Spring Road trip 1 May 2011, Cleveland Oh to Pierre S. Dakota

I am planning on taking a road trip to Pierre SD. I will be traveling the main interstates to it and back home. I would like to find places to tent along the way. I looked for a site that would allow me to plan a road trip with tenting stops but with no success. I drive a Ford Edge, 2008 and will have a 4"thick foam camping mattress in the back for naps, etc and my camping gear in boxes next to that. If anyone would please make some suggestions of good places to camp along the way, foods that would be best to bring with me on the trip and any other helpfull advice, I would be gratefull. I haven't taken a road trip in a very very long time and when I did, Hotels and restaurants were few and far between. Thank you. Dave

Welcome!

Generally, the best places to look for camping are in state parks. I ran your route through my mapping program, and you can make this drive in 2 days. There just happens to be a Wisconsin state park (Mirror Lake) right around the halfway point near Wisconsin Dells. If you explore the linked site further, there are a few more parks in that general area.

Hotels and restaurants along the Interstate highways are a lot more plentiful than they used to be.

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

There is no single site where you can see every possible camping opportunity, but a very easy way to get a good start is to simply look at a good atlas. They will almost always indicate State Parks and other campsites with an icon. You should also know that it is very rare to go more than about 50 miles without having a full array of traveler services, and typically the interval is even less.

In your case, if you are just looking to do the trip in 2 days, your halfway point would be near the Wisconsin Dells. That is a huge summer resort area with tons upon tons of camping options, although my favorites would be in the Wisconsin State Park system. There are about 5 in the area. I'd recommend Buckhorn, which is far enough from the Dells that it avoids the big crowds, but is set up very nice with many walk in sites, but with free carts to easily move your gear. The downside is mosquitos can be bad at times (call ahead). If you are traveling on a weekend, I'd recommend Roche-a-cri, which is a bit farther removed from the Interstate but is quiet and it doesn't usually completely fill up. That's the one I usually stay at when I spend a weekend in the Dells. The other ones near the Dells are always booked solid on summer weekends. I'm not a big fan of Rocky Arbor, as it is right next to I-90 and you can hear a lot of highway noise from many sites. Devils Lake is beautiful, but the most visited state park in Wisconsin and can be booked up even mid-week. Mirror Lake is the only one I haven't spent time at.

Wookalls and AAA have the information I needed. Thank you for your assistance. Dave