Agency-listedWDNRFree
Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
Drive-up · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI · 45.75600, -89.88700
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources 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 #15, 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 Stormy Point / Langley Bay. 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
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,537 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15NIFC · 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 #15 · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- GGrocery8 mi
- @Mail8 mi
- FFuel9 mi
- WWater12 mi
- +Urgent care12 mi
- EVEV fast charger12 mi
- RxPharmacy12 mi
- HHardware14 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- OOutfitter14 mi
- LLaundry21 mi
- ShShower21 mi
- DDump21 mi
- AAir-up26 mi
- PPropane56 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 #15
Access
Drive-up
Land
Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources
Elevation
1,537 ft
Ground slope
9.7% · noticeable
State
WI
Coordinates
45.75600, -89.88700
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15 · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureWillow Reservoir · under 0.1 mi · USGS: perennial lake or pond
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelMarathon · ~8.6 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~21.2 mi
- GroceriesMarathon · ~8.5 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~12.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicMarshfield Clinic Minocqua Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center · ~12.0 mi
- HardwareAce Hardware · ~13.5 mi
- Rail & highwaynone mapped within 10 mi
EV charging — from Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15 · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger12.1 mi straight-line NE — Minocqua, WI - Tesla Supercharger (at a grocery store) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 8 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-06-18 · hours: 24 hours daily. NACS partner enabled. · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach3 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 42 within 100 · 129 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS23.6 mi — CULVERS KEMP 01, Rhinelander
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO41.4 mi — BPC LEVEL 3-1, Merrill
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)22.2 mi — Harley Davidson - Kaphaem, Tomahawk, WI (at an office building) · ENVIROSPARK · J1772 · 4 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2025-11-13 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 237640 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15 · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Vault / pit toiletRound Lake Bl · ~14.8 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletRound Lake Logging Dam · ~15.0 mi NW · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletEmily Lake · ~15.6 mi N · USFS
- Vault / pit toiletWabasso Lake Bl · ~15.9 mi N · USFS
Coming out here — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15 · Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources · WI
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Willow Reservoir as a perennial lake or pond, under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). Mapped as perennial is not the same as flowing today. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 9.7% — noticeable. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line and no interstate or US route is mapped within 10 mi of the pin. Checked against the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) and the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025). Both are national files and both are maps of what is built, not counts of what moves on it.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15 elsewhere
Other camps near Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #16~0.5 mi
- Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #11~0.9 mi
- Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #12~1.0 mi
- Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #13~1.0 mi
Who holds the land at Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
USGS’s Protected Areas Database (PAD-US 4.1, queried 2026-09-23) lists the ground at this pin as Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area, manager on record: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (state). That names who holds the land — it is not a statement that camping is permitted here.
How we know this — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
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 #15 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. | 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 #15
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.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area - Free First-Come Campsite #15
Water on public land →Cold-weather camping →Fire rules & restrictions →Leave no trace →All field notes →