thomson causeway recreation area

Wonderful easy walking on the trails through the causeway and the prairie next to it.Lots of interesting water fowl, turtles, frogs & jumping fish. It sometimes does flood in the Spring - making some of the trails impassable, but even then, you're right on the Mississippi with a great view. Several different playground areas that work well for all ages.

LOVE this campground. The older couple that run it are absolute gems and will go out of their way to help you. We have stayed in two areas of this campground. Site 40 : Right on the water with a waterfowl house on the tree to the right(when facing site at front). Just lovely, these are ON the water so you can actually catch fish right from your site, watch the wild life go past your camper and catch the breeze. Site 90 : We have stayed at a variety of sites on this end of the campground. If you have dog(s) and you can get a group of three campers total book sites 90, 91 and 92. 91 and 92 are a buddy site. This allows for a HUGE grass area for your dogs, kids and camping crew to play around in. We have taken the whole river front up with our largest group and I book as far in advance as they let me usually so book up early. :)Showers/Flush Bathrooms and pit toilets are all clean and kept nice.Now for the one thing that might give you a shove to the time of year or actual sites you aim for...bugs. If you are campers that are always complaining about bugs and will hide indoors at the first dip of the sun. Aim for EARLY spring or fall for this campground. If you are in the middle like us and can handle bugs but prefer to not feel their wrath too much aim for the first come first serve area in the 29-78 area in the summer, this is where the breeze is pretty constant.

We went with 4 other families. The children enjoyed riding bikes, catching turtles, frogs, fish and even seeking a snake. YUCK! My only complaint was the restroom closest to out sites was gross. We rode our bikes to the better bathroom and shower house. Next visit we would like to stay right on the river side.

We had heard about Army Corps of Engineer Campgrounds but this was out first experience. What a beautiful spot on the Mississippi. Over 130 spacious sites, paved roads, cement pads, and overall very well kept. It got nearly full - the water view sites went first. Off the beaten path and well worth it.

We stayed here for 2 nights with a tent. Our spot was fully shaded, had a picnic table and firepit with a grill. The views of the river right within the campground were great. The kids enjoyed throwing stones into the water, the playground, and the unusually big swarm of mayflies... the mosquitoes, not so much. We had to spray and re-spray the entire time until the morning we packed up, when a nice breeze kept them abay. The staff were very friendly and constantly on patrol- a tree fell during the night blocking a road and they had that sawed and towed away early the next morning. The bathrooms were clean- my kids were happy to have the option of flushable toilets and showers. We will return, but next time we will not pick the nearest spot to the pit toiliet as we would get a whiff every now and then. And bring our bikes to ride around the campground and on the river trail, which passes right by the campground.

the view of the mississippi is just great. The wild life also you can watch the beavers build their lodges. the turtles lay eggs in May and June.

We've been camping at the Thomson Causeway for several years now. The area is right on the Mississippi River and every site has a view of the water. We're tent campers and although there are only a few sites (5) they are well maintained, spacious and comfortable. A firepit at each site and a very nice (new) picnic table. Our boys (7 and 10) fish right off the rocks, just steps from our campsite, in the shallow backwaters of the river. There are 3 shower houses - clean and well-maintained and outhouses throughout the campground for a quick stop. I especially enjoyed the brand new one!! The entire campground is very quiet and our children enjoy riding their bikes through the different loops. Plenty of Park Rangers (Army Corps personnel) and a visit or two by the Thomson Police just to make sure everything is running smoothly. The only negatives are, - LOTS of bugs, but you're in the woods on the banks of the Mississippi at the end of August - can't really blame the park for that!! But, bring your DEET and a yard guard fogger for the best protection. Also, there is a great deal of poison ivy on the fringe of the park. Not at all in the public areas but if you're walking on the edge of the woods, you'll find some. The Rangers are firm about vehicles being in parking spots, not on the grass or double parked, but there are a lot of spots throughout the campground and they were very pleasant about asking us to move our cars on the couple of occasions we tried to break the rules. I highly recommend the Causeway for camping!

This is one of our favorite campgrounds. Cement pads to set camper on. Great views. The most inexpensive place in the area to camp.