Two nights in the dunes, brats over your own fire, and surfing the Malibu of the Midwest.
Camp two nights among the dunes at Kohler-Andrae State Park, 10 minutes from downtown Sheboygan. You will grill award-winning brats from a real Sheboygan butcher at your site, walk the Dunes Cordwalk, putt the harbor-side mini golf and climb around an 1894 shipwreck in town, and let the kids try freshwater surfing on the way out. Most of the trip costs less than one night at a resort.
A trip planned with you, not for you.
This is a read-only preview of Rosie's builder. Switch between list, map, and calendar to explore the trip. In your own, every stop is yours to move, swap, or rebuild.
Each day, told as a story
Camp is the anchor and town is the field trip: mornings in the dunes, one big paid thrill a day, and back to the fire by dark.
Shop the brat stops, learn the dunes, set up camp, cook over the fire.
Dune hike, harbor mini golf, shipwreck beach afternoon, supper club, campfire.
Break camp, cafe breakfast, surf lesson, chocolate for the road.
Best for your kid's age
Family Score rates each venue 0–100 based on age-appropriateness, safety, and fun factor.
If your youngest is 0–3
Kohler-Andrae State Park
Two miles of sand and shallow entry for supervised splashing and digging.
Deland Park
Free city beach with a playground right behind the sand.
Victorian Chocolate Shoppe
Old-time candy counter where a dollar still buys something.
If your youngest is 4–8
Kohler-Andrae State Park
Dunes to climb, a nature center scavenger hunt, and s’mores at your own site.
Deland Park
A real shipwreck on the lawn plus beach time equals a whole afternoon.
Sanderling Nature Center
A dune-top nature center with a rooftop deck and a scavenger hunt.
If your youngest is 9–12
Johnsonville Marketplace
The giant brat photo op and sausage HQ novelty land squarely with tweens.
Weather Center Cafe
Charter boats head out past the window while breakfast lands.
EOS Surf Shop
Learning to surf in Wisconsin is an unbeatable first-day-of-school story.
What it costs
A typical 3-day, 2-night camping weekend for a family of 4
Estimated total
$475 - $740
ex. lodging · family of 4 · 3 days
Campsite, 2 nights + reservation fee + vehicle admission
$75-$170
Surf lesson for two, mini golf for four
$230-$260
Groceries, brats, supper club dinner, ice cream
$150-$250
Gas and firewood
$40-$70
Skip the surf lesson and rent boards instead: surfboards run $40 to $50 a day at EOS, and wetsuits $30 to $40, roughly half the cost of lessons for two.
Deland Park, the Lottie Cooper shipwreck, and every beach on this trip are free; the only per-person tickets all weekend are mini golf and the surf lesson.
Buy the 12-month state park pass ($28 for Wisconsin plates) if you will visit any state park twice this year; it pays for itself on the second trip.
Five things we wish we'd known
Reserve at wisconsin.goingtocamp.com up to 11 months out; summer weekends go near the window. Electric sites (52 of 137) go first. Non-residents add $15 a night.
No lifeguards anywhere on this shoreline, and Lake Michigan rip currents are real. Check the National Weather Service beach forecast each morning, and remember the water only hits about 70°F in late July.
Even July nights drop to the low 60s by the lake. Bring layers, water shoes for the beach, and a headlamp per kid.
Cordwalk early while the sand is cool, mini golf before the 11am families arrive, and Deland after lunch once the lake has warmed a degree. The parlor plugs any gap between them.
Miesfeld’s sells award-winning brats by the pound plus charcoal (closed Sundays, so shop on the way in). Fry over coals, never boil, and serve as a double on a hard roll.
Make this your Sheboygan trip in about 8 minutes.
Swap stops, change dates, add your own picks. Rosie keeps the rhythm intact.