Quick facts
- Where: Sunset Campground, Richard Bong State Recreation Area, 26313 Burlington Road, Kansasville, Wisconsin. It's the more westerly of the park's two campgrounds.
- Cost: $260.95 for seven nights in 2025: $20 a weeknight, $24 a weekend night, a $15-a-night surcharge for out-of-state campers, and a $7.95 reservation fee.
- Type: state park campground, booked through Wisconsin State Parks. Regular sites with a picnic table, plus a shower and restroom building.
- Power: we ran the whole week on solar, with no generator.
- Showers: a short walk from our site, and not on a timer.
- Trash: a dumpster next to the shower building.
- Big rigs: doable, but the roads are small and our back-in took a while.
- When we stayed: seven nights, June 21 to 28, 2025.
We live on solar and Starlink, so before we book anywhere Nathan studies the maps for sites with open sky to the north (for Starlink) and good sun overall (for solar). At Richard Bong, the Sunset Campground sites looked a little larger and had more sky, so that's where we went. It turned out to be one of our favorite stays.
The back-in
From the map, our site looked like an easy back-in. It wasn't, at least not for Nathan. It was a passenger-side back-in, so he couldn't see the back of the trailer well and relied on Fabiola to guide him in. The campground roads are small, it had rained, and the grass beside the pad had turned to mud, so the truck tire slid. It took a few pull-forward resets and about 11 minutes. Someone else could probably do it faster. If it's wet, stay off the grass.
The site
Once we were in, it was great. The site was a good size, and trees separated us from the other campsites, so it felt private.
Solar, Starlink, and the heat
Picking for sky paid off. Our solar worked great the whole week with no generator, even with a heat advisory when we arrived. On the cooler nights we ran just a fan. We cooked Blackstone fried rice at the site as meal prep for the travel days ahead.
Showers that stretch your tanks
The shower and restroom building was a short walk from our site, and the showers aren't on a timer, so you just use them like normal. Nathan's sister was staying with us, and with three people the showers made our fresh and gray tanks last a lot longer. There's a dumpster right by the same building, which makes trash easy.
The lake
Farther down the road, still inside the park, there's a lake with a small beach. When we were there you could rent kayaks through an app, at $12 for the first hour and $9 for the second. Fabiola went kayaking with her sister-in-law. At night there were fireflies everywhere. It's a state recreation area, so it was quiet, and Nathan got a lot of drone footage.
Would we go back?
Yes. Getting in was tricky, but we'd do better next time, and everything after that was easy. The back-in and the whole week are in our Wisconsin video.
FAQ
How much does camping at Richard Bong cost?
Our seven nights in 2025 came to $260.95: $20 weeknights, $24 weekend nights, a $15 nightly out-of-state surcharge, and a $7.95 reservation fee.
Which campground is better at Richard Bong for solar and Starlink?
We picked the Sunset Campground because its sites looked larger with more open sky. Check the map for a site with clear sky to the north for Starlink.
Can a 40-foot fifth wheel fit?
Yes, but the roads are small and our passenger-side back-in took several tries. Stay off the grass if it has rained.
Are the showers timed?
No. When we were there they ran normally, with no timer.
Can you rent kayaks?
When we were there, yes, through an app: $12 for the first hour and $9 for the second.