Merrick State Park, Wisconsin

We spent Memorial Day weekend at a new State Park. Merrick State Park is our 23rd state park visited. We really loved the campsite. It was so spacious, plenty of room to sprawl out, hang hammocks, let the kids run around, and have campfires. This small campground only has 25 electric sites in the North Campground. The South Campground and Island Campground were closed due to flooding. The campground itself was well maintained and very quiet. Nearby there are train tracks and trains go by quite frequently. We don’t mind the train noise, since we are used to it at our own home.

Saturday Night at the Nature Center

Every Saturday night, the Friends of Merrick State Park offer a free show at the nature center. Memorial Day weekend was their first show of the season and it was a great one. The RAD Zoo from Minnesota came to show off some of their fun reptiles and amphibians. It was an hour long show with the ability to touch some of the animals at the end. Very fun and informative, even the adults enjoyed it!

Geocaching

Geocaching is a fun activity for the family. This campground had 5 caches that we searched for over the weekend. There was one pesky one that we could not find, otherwise the rest were pretty easily found. Mia loves trading little trinkets in the caches.

Hiking

There isn’t much for hiking trails. There was one 3 mile trail that pretty much takes you around most of the park. There are some nice views of the Mississippi River along the way. If hiking is your goal, this is probably not the park for you because there isn’t a lot of options within the park.

South Campground Floods

The South Campground floods each spring from the Mississippi River. It was still closed when we were there, but we took a walk through it. It was still very muddy and very buggy. Lots of sites right on the river. If you can handle the bugs, it would be a cool spot to camp with kayaks when it opens!

Other Things to Do in the Area

Lock and Dam
A few miles south is a lock and dam. You can’t see a lot, but there is some information to learn about the system.

Rock in the House
This is just one of those weird attractions that you have to stop and see if you are there. It is a quick stop, but pretty incredible that this house is still standing. You can no longer go in the house, but you can definitely see the huge boulder in the house.
Fishing and Boating
This would be a great place to bring a boat or kayaks and do some fishing. We did not partake in those activities this weekend, but it would be a great option.