STW2 Hop 1
180 miles via US 51, US 151, US 20 and IA 150.
I have been to Dubuque before, but it has probably been over 60 years. Things have changed. The route – primarily US 151 – is a very nice 4-lane road that winds and dips through some beautiful rural countryside. Despite the intermittent rain, we enjoyed the ride very much.
Cornfields beyond the sites
Our home for the 8 days in the Madison area was the Viking Village Campground in Stoughton WI, about 15 miles from downtown Madison. It is pretty basic, as campgrounds go – it has a pool and a covered picnic area and not much else. But it has expansive grounds nested amid cornfields and some interesting wildlife. We observed prairie dogs, colorful songbirds and Sandhill cranes while we were there – none of which I had ever seen in the 18 years I spent in the area as a child.
Our site was a back-in which was a little cramped getting into, but once situated we had a lot of privacy. Our back window overlooked a large wooded grassy area. The park was less than half full, so for most of the stay we had an unobstructed view down to the huge front lawn.
The park has an interesting history. You can read about it below.
Madison doesn’t offer a lot of campgrounds, so their competition is not intense, but we would stay here again.
Volleyball and minigolf
Viking Village history