WI < Sandhill Station Campground, Lake Mills < 17-18 April 2017 < site scouting trip

**Gsx-rboy750** · 04-11-2017, 23:01

Originally Posted by Watertooner

I was thinking of picking up a dutch oven this weekend and trying some stuffed Cornish hens for Monday supper. If that sounds good, let's build off of that.

Thats only one course... lol
Ok I can plan around that.

**Karla "with a k"** · 04-21-2017, 22:00

Hey, how'd the night go? I was thinking of y'all!!

**Watertooner** · 04-21-2017, 22:07

This is the Part 1 report of my site scouting trip to Sandhill Station Campground:

One of my goals for this trip was to set-up a Pet Palace from Cave Creek Hammocks for the first time in the "wild" and train my dogs to go in and out.

Step 1 was to pitch my Superfly tarp using a CRL and then to string a second continuous ridgeline with tato tarp connectors to be able to hang the Pet Palace beneath the tarp.

Step 2: Stake out the corners of the Pet Palace waterproof "tub."

Step 3: Add one hammock and two happy dogs (Sally on the left, Gypsy on the right)

Comments: The easy part of setting up was attaching the Pet Palace to the CRL with tato tarp connectors and staking it down. Once I added the WBBB XLC (11' long), I had to adjust the hang angle of the tree straps a couple times and the whoopie lengths a couple times to get the whipped ends of the hammock in the cinch sleeves of the Pet Palace. It "just" fits, but I didn't try too hard to get the foot end higher than the head end of the hammock as is recommended for the Blackbird XLC. Since I was car camping this site, I brought two old dog beds and a couple towels to cover the canines at night. It got down to @40˚overnight and they both were comfy and warm. On this trip, I didn't use the pull-outs on the front side of the Pet Palace to create more space inside. I'll add more comments later about training the dogs to use the Pet Palace.

**Watertooner** · 04-21-2017, 22:46

Part 2 of my report will show the different site options at the campground. There are 15 individual sites arranged in a U-shaped loop in one half of the campground in an area that is an oak savannah. Most of the trees are very mature. Of the 15 sites, there were 2 or 3 that could work for hammockers who needed two trees to hang. The rest of the sites would be fine for anyone with tripod stands or with a "one stand-one tree" arrangement. Campers aren't able to drive right up to their chosen sites, but must walk-in from the parking lot. That being the case, the farthest site was about 100 yds away. This part of the campground has well water, pit toilets, but no electricity.

Site 5 has a group of trees that could work for two hammocks:

Site 8 has an obvious issue once you look closely:

Site 15 has an interesting group of trees to hang from. It's a bit close to the road that leads to Mud Lake, but the campground closes to all traffic at 11:00 p.m. There were no vehicles after sunset anyway. The one-lane road is just on the other side of the fence in the background.

Site 16 is the only site designated for Groups and has the most options for tree hangers. We counted at least 10 locations without trying too hard. I took the following photos back on Jan. 8 so don't get fooled by the snow!

Comments: The parking lot and biffy for the Group site are just a few yards away. There is no running water, but there is electricity, if needed. The campground well is about 150 yards away.

Here's what the Group Site looks like in April:

This campground is very low profile for WI campgrounds. Campers can self-register at the entrance. There is very little competition for spots as a "busy" weekend means 3 of 16 sites are being used. If you ever get the itch to hang outdoors, but didn't make a reservation in time at a "popular" campground, you will more than likely be able to pop in for a quiet outing at Sandhill Station.