From a pad at Lake Farm County Park, the view is tall prairie grass and then Lake Waubesa, gone silver by the time the grill is lit beside the rig. This is Madison's south side, the quiet end of the city's lake country, and it suits a family motorhome that sets up once and stays the week. The Capitol is about five miles north, so the city plays out as day trips: the Saturday farmers' market circling the square, a long afternoon on the Memorial Union Terrace over Lake Mendota, then back to the pad before the kids fade.
Not every day needs a plan. The state bike trail runs past the park, so the slow days are bikes, a lap of the shoreline, and dinner outside the rig while the city stays up the road. Mixing town days with those lazy ones is how a week here holds up for a group of mixed ages.
Lake Farm has 47 reservable sites, 39 of them with 50-amp electric, along with showers and a dump station. That's enough power to keep the air running through a sticky August afternoon while everyone's downtown. There's no sewer at the pad, so the dump station is part of the week, once midway if the tanks fill fast and again on the way out.
Each site takes one RV plus one tent, with six people at most, which lets a bigger group put the teenagers in a tent beside the rig. The campground runs mid-April through late October, and the pad is the booking to make first.
Dane County's Lake Farm page doesn't list a pad length, so check the site details when you reserve and let that pad decide how long a motorhome to rent. Two people on a lighter plan can size down with a Madison campervan, and that page also covers the state-park nights at Lake Kegonsa and Governor Dodge.
Badger home weekends at Camp Randall
Football Saturdays turn the streets around Camp Randall red, and Union South across the way hosts Badger Bash, a free tailgate that gets going well before kickoff. For a group, the motorhome is the day's home base, holding the cooler, the coats for a cold fourth quarter, and a bathroom with no line.
The athletics department's bus and RV parking page puts RVs and other oversize vehicles in Lot 64 only, on a permit from the athletic ticket office, with pre-sales ending a week before each home game, as of October 2026. The same page bars overnight parking of any vehicle on the UW campus, so the rig sleeps at Lake Farm or out on the north side and comes in for the day.
Home weekends fall inside the Lake Farm season, which means football fans and lake-week families want the same pads and the same rigs on the same dates. On a game weekend, line up the campsite and the Lot 64 permit before you settle on a motorhome.
Lantern DeForest RV Resort, north of the city
North of the city in DeForest, Lantern DeForest RV Resort sets up a Madison week as a run of day trips: a morning on the Lake Monona bike loop, dinner on State Street, the Chazen for a rainy afternoon and Henry Vilas Zoo for the youngest in the group. It's also where to point the rig when Lake Farm is booked on your dates.
The resort's sites come with water, sewer and electric at 30 and 50 amps, as of October 2026, so a week here runs without a dump-station errand. It's the one to call in the cold months too, since the resort says it takes winter stays by phone.
Farther north, the quartzite bluffs over Devil's Lake and the waterparks of Wisconsin Dells make a full day out, and the rig nights for both sit on the Devil's Lake RV page.
