We visited the Pine View Recreation Area at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin in early August. We arrived on a Sunday without reservations and stayed for a few days, We followed the directions posted on the website and had no problems finding the recreation area. Once we got to Fort McCoy, the signs directing you to the campgrounds are good. However, once we arrived at the recreation area, we were a bot confused on where the check-in office was. When you arrive at the area, there are RV sites on your right and cabins on your left. However, the office isn't for another .25 miles. Continue on the main road around the curve, then you'll see signs to make a left turn to the office. This is actually where the main part of the recreation is.
Being a Sunday, the campground was only about 50% occupied and we had no problems being assigned a RV site. We made our way to the RV site and roads in the camping loops are overgrown with trees. The trees are hanging low (10' clearance) and protruding into the road. It was a challenge to maneuver through the trees to prevent scratching our motorhome. We found our site, but it was occupied. Back to the office we went. It appeared the previous campers hadn't yet left. Check-out time is at 1100hrs and we arrived around 1230hrs. The office staff said they would get the campers to move out and could we wait a bit. 30-minutes later, they were still there. We asked if we could be assigned a different site. They stated the campers would be leaving soon. After another 30-minutes of waiting in the hot humidity, I insisted we be assigned a different site. The campers in "our" site were outside eating lunch! After a little pressure, they reluctantly assigned us another site.
We liked our new RV site, which was back at the entrance. The roads here were not overgrown with trees. However, I thought about the rate we were charged. I returned to the office (again) to verify if these were new prices, or was I overcharged $5 a night. Even though they had me in the system as retired military, they charged me the civilian rate, They issued a refund with no complaints. After a couple hours of arrival, we were finally settled in. The recreation area is open to the public. The public only pays $5 more than the military rate. In my opinion, the military rate of $45 per night on a weekend during the prime months for a FHU site is ridiculous!
This is a "recreation" area, and there is a lot of activities to do here. They have miniature golf, volleyball/basketball courts, horseshoes, a swimming beach, biking trails, playgrounds, and a game area. Or get on the water in a rental paddle boat or canoe. There's also a paintball field located at the nearby ski area. We simply camped and toured the local area. The RV sites were good, but not your typical RV Park layout. The site we had involved driving off the asphalt and backing in at a 90 degree angle on the grass at the back of the site. Once I understood how the site was arranged, it was easy and nice. Our site was huge at the end of a loop. With our site layout were also able to get satellite signal. But in most of the campground, plenty of trees would block satellite. However, the RV sits do have cable TV (which we didn't use). In addition to RV sites, they had yurts, cabins, and duplex cabins available for rent.
We didn't try it, but WiFi is available at the office area where there's also seating outside. Being open to the public, it gets extremely busy on weekends here. Be sure to have reservations for the weekends. The Exchange and Commissary are about 5-10 minutes away since you need to drive around the base perimeter to get to the gate to enter the base. They are both of regular size.
For a family looking for all of the outdoor activities, Pine View Recreation Area would be a great option.
Information, maps, photos, and video on Pine View Recreation Area, WI.