Richard Bong State Recreation Area

love it there beautiful trails and campsites and everyone who works there are so friendly :)

I had seen the sign from the highway many a time and it cracked me up every time. Bong recreation area (tee hee hee). Also made me think of Cypress Hill, «Hits from the bong» except here it is hikes in the Bong. There was nobody here, had the whole place to ourselves for the most part. The park itself is pretty simple, some camping, some trails, some ponds, and some fishing. Trail markers are well done. Really liked the numbered bench system they had in case you need assistance. $ 11 for a car to get in? Seemed a little steep for what it was so write it off to supporting the parks. Not sure there is much to come back for, if you did it once, you did it all.

Horrible experience this weekend camping here. The park ranger harassed us the whole trip. Couldn’t have been a more annoying experience.

I was here in the fall– it was gorgeous :)

Great camping for the price! Very industrious park w lots of different activities. Great secluded sites with plenty of room.
There is a train that you can hear in the distance but it’s far enough away that it doesn’t disturb the tranquility of the park.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants an off the grid camping experience.

Really neat place for multi activities. We went for a bike ride and saw dog training going on, also model rocket launch place and ATV trails. Oh and we plan to spend the morning Geo caching. So something for everyone.

Another Wisconsin State Park! Great camping prices: $ 12/​nite for tents! Make sure to camp at Sunrise if you like camping in a wooded area. If you like he prairie feel choose Sunset. Barely any shade and the birds are your neighbors as well as the sun. I would still camp here if Sunrise was full. Any WSP is fantastic!

I had a campsite with electricity. Sunrise campsite seems like a good pick after driving around. I was tenting it but I usually tent with a crap load of camping luxuries (dining canopy, fan, etc) bathrooms were clean, flush toilets. The showers water temp was SCALDING hot. The campsite had no shade. Mosquito haven… Had great time. No camp ranger issues.

The campground gets 4 stars but the beach gets 1! I wanted to get some quality beach time in but it was just a pond. The sites have a lot of vegetation between each which is really nice. Everything is well maintained. There’s flush & pit toilets. Showers are clean & the water was warm considering they all were in use.
The bugs were kind of bad. The campground is surrounded by marshlands so there’s really nothing that can done than be prepared.

Love the trails. Bummer that the lake is empty, but in the budget to be filled in 2015.
Lots of ticks.

We stayed here last fall. Overall: not as pretty as Kettle Moraine, Dunes or other nearby options but still a pleasant enough place to check out. Not super cheap but no midwest camping is.
Many of the campsites were very shallow and not private and a lot of them have no shade. The bathrooms were okay– the one with flush toilets in Sunrise campground was pretty good, actually. The trails are nice in a subtle kind of way– you’re basically walking through huge fields. We found some apple and walnut trees and there was a lot of bird activity including cranes. Make sure to check out the apple orchard about a mile away from the campground entrance if you’re there in the fall. SUPER nice. Still, if you’re coming from Chicago making the extra drive to Kettle Moraine is worth it because there’s more to do out there and it feels more wild.
One thing that was weird and upsetting is that we never saw any signs of the park rangers while we were here and right around 10pm (quiet hours) a guy at a campsite a few down from us became belligerent and began threatening campers near him. We tried calling the ranger station and no one picked up. The cops responded within about 10 – 15 minutes but it was genuinely scary. Usually I notice rangers making several drive-​through passes through campgrounds, especially leading up to/​after quiet hours but in this case no one was here and it ruined the evening. This was on a Saturday night. Other than this one guy, the campground was pretty normal in terms of noise levels.

Good rustic camping. Stayed in the sunrise loop where most sites are level and private. Ample restrooms and hand pump drinking water. Bath house showers were very clean. Well priced firewood sold within the park. LOVED the biking trail options. The lake is low this summer, but looks like could be a nice beach to hang out at anyway. Good fishing according to the 8 year old I met by the boat launch dock. And, if you get bored you can head to nearby Kenosha lakefront for dining, shopping, beach, ice cream, etc. Will definitely be going back!

I like to think of myself as a professional camper who has neglected their craft. I grew up camping. At least a half a dozen times a year, my parents would take myself as well as my five siblings on cross country camping adventures. It had been years since I’ve gone when my best friend suggested that we take her camping since she had never been.
I had my reservations about Bong because I had camped here probably 10 years ago and all I remember was the mass quantity of daddy long legs. But, 3 dogs in tow, I decided to brave the wilderness and guide my friend in the ways of a professional camper.
My camping technique has deteriorated but we ended up having a great time! The grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Our campsite was nice and flat. The bathrooms were very clean. Highly recommended for those who need a quick weekend away to connect with their inner camper. I’m not sure there are enough things to do here to justify staying more than a few days.

Would never ever camp here again! Rude employees, too many rules, and ticks carrying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever!
I’ve camped all over the United States and Bong is by far the worst place I’ve ever set up camp. The campsites are small and dirty, the location is lacking, the «beach» is a whole with water and a carved sandbox, but it’s the rediculous rules and rude staff that make Bong worth avoiding unless you intend to camp for one night and go to bed at 10pm on a Friday night.
They have very strict parking rules that they don’t explain when entering, only once you’ve violated them. When a park employee told my friend to move her car I politely asked why and was told «don’t give me attitude or I’ll call the park ranger». Ten minutes after we moved the car to what we thought was an exceptable location the park employee returned with the park ranger and told us we had to move the car to the overflow lot or we would be ticketed and asked to leave.
At 11pm we turned off the music and lowered our voices (there were 6 of us sharing two campsites arranged side by side). At 11:30 the park ranger showed up to tell us to let the fire burn out, lower or voices to almost whispers and to watch our language. Please remember this is at 11:30pm on a friday night… in the United States. However, 2^nd amendment aside we watched our language and lowered our voices as much as possible while still speaking at an audible level.
Another half an hour went by without incident before the ranger and park staff appeared yet again, this time shining flashlights all around our campsites searching for something to yell at us for, but finding nothing since between the 6 of us we had only brought and case or two of beer and some marshmallows and chocolate, instead told us to pack up everything and keep our voices down… and that this was our last warning. I can not emphasize enough that we may have been the calmest least talkative group of people in our late twenties to ever go camping.
Not wanting to be kicked out and have to drive home, we cleaned up and went to bed. My girlfriend and I had been in our tent for about half an hour with the lights out when I heard a park ranger walking around our campsite inspecting our fire pit and trash bags assuming everyone was asleep. Once again finding nothing violating park rules he left.
My final reason to avoid Bong at all costs is that if the rude staff weren’t enough, one of the local inhabitants decided to bite me and infect me with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. If you’ve never heard of it, look it up, it’s not fun!
Please do yourself, your friends and your family a favor and find a better place to camp. Bong State is a disgrace to the US park and recreation system!

We stayed in two campsites on the far west side of Bong. The name, especially being so close to Alpine Valley (where bands such as Dave Matthews, Radiohead and Phish frequent) attracts the obvious clientele, but there were a good number of families and groups.
Overall, it was fun. There are tons of activities (boating, fishing, dirt-​biking, etc.), and I am definitely considering heading back there in the future to partake. I hope you have a grand ol’ time!

We always make a visit to the Bong State Recreation Area at least once a year for some family fun. On our recent trip we were able to do a little fishing and after 45 minutes my little girl was able to catch her first fish. I honestly thought it was not going to happen. After 5 minutes my 5 year old said, «Dad why is this taking so long?» I even tried a few times to hook one for her but in the end she actually did it by herself and we were so proud of her. We took the little fish off the hook and threw him back… maybe next year he will be a little bigger for a fish sandwich.
So if you are in the area and you are looking for some nature, then I highly recommend you stop in and enjoy the area.

This campsite is beautiful, inexpensive, close to Chicago and offers a lot of activities, but there is one major downside: the park rangers.
We were tamely sitting around the fire when we were approached by two rangers BEFORE 11 PM and asked politely to quiet down. I’ll note that there had been no noise complaints and we weren’t even aware of other campers in our vicinity.
The rangers returned not even 15 minutes later and asked to see all of our IDs to verify that we’re of legal drinking age. Our average age was 29 with nobody below 26. All of our IDs were buried in bags locked in cars. For a second I thought I was at a suburban high school party and they were going to dispatch my dad to drive me home. About 45 minutes later, once it was confirmed that none of us were born in the 90s, they delivered a speech reminiscent to one my mom gave when we wouldn’t go to sleep at my 5^th grade sleepover party. They demanded that we go to our tents, and threatened us with all sorts of citations and arrests if they have to return.
All this happened before midnight. We then resorted to whispering around the campfire and playing «telephone» for another couple hours before hitting the hay.
Pretty sure as Americans its our constitutional right to stay up past midnight while camping… or at least until the case of Red Dog is killed.

Great place to Pheasant Hunt and train the dogs…
Also in the afternoon, it’s a beautiful place to just enjoy a walk near the lake or through the woods!

I have been there twice now and have had great experiences both times. It’s a mere hour and a half away from Chicago which makes it a good place for camping rookies to go… if you hate it, you can pack up and be home in no time.
Bathrooms are clean. The pit toilets smell like a really nasty zoo but that’s to be expected. The showers are amazing… you aren’t scared you are going to get foot fungus in there.
They have a cute little visitors center with a butterfly haven that is cute… the kids will love it. They also have programs for children on the weekend like a bat hike or a meeting to look at frogs in the ponds. Everyone there is super helpful and friendly.
The sites are great. Both times I was there we had giant sites with lots of grass for the tents. We always had enough trees and such between us and the next site to give us a sense of privacy.
The best part is… you can call it «Dick Bong», Tee-​hee-​hee.

OK, here’s the situation: You’re headed north into Wisconsin on the way to Racine or Milwaukee and you just got past Kenosha. A sign on the road reads «Bong Recreation Area». It gets a good chuckle out of me every time, so much that we decided to see it for ourselves. No, I’m not a pot-​head or ever was one, but a cleverly worded sign like this brings out the warped imagination in me.
It’s about 9 miles west of the expressway, out in the middle of corn country. At one point we thought we were lost since no other sign told us we were coming towards it. And the clever name? It is named after a heroic WWII airman named Richard Bong, who, because of his funky name, must have received lots of wedgies in boot camp prior to his acts of valor. The state park has a few walking trails, lots of tall-​grass prairie and a swampy lake that has a deck-​like overlook structure, since you’d sink in the mud if you tried to walk up to the shoreline.
It was a decent place for a walk if you have about an hour to spare on your way. We even found some woolly caterpillars on our trip. Nothing to be too excited about except to say «Like we were at the awesome Bong Recreation Area… duuu-​de!!!»