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Agency-listedWDNRFree

Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

Drive-up · public land · WI · 45.74967, -89.86917
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The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

WATER-ACCESS ONLY, FREE, RUSTIC. This is a genuinely FREE campsite, but you can only reach it BY BOAT -- the Wisconsin DNR's own page says "All flowage and river campsites are signed along the water's edge and are accessible via watercraft." There is no drive-up; bring a canoe, kayak or boat and launch from one of the flowage landings. This is DNR campsite #12, one of exactly 12 sites on the Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area (Oneida County, north-central Wisconsin, near Hazelhurst and Tomahawk) that the DNR keeps first-come, first-served with NO reservation and NO fee. Beginning in 2026 the DNR made 25 of the flowage's 37 sites reservation-and-fee; these 12 stayed free, so confirm on the DNR page that this site is still non-reservable before you rely on it. On the DNR map this site is on the north flowage near Dog Island / The Sack. This pin also stands in for 1 other free first-come site(s) the DNR maps within about half a mile of here (DNR site #14); they are separate designated sites but too close to show as distinct pins. RULES (from the DNR page): 10-day camping limit on the flowage; you must occupy the site the first night and may not leave it empty more than one night after; you may NOT leave unattended gear to save a first-come site; camping is allowed in designated, signed sites only (Wis. Admin. Code NR 45.10). RUSTIC: no electric, no hookups, no potable water -- bring your own water and pack out all trash. CAVEAT ON THIS PIN: the coordinate is the DNR's own published campsite GPS fix (degrees + decimal minutes, so roughly 30 m precision); it was confirmed to fall on DNR-managed Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area land, but we have not visited -- follow the site's shoreline sign and the DNR map on the water. Rules and which sites are free can change; confirm the current rules with the DNR (Willow Flowage manager 715-892-0143) before you go.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12
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Weather outlook — at Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,536 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12 · public land · WI

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 11 miWDump · 21 miDKwik Trip · Propane · 55 miPMarathon · Fuel · 8 miFMarathon · Grocery · 8 miGWalmart Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 12 miRxAce Hardware · Hardware · 13 miHLibke Auto Specialists · Mechanic · 13 miMTomahawk Wash And Dry · Laundry · 20 miLShower · 21 miShAir-up · 27 miAMarshfield Clinic Minocqua Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center · Urgent care · 12 mi+Outfitter · 14 miOHazelhurst Post Office · Mail · 8 mi@Minocqua, WI - Tesla Supercharger · EV fast charger · 12 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel8 mi
  • GGrocery8 mi
  • @Mail8 mi
  • WWater11 mi
  • +Urgent care12 mi
  • EVEV fast charger12 mi
  • RxPharmacy12 mi
  • HHardware13 mi
  • MMechanic13 mi
  • OOutfitter14 mi
  • LLaundry20 mi
  • DDump21 mi
  • ShShower21 mi
  • AAir-up27 mi
  • PPropane55 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 8 mi out.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗

The site — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
1,536 ft
State
WI
Coordinates
45.74967, -89.86917
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12 · public land · WI (OpenStreetMap)

  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelMarathon · ~8.0 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~20.8 mi
  • GroceriesMarathon · ~8.0 mi
  • PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~12.0 mi
  • Hospital / clinicMarshfield Clinic Minocqua Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center · ~11.8 mi
  • HardwareAce Hardware · ~13.2 mi

EV charging — from Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12 · public land · WI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12 · public land · WI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12 elsewhere

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Other camps near Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

Stay limit
10 nights (10-day limit)
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Wisconsin DNR Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area camping page, https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/lands/willowflowage/recreation/camping (fetched 2026-07-22), which states VERBATIM: "there are 37 rustic campsites scattered along the flowage shoreline and islands; 25 sites are available by reservation only with fees, and 12 sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis (no reservations or fees are required)" and "There is a 10-day limit on camping at all flowage campsites" and "All flowage and river campsites are signed along the water's edge and are accessible via watercraft." WHICH 12 ARE FREE: read off the DNR's OWN 2026 map (DNR 2026 property map WillowFlowageCampsiteMap2026.pdf (via the 'Willow Flowage Map (includes campsites)' link on the camping page)), whose legend distinguishes a yellow 'Non-reservable Remote Campsite' tag from the red 'Reservable' tags; exactly the 12 sites #2,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18,19,20,21 carry the yellow tag, and this reconciles with the page's own counts (12 free + 29 reservable = 41 total). COORDINATE: DNR site #12 GPS fix parsed from the DNR's OWN DNR 'Willow Flowage campsite and boat landing GPS coordinates' document (willow-flowage_gps-coordinates PDF, linked on the camping page). ON DNR LAND: confirmed PROP_NAME='WILLOW FLOWAGE SCENIC WATERS AREA' by esriGeometryPoint intersect against the DNR managed-lands cadastre (dnrmaps.wi.gov/arcgis/rest/services/LF_DML/LF_DNR_Managed_Lands_Dissolved_WTM_Ext/MapServer/0, 2026-07-22) and by an independent winding-number point-in-polygon against the same property geometry. Legal basis: camping allowed in designated sites only per Wis. Admin. Code NR 45.10; the free/no-fee status is the DNR's own explicit statement for these 12 sites. confidence='med': free-status is high (DNR-explicit + on DNR land, two methods), capped at med because the sites are WATER-ACCESS ONLY, rustic and unvisited by us, and the GPS fix is decimal-minute (~30 m) precision. This pin represents 1 additional free first-come site(s) within 0.5 mi that were collapsed to avoid volume-padding: DNR site(s) #14. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.

What we don’t know about Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12

Water on public land →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Off-grid communication →All field notes →
Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →