Franklin Lake Recreation Area
5Heads up5 fires, nearest 27 mi
- 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
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
If you are looking for one of the most popular camping spots within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest of northern Wisconsin, try Franklin Lake Recreation Area off Highway 70 east of Eagle River. Its unique structures, including historic stone and log buildings, land it on the National Register of Historic Places. The Franklin Lake Recreation Area on the Eagle River-Florence District has two camping loops with a total of 77 campsites. The campground features campsites available for tent and RV camping. Sites are equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills. Keep reading
Accessible flush and vault toilets, as well as drinking water, are provided throughout the campground. There are also two historic log picnic pavilions with picnic tables that can accommodate larger groups. Day use facilities include an 892 acre clear blue water lake and boasts a beautiful sandy beach. The lake provides visitors with ample opportunities for boating, swimming and year round fishing. Anglers can expect a catch of walleye, northern pike, large and smallmouth bass, rock bass, perch, bluegill and trout, among others. The lake is open to all types of boating, motorized and non-motorized. The popular Franklin Nature Trail is an excellent way to get a sampling of nature in the Northwoods. The trail will lead you through northern hardwood, pine, and hemlock forests where some trees are over 400 years old. You can stop off at Butternut Lake and view the beautiful lake from under huge hemlock trees. The boardwalk across the bog offers a chance to see many varieties of bog plants up close. If you visit in the spring, bring along your field guide to identify the numerous wildflowers in bloom. A short loop at the beginning of this trail is accessible to persons using wheelchairs. The campground is in a beautiful setting, among tall pines and hemlocks, perched on the edge of the clear blue waters of Franklin Lake. In addition to its scenic landscape, the campground offers access to educational programs and numerous trails in the area, with some beginning within the campground, including a 6-mile hike to nearby Anvil Lake. So, if you like to swim, boat, fish, hike picnic or enjoy being close to town, the Franklin Lake recreation area is the place for you, conveniently located just 15 minutes east of Eagle River. Franklin Lake Recreation Area is pet friendly; see our restrictions for more information. Franklin Lake Campground now offers electric hook-up at reservable sites 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, & 28-40, as well as first come-first serve sites 1 & 12-15. Maps and Brochures Franklin Nature Trail Map (pdf)
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…rings with grills. Accessible flush and vault toilets, as well as drinking water, are provided throughout…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…flush and vault toilets, as well as drinking water, are provided throughout the campground. There are…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
Phone before you drive
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.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
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
record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Franklin Lake1.3 miLuna - White Deer Lake Recreation AreaNicolet National Forest · 2.8 miAnvil Lake Recreation AreaNicolet National Forest · 3.5 mi
Anvil Lake CampgroundNicolet National Forest · 3.6 mi
Luna White Deer CampgroundNicolet National Forest · 3.7 mi
Kentuck Lake CampgroundNicolet National Forest · 3.7 miThe weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Three Lakes, WI
Typical weather
Typical October night 33°F, day 53°F.
Coldest night of the open season: typical October night 33°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Franklin 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 →