Marathon Park Campround

Overall: TLDR (Stayed 6/5-6/8)
Site was easy to maneuver, convenient dump station. Unfortunately, cigarette butts and a few concerning interactions would prevent us from coming back. Park had many amenities and great park rangers. Does not seem to be well cared for/respected by locals.

Bonus:
- Cell Service: T-mobile said we had 5 bars but it came and went. Maybe we were not being prioritized on partner towers/ too much traffic.
- We ate at Lemongrass downtown. Food was really good, not authentic but tasty! Huge portions! Also, if you like spice ask for the spice rack to adjust to your taste. Fantastic recommendation by our server so it wasn't just more cayenne pepper. Oh, and avoid sitting next to the wall with the drums. They will bang them for every birthday very loudly. There were 3-4 while we ate dinner. We sat in the middle but felt bad for the couple sitting right next to the drums.

Access:
Easy to get in/out.

Location:
Central to Wausau, near downtown and UW. Unfortunately, that means city issues interrupting your camping trip.

Cleanliness:
Empty sites were clean and most of the occupied camper site were clean. Walking trails were mostly clean, but cigarette butts were littered all throughout the parks and trails. We didn't use bathrooms because we prefer our own, so no comment on those facilities.

Site Quality:
Pretty level, only a few minor adjustments. Gravel and grass site, convenient and clean dump station ($7.00).

Noise:
Not much noise with our a/c running on low.

Small campground close to downtown Wausau. The camp sites are under huge white pine trees, so plenty of shade. They do tend to drip sap onto your rig and car. No satellite and limited local tv stations. No campfires allowed. There are only two 50 amp sites: Site #16 and #25. No water or sewer, but there is a dump station. Sites are close together, best big rig sites are closer to Stewart Ave., sites 16, 22-25, 27. Nice showers. Great bike trail downtown along the river. Another great 26 mile bike trail is the Green Circle in Stevens Point, 30 miles south of Wausau.

This campground was celebrating their 100 year anniversary and it appears that their trees are 100 years tall and healthy. Very much shaded. In October you can easily find a spot and only self registration is allowed. There is water and dump station available as you arrive but not at the sites. The dump station costs $7 even if you camp there. 30 amp and 20 amp sites predominate. The sites are very soft gravel and fairly slanted so place all your chocks before unhitching. There is not much to do in or around the city but it is a good stop en route to Green Bay or Door County. Cellular coverage was good enough to stream and upload videos. All the television networks had good antenna reception. The park has many play areas for children.

This county park is electric only for $25 per night. We reserved online to make sure and get one of the 50 amp sites since it was August and we would need the A/C's. Most of the sites are 30 amp, only 2 are 50 amp. Online reservation fee was an added $8. The on-site self registration was simple as well.
The park itself is a multi-purpose facility with ice arena, picnic shelters, etc. Looks like locals use the paved trails for walking and biking.
The campground is in a large stand of huge pines, very nice. Lots of squirrels and robins for the cats to watch. Our site #25 accommodated the 40' motorhome and pickup with minimal leveling needed. The only drawback was some road noise, but we carry earplugs for sleeping so not a big deal. And the advantage of being close to the road is having a supermarket and Starbucks within easy walking distance!
If/when we come back this way this park will definitely be on our schedule.

I stopped at Marathon Park to break up a long drive from the Upper Peninsula to Minneapolis, and was pleasantly surprised by the size of Wausau and this well kept city campground.

The campground is in a mature pine stand and attached to a large city park. Centrally located near the University of Wisconsin campus, the park has a mix of primitive and electric-only sites. It’s open through the end of October and I had the place almost to myself, sharing it only with an Airstream and R-Pod.

Looks like they have a host and reservable sites in prime season, but it was self registration in October. Called the posted phone number to get the bathroom codes and a person answered on a Sunday afternoon. Avoid the bathrooms though, if you’re in a rig that has it’s own.

Some road noise and there must be a rail depot nearby because I had about an hour of idling trains late at night.

All in all a clean, well designed campground centrally located in a bustling town. If you’re into art and/or birds, be sure to check out the free Leigh Yawkey Woodson museum.