Discovered this park while looking for a hiking spot after visiting Mt. Horeb. Only 6 minutes drive…read morefrom Mt. Horeb and what a great hidden gem. We parked at Pop's Knoll which has a gravel parking lot for about 20 vehicles. About 100 meters from the parking lot is an area with a covered shelter with picnic tables and a toilet room. What really surprised me about this park was how well the trails were maintained and marked with numbers so you have reference points to know where you are on the park map. Consists of multi-use trails for hikers and horseback riders, as well as hiking trails for pedestrians only. A good mix of trails through corn fields, wooded areas, and grassy paths along streams. Dogs are allowed but must be leashed at all times. I highly recommend.

Our friends live about 10 minutes from this park and recommended we check it out, so we stopped by…read moreafter visiting them. There's a huge rock formation that definitely catches your eye, but the path leading up to it isn't well paved. You'll need to navigate through some tall brush if you plan to climb up. I wouldn't suggest attempting it unless you have proper shoes and decent balance (or a good core!). We saw a few adventurous teenagers make the climb, though. Aside from that, there are several nearby trails that are much better maintained and perfect for a casual walk or light hike. Overall, it's a nice county park with plenty of parking spaces to explore, especially if you're in the area and want a bit of fresh air and nature.

What we liked: lots of songbirds, easy access to paths, and the quiet! You don't have a ton of…read moreprivacy, but since there are a LOT of empty spots it's manageable. Everyone we saw had tents or simple popups. Since there is no electricity there wasn't music blaring. People were friendly and chill. Dogs were well behaved and leashed. The vibe was great! Three stars mostly because the vault toilets are some of the worst I've seen. Survivable, but there aren't any working lights. The light from the outside that lets in fresh air through an open screen over the pit. Don't look. But it's hard not to when you need light. We glamped a bit with a Trelino portable composting toilet (highly recommend, no need for chemicals or fuss) as well as a bag shower we got from Walmart. The water near campsite 3 has poor water pressure. Use the one further down by the toilets.

We have passed by this park a number of times but had never stopped. It doesn't have the Wow…read morefactor of many of the other great state parks in Wisconsin. But we finally went here to meet friends on a warm late May Sunday for a hike. We did the big loop around the perimeter of the park about 5 miles - boy there are a lot of hills. Very deceptive. The trails are well marked and in good shape. We did see the walk-in camping spots which looked interesting and somewhat private but pretty close to highway 69. There was a small picnic area where we ate our lunch afterward - it was nice enough. Overall not a bad park but it just doesn't have the big draw of nearby parks like Blue Mounds, Gov Dodge, Mirror Lake, etc.

I liked the mountain biking here a lot. As a beginner I found challenging trails but nothing…read moredangerous for me so that was good. I liked the mix of technical and flow on the different trails. Only lack of a star because the trails were not always labeled well causing us to get lost a couple times.

Leo (the bulldog) and I enjoyed a hike at CamRock park. Dog park permit required, fyi. You can…read morepurchase annual passes through the city/county or else buy a daily pass on-site. This park seems predominantly geared (pun not intended, I swear!) towards mountain bike riders but there are several loops that hikers can also enjoy. (Mountain bikers need a trail pass too, fyi. Daily or annual passes can be purchased on-site). We didn't come across too many other people while we were here, despite it being a gorgeous fall day. We did meet up with one dog off-leash running with a biker. Scrraaappppe!! (dragging out soapbox) Argh! I get it - for many people they think their dog is well-behaved so they don't need to be on a leash. Well, there are rules for a reason and when people disregard those and let their dog off-leash when they shouldn't, parks crack down & change rules to not allow dogs at all (um, look at most Madison parks as a prime example). People with "well-behaved dogs" forget that #1) other people may be afraid of dogs and your off-leash dog is especially scary to them and #2) other dogs you encounter may be dog-aggressive or leash-aggressive so if your dog runs up to them, oooh boy! ANYway, back to CamRock. This was a fine spot for hiking and I'd go back if I were in the area. However, if I were driving from Madison I would probably opt for Indian Lake over CamRock for a hiking trip. I would definitely like to go back to CamRock in the spring though for some mountain biking, those trails looked like fun!

One of my favorite places in Madison. I just moved to the neighborhood and I enjoyed walking the…read moredog around the circle.

This is a fun section of the ice age trail just outside of Belleville. It has some nice elevation…read morechanges and the beautiful outcroppings are very cool. I like the different topography included on the trail. There is a really nice flat space on top of the ridge to enjoy the view. Dogs are allowed if they are on leash.

I wish we would've had more time to explore more. But the area is really beautiful, and there's so…read moremuch to explore.

This trail is super nice, with a hard packed surface and varied scenery following the namesake…read moreSugar River. New Glarus makes a great starting and end point, with lots of parking and the opportunity for a Swiss snack or meal and a cold beer as a motivator for the ride. Trail passes can be purchased at the old train station.

Great walking, jogging, biking trail. Beautiful peaceful place once out of the town of Monroe…read more Deer, turkeys, chipmunks about. However, watch out for the bikes that don't bother to slow down or even notify walkers they zooming by. Almost been run over a few times.

Note that the address listed above is for correspondence only, and does not indicate the actual…read morelocation of this trail. A trail map can be obtained from the website listed above. The Badger State Trail runs from Madison WI to Illinois, where is meets up with the Jane Addams trail that proceeds south to Freeport, IL. The Badger is a beautiful trail but one word of caution, there's a $5 daily fee or yearly fee required to ride it. I didn't have a fiver on me so I rode without paying, but I did see a trail worked that likely checked bikers for payment slips. So..be careful. I rode the path from south of Monticello, north past Belleville WI and back. This stretch of path includes the Stewart Tunnel, which was easily one of the most interesting things I've seen on any bike path I've ever ridden. Built in the 1880's, this tunnel is about four tenths of a mile long and contains no lighting inside. Once you lose the grace of the light coming from one end of the tunnel, you'll be in complete darkness until you catch light from the other side. Depending on how fast you ride, that might take a couple minutes. I used the flashlight app on my phone to illuminate the ground as I didn't want to hit something and take a spill in the dark. That and I went slowly, just to be on the safe side. If you go through the tunnel I highly advise you go slow and use a flashlight or light shedding device. That I experienced, the trail was flat and smooth in here, and nothing except the brick walls surrounded me. The rest of the trail is kept up okay. I like a trail that goes from town to town with country in between, so the Badger kept me happy. I'm looking forward to doing more stretches of this trail in the future and hope to see reviews from other riders who've done different sections. Cheers.

This is a nice place to bring your family and is pretty popular during the weekends. There are…read morefishing and swimming, as well as hiking and picnic shelters. The hiking trails are decent enough but, if you are looking to really experience "nature", this is NOT a State Natural Area. The lakes, while old and very well established, are actually man made, and most of the Park has been significantly altered by human activity. Trail options include hiking and cycling, as well as off road vehicles. So, if you want some fun outdoor recreation, this is good for that. But, if you are looking for quite hikes, natural settings,etc..., check out a State Natural Area, instead.