The beach at Lake Wissota is the swim, and the wooded loops on the Chippewa River reservoir north of Eau Claire are the night. Kayaks and canoes go out on that water, and ski boats take the open lake. The loops keep camp back in the trees, off the open water.
The Wisconsin DNR lists electric on some of the family sites. If you need more sleeping space than a van bunk, look at RV rentals in Eau Claire.
The park is off County Highway O by Chippewa Falls, and summer is when those loops get hard to hold. Park trails take hikers and bikes if you want a day that never leaves the loops. Downtown, the Chippewa River State Trail is the city's own outdoor day.
Chippewa River State Trail
The Chippewa River State Trail leaves Phoenix Park in downtown Eau Claire, at the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers. South of town it runs through river-bottom, prairie, sandstone-bluff, and wetland country, and it ends at Durand.
The Wisconsin DNR lists it at 30 miles and requires a state trail pass for bicyclists and in-line skaters 16 and older. The trail has no campground of its own.
Brunet Island State Park
Upriver at Cornell, the Chippewa and Fisher rivers hold Brunet Island State Park on the island between them. You canoe the quiet lagoons and channels around the island, then camp on the north shoreline, where many sites are on the river and bay.
The DNR camping page lists that north campground with no electric service. The south loop has electric and a shower building with flush toilets.
The Old Abe State Trail links the park toward Chippewa Falls. Ride it as the upriver connector in the Chippewa Valley Trail System.
Interstate State Park
At St. Croix Falls, the St. Croix cuts a steep basalt gorge called the Dalles, on the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. You camp on the Wisconsin side of that gorge at Interstate State Park, with an Ice Age Interpretive Center on the grounds. The Wisconsin DNR calls it the state's oldest state park.
The north campground is open early May through late October, and the south campground stays open year-round. As of September 2026, the DNR camping page allows no RV or camper camping from mid-November through late April, when the south campground is hike-in and tent-only.
West of the gorge, the next campervan cities are Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The Northwoods are a different Wisconsin trip.
Hoofbeat and Country Jam
In summer, Hoofbeat and Country Jam run their own campgrounds. As of September 2026, Hoofbeat, formerly Country Fest, confirms on-site vehicle camping next to the concert grounds in Cadott, in electric and non-electric rows. Country Jam USA in Eau Claire sells electric and non-electric rows on its own grounds.
Those weekends fill the state-park sites too. Lock the festival camping first. The van is the second booking, and a Lake Wissota reservation does not cover a festival night.