the constent bombardment of skeeters and other bugs sooner or later it'll get the best of them and you will end up packing up and leaving. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a family hauling all their gear to a campsite and an hour later they have left. Happy Camping!

Pros- privacy, shoreline camping, fishing from site, boat mooring, cart for hauling gear, shower availability

Cons- best site are a long walk, mosquitoes are heavy, bathrooms aren't...