Governor Earl Peshtigo River State Forest — Attraction in Town of Stephenson

We stayed at the Mallards Cove boat-in site the first weekend of October 2023. Overall, we loved it.

Both Mallards Cove and Loon Landing are on the East shore of the island, contrary to what the campground map shows. We parked at boat landing #5 and it was about a 20-minute paddle to the site.

The landing is rather shallow, so be prepared to get wet feet or get enough momentum to drive you as close as possible. There is a rack for canoes/kayaks provided, as well as a couple of benches around the firepit, which has a cooking grate. The pit toilet is rather close to the site, with a single wall to offer very modest privacy. Bring your own TP. There’s supposed to be a rope for your food bags, but we could only find the equivalent of a clothesline, so we wound up using the bear box located at Loons Landing. Both sites offered plenty of space for a few tents and trees for hammocks.

Given the weather and time of year, there weren’t many other people around. The flowage has a ton area to explore on the boats and we saw a few people fishing. At least one hunter was getting after it both mornings. Otherwise, it was quite peaceful. You could make out some noise from the highway at times, but nothing outrageous. Our group found very strong cell phone reception from three different service providers. If you forget anything, there is a gas station and a Dollar store within a 10-minute drive from the landing.

This was the 1st attempt at paddle camping for two of us and a great way to check how prepared we were. Everything went well and we’re looking forward to returning...

The Peshtigo River is one of my favorite places in WI. I know of the large island on the flowage with the Peshtigo River Kayak Campsite, as we access this part via boat but haven't ever stayed overnight. It's not uncommon to see folks camping near the water on the large island and the sites look like great spots. I've seen tons of wildlife on many of the islands, including deer, beavers, porcupine, king fishers, loons, bass, pan fish, and so many more. The fishing is great in this area and there are shallow places for kids and dogs to play in the water. The water is great for kayaking, but know that there are large boats coming through so you will be hit by some wakes. There are areas off the island for more camping (including RV campers) and larger beaches with bathrooms and picnic tables, near the boat landings. You can always grab a boat to go up the flowage to visit restaurants and bars like Dockside. There's always...

The Peshtigo River State forest runs from the North State line near Niagara to Green Bay, over 100 miles. The hunting and fishing is great. The forest has many water access camp sites and beautiful island camp sites. There are several sites along the was white water areas of the river for people making longer float trips. The PROF is a gold mine for North woods adventurers. Just Google it and check out the gold mine that...