U.S. Forest Service · Nicolet National Forest · WI

Ada Lake Recreation Area

3Heads up3 fires, nearest 31 mi
Wildfire
Blackberry fire · 31 mi away · 3 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026
Wildfire
Marsh 1 fire · 48 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 16, 2026
Wildfire
Loon fire · 48 mi away · 0 acres · updated Oct 14, 2026
First come, first servedNo reservation, and none to be had: the sites go to whoever pulls in first.

This is how it should work.

Right now
Closed for the seasonOut of the season the agency publishes
A night
$15From, per site
Season
May 2 – October 15Open May 2 through October 15
Drawn from the record · 1,660 ft · 80% tree cover · Ada Lake within reach · Bortle 3 sky
1,660 ftElevation
278 ftWater · Ada Lake
14.2 miSE of Crandon, WI
80%Tree cover
Bortle 3Night sky · 59th darkest of 70 in WI
Open May 2 through October 15Today

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there

In the agency’s own words

Ada Lake Recreation Area is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of some of the more popular recreation sites on the Lakewood-Laona District. It has many amenities of the other recreation areas, just not all the crowds. There are plenty of sites to see on the district and Ada Lake Recreation area can serve as a home base. Clear water, a sandy beach, and a blue sky are all it takes for many to have a memorable camping experience. Ada Lake Campground offers this and more. The exceptionally clear water makes it great for swimming, and the lake contains northern pike, bass, rainbow trout, and panfish. Keep reading

Another nice feature is the boat landing which makes the lake easily accessible to non-motorized boats. The Ada Lake Recreation Area is near popular local site-seeing spots Quartz Hill, Jone's Springs Area, Cathedral Pines and Knowles Creek Interpretive Trail. So, if you like to camp, swim, boat and fish then the Ada Lake Recreation Area is the place for you, conveniently located just 5 minutes southwest of Wabeno. Ada Lake is one of our dog friendly recreation areas.

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

Around the campground

On the water
Lake, Creek, Beach
Fall color · reported 13 days ago, 12 km away
Near peak
Source: Stated in the agency description
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (12 km) · Oct 4, 2026

Nothing to book, just show up

One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first, and a night costs $15 with nothing added. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.

recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.

BookingNo reservationsNothing to book, and no release date to wait forthe record
A night$15Per site, fromthe agency’s fee record
A weekend$30DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above
Runs itU.S. Forest Servicethe agency’s record
Every line of the receipt · 11

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Forest Service
A night, from$15
Individual campsite fee is $15/night, payable at the fee envelope tube at the site.
Camping fees are $7.50 with use of Interagency Senior or Access Pass .
Interagency Pass discounts apply only to the fee for the campsite physically occupied by the pass holder.
There is a $5 recreation use fee for the beach.
This does not apply to registered campers.
The Forest also has an annual pass available for $30.
To learn more visit .
The booking feerecreation.gov
Nothing. This campground takes no bookings, so there’s no reservation fee to pay.
What a stay costs
One night, fromDerived$15
A weekend, Friday and Saturday, fromDerived$30

Derived by CAMPANAC: the lowest per-night amount the agency’s fee record states ($15), and no booking fee, because this campground takes no reservations. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

How we know this receipt · 5
Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Getting there

the map and the coordinate
Coordinate45.36960, -88.73150

Where it is

Source: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon52°Sunny
Tonight36°Clear
Sunday58°Sunny
Sunday Night36°Mostly Clear

NWS forecast for Wabeno, WI

Typical weather

Typical October night 35°F, day 52°F.

Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 35°F. Bring the bag rated for it.

80°32°0°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or moreOutside the published season

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: LAONA 6 SW, WI (USC00474582), 10 miles away and 35 ft higher

The land, and who answers for it

what threatens it · who answers for it

What threatens this place

Roadless
Shoe Lake Islands7 acres · 4 mi · inventoried roadless area

You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.

Source: MTJP Threatened Lands map · Sep 28, 2026

Who answers for this land

Tom Tiffany, official portrait

Ada Lake Recreation Area is in Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Tom Tiffany (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from
Right now: The agency lists it out of season. The season it publishes is the bar below.
Season: USFS Enterprise Data Warehouse · Aug 24, 2026
Fall color: More Than Just Parks foliage tracker, joined to this campground by distance (12 km) · Oct 4, 2026
Cell signal: the Forest Service’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.
Nearest place of any size: Wabeno, WI, 5 mi SW (a census designated place). Straight line.