Park Review: Council Grounds State Park

According to my notes, our stay at Council Grounds was in 2007. Council Grounds is west of Merrill Wisconsin, and the reason I'm reviewing it today is that tomorrow's hike will bring us up into that region. Merrill itsself is reasonably close to Wausau, putting this just above the 'Dragon line' (as in 'here there be') on the Wisconsin map. Still, the proximity to civilization shows. It's very much a "the usual amenities" car camping park, though I remember the trails being pleasant. The main feature of this park that would draw me there is its proximity to the Wisconsin River.  The trails we walked led along the wisconsin river, and north of the dam on the river there's an area set aside for swimming. The water had a red-brown tint to it, if memory serves me. 2007 wasn't a particularly hot year and the campsite was well shaded. I recall doing more to soak up sunlight when we went to swim, than anything water-related. As swimming areas go, I suppose I'd rather go there than Willow River State Park, but Firefly beats either one in a heartbeat.

I camped here with a group of friends some of whom I've known since Elementary School, others who I met between then and college. Fairly early into our trip, the bow saw's blade broke shortly before dinnertime. We sent part of our party back to town in search of a replacement blade, but there was no luck to be had. Instead, they came back with an almost laughably small bow saw as the only thing they could find. Also, rather than the hardware store I recalled our passing in merrill they went all the way back to wausau. The replacement saw was not up to slicing up logs of any significant size. anything bigger than my forearm and it would sieze up and overheat. Fortunately for us, the campground had a plentiful supply of fallen pines that fit those exact critera. Unfortunately, that meant a lot of smoky, ashy fast burning wood. Fun to cook over...

It's a nice park, but I see relatively little reason to go there. Hartman Creek is nicer and closer. Willow River has better trails, Firefly has better swimming. I know the IAT follows the wisconsin for a little in this area, but I don't think it goes near the park. If it did, I suppose camping there would be one reason to go.

Some Pictures from our trip there:

PARK REVIEW: Council Grounds State Park

There's a line across the top of Wisconsin, described mostly by the course of Highway 29. I call this the "Dragon Line" because it's really kindof the edge of major civilization in Wisconsin. It runs through Green Bay, Wausau and Eau Claire.  Once you get above that line, population seems to get less dense than below it, and most of the major cities are south of you. I call it the Dragon Line because above there, is where they'd write 'here there be dragons' on an old timey map. Maybe put a little sea serpent up in Lake Superior. Council Grounds is just a little ways up the highway, and a short jaunt west from Wausau, making it one of the first parks you're likely to reach above this line.

Council Grounds wasn't as wild as all that though, it was fairly typical of what I've come to expect from State Park campgrounds in Wisconsin. Which, don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. I think we've got some excellent state parks. Like most, there were bathroom and toilet facilities, and there's a system of trails onsite. When I went, the group I was with didn't take much advantage of them other than to walk down to the beach area for a swim, which was located on the reservoir side of a local dam. The water wasn't the clearest or cleanest to swim in, had something of a brown tint to it, but it was nice to take a dip and get out in the sun for awhile. 

The most memorable part of the trip I took there, was that our bow saw's blade broke in two while we were there and we tried to send part of our party into town for a replacement. Rather than stop at the hardware store we passed in nearby Merrill, our friends went all the way back down to Wausau for a replacement. Unable to find a new blade, they brought back a tiny bow saw about a quarter of the size of the saw we had been using. This limited our wood choices to trees roughly the size of my forearm. To our good fortune, there were a TON of fallen pines about that size. Those of you who've burned pine before probably know how ashy that made our campsite. Those who havent, well, we looked over at the cars and it looked like it had been snowing after a night of burning those pines. Very fragrant though.

It's not as conveniently situated relative to Appleton as Hartmann Creek, though it's not as far as say, Willow River, Yellowstone Lake, or Firefly Lake. It's a fine campground, but there really hasn't been anything to attract the group I camped there with back again. I'd go there again, but only as something of a secondary choice. I'd be a lot more likely to head for one of the other aforementioned parks.

Campsite photo(Care of Lindsey Biese):

Me, on our group's amble down to the playground so the kids could play (Lindsey's Photo, again):

The Swimming Area (Photo Still Thanks to Lindsey):

More Swimming:

Of Course My Image Has Been Recorded!: