Ukarydee Horse Camp

Arkdale, Wisconsin

Overall we liked this campground, but it wasn’t the best experience. The campground is not well maintained. The map we were given of the campground was difficult to follow and it would have been resolved with some signage.

Horses get large round pens, which were really nice. Normally, our horses would have to share, but we were the only ones in the campground, so each horse got their own pen. That said, there was manure scattered all about and the flies were pretty bad.

We had electric hook-up with shared water, but since we were the only ones in the campground we didn’t have to share the water. Internet was pretty awful. We used Ari’s Verizon cell phone as a hot spot and it was super slow.

The trails are nice, but the deer flies basically took any joy out of the ride. Prior to the ride, we sprayed both horses with equine fly spray and topped it off with a local Wisconsin bug repellent. Ari and I hosed down with Cutter’s Off, Avon’s Skin So Soft, and topped it with the Wisconsin bug repellent. We put belly guards on both horses. Despite all these measures, the flies swarmed us and the horses. We cut the ride short as we just couldn’t tolerate it.

A flock of sand cranes visited the campground. We also saw wild turkeys. There was also a large bald eagle nest with a bald eagle perched on a clutch of eggs. I saw the nest as we drove by and wasn’t able to get a picture. We took a drive finding to find it so I could get a picture, but weren’t able to find it.

Our first night we went into town and ate at Shady Akers BBQ. We ordered the brisket poutine and it was amazing-balls! Highly recommend it. One of the best dishes we have had this trip. Wisconsin has fabulous food.

It was a lively crowd and the bar was full. A train passed by and everyone in the place started hootin' and hollering and then people were jumping off their bar stools and running around to a different bar stool like it was musical chairs. Then the bartender yelled out "TWELVE!" and everybody cheered.

"What was that about?" I asked our server.

"Oh, it's a game we play," she explained. "Every time a train passes by, the bartender pulls a number out of a jar. The bar stools are labeled with numbers. If she pulls your number, you get a free drink."

It rained our second day, so we drove into the Wisconsin Dells. I wish we had spent more time, exploring the town of Baraboo. I saw they had a MagicQuest, but I hadn’t brought our wands. Ari and I spent the entire drive back to the campground kicking ourselves for leaving our magic wands at the campground.