Camping amongst the pines in Mauston

Rich Palzewic

Staff

May 26, 2025

MAUSTON – Known for its tall pines and a nearby, picturesque lake, Owner Jim Hentrich Sr. said Castle Rock Hideaway in Mauston has a little bit of everything for guests and campers.

For those wanting more luxurious accommodations, Hentrich said the campground has 12 cabins available.

For those looking to pitch a tent or park a camper, he said Castle Rock is in the process of adding 30 seasonal and five weekend sites to the property.

“I took over ownership in December 2023,” he said. “I’d estimate the campground has been around for about a dozen years, but the front cottages on the property have been here since the late 1950s.”

Much work to be done

Hentrich said the cottages are still in “pretty good shape,” but since he took over, one of his main goals has been “to fix them up.”

“I’ve remodeled one of them so far, and I want to eventually put new roofs on all of them,” he said. “I’d like to open them up a bit because they are older cottages and have lower ceilings.”

Located at N6187 County Road G, Hentrich said of the 12 cabins, six are larger and six are more cottage-like.

“The six that are larger, those are open year-round, and those are nicer log cabins,” he said. “They have all the amenities people need – electricity, running water, a decent-sized living room, a bathroom and a full kitchen with utensils. Two of the big log cabins have gas fireplaces. There is also a double door going between the two cabins.”

Hentrich said the six smaller cottages are fairly similar in what’s offered.

“Those have a small living room, a small kitchen with all the utensils and a bathroom,” he said. “All of the cabins are either two-bedroom or three-bedroom, and they also have a futon in the living room where somebody could use it if they wanted as a bed.”

Hentrich said he realizes times are different compared to a decade ago, so he’s working on making the campground more Wi-Fi-friendly.

“I’ve got Wi-Fi set up for the main house, but we’re in the process of trying to get that upgraded to a better system to reach a little further out… But we’re not quite to that stage yet,” he said. “In this day and age, Wi-Fi is a wanted amenity by many, so it’s something we’re working on.”

Hentrich said one cabin has already been extensively remodeled, while another also saw some work.

“With one of the front cottages, we remodeled the whole inside of it,” he said. “It’s a two-bedroom, two-bath, and we tore the floors out and re-leveled the cabin itself because it was tilted a bit,” he said. “We put all new carpeting in, remodeled both bathrooms – putting (new) flooring, showers and toilets in.” 

Hentrich said he has also done extensive work outside of the cabins.

“I put in a double basketball hoop that’s placed inside of a gravity wagon, so people can shoot the ball, and the ball comes down a little table and comes right back to you,” he said. “I also put in two big fire pits and have about 10 chairs around each. We have a lot of family reunions here, so the fire pits will allow people to hang out.”

Besides doing more cabin work in the next few years, Hentrich said he also wants to “fix up” the pond on site.

“The pond is in the center of the property, and I want to drain that, put a liner in, fill it back up and have it usable for fishing and swimming,” he said. “Pools and ponds at campgrounds are very popular, so I think that would be a nice upgrade. I’m hoping to do that next year.”

Hentrich said Castle Rock Hideaway also has a bait shop that offers soda and frozen pizzas.

A need for a campground

Hentrich said when he bought the property, and after walking around its 11 acres, he could envision a campground.

From there, he went to the municipality with his idea of building a campground.

“From the village’s perspective, you can only put so many campers per acre, so I told them I just wanted to put 35 campsites in,” he said. “I told them I didn’t plan on expanding or anything like that – I just wanted to keep it small and have it as a quiet area.”

After the proposal was accepted, Hentrich said the work began.

“I did a lot of tree cutting, but I also wanted to keep as many trees as possible because people like shade, too,” he said. “After I knew how the campground was going to be laid out, I began searching for electricians and plumbers.”

The campground project, Hentrich said, also included the construction of a shower house.

“The shower house has four bathrooms that are all handicapped-accessible, so there is plenty of room in each of them,” he said. “The village told me I needed to have some kind of a tornado shelter, so the shower house also serves as that. I’m just waiting on the roof, and then we’re putting in a new septic tank and well.” 

Hentrich said there has been a lot of interest in the seasonal sites – where guests set up their camper for the entire season.

“I’ve already got about 18 people on a waiting list for the seasonal sites – the interest has been good,” he said. “The seasonal sites have full hookups – water, sewer and electricity. The weekend sites are not metered.”

With prices increasing and labor costs high, Hentrich said “it’s a good thing I’m handy.”

“I’ve done a lot of the work myself, which has really helped,” he said. “I have a friend who came and helped with cutting the trees down – that’s something you really can’t and shouldn’t do by yourself. But for the most part, I have pretty much done all the work myself.”

Though he was initially hoping to have the new campground open by Memorial Day Weekend, Hentrich said that didn’t happen. 

“We are waiting on a DNR permit, so that put us behind a bit,” he said. “We’re hoping to have the campground up and running by June. Depending on the weather, the season usually stays open until mid-October.”

Show me the water

A big attraction to the campground, Hentrich said, is Castle Rock Lake – Wisconsin’s fourth-largest lake, featuring about 16,000 square acres of surface and 70 miles of shoreline.

“It’s beautiful,” he said. “It has great fishing for walleye, northern, catfish, bluegill, etc. There are quite a few bars all the way around the lake. There is a dam on both the north and south ends of the lake.”

The lake, Hentrich said, always sees “tons of boats and people on the lake” on the Fourth of July holiday.

“It’s very large, but it’s not super deep,” he said. “The Wisconsin River flows right through the center of it, so toward the middle part, it’s about 35 feet deep at its deepest point. Additionally, there are a lot of five-, six-, 10- and 20-foot spots.”

Hentrich said the campground is about a quarter mile from Juneau County Castle Rock Park, which offers a boat landing.

A vision in the making

The almost-60-year-old Hentrich said several years ago, he and his wife first came up with the idea of possibly buying a campground.

He said they’ve owned two campers in their lives, so they thought it sounded like a good idea.

“We started shopping around for campgrounds, and in about 18 months’ time, we probably looked at about nine,” he said. “What I liked about Castle Rock Hideaway was that it wasn’t too big or too small. I didn’t want to buy a campground with a bar on it because I’m a quiet person. After about an hour and a half of talking (with the previous owner), she wanted me to put in an offer – the rest is history.”

Hentrich said the previous owner “loved my vision for the campground.”

“She’s been here three times since I bought it,” he said. “When you buy a property like this, you want to honor what it has been for so long.” 

For more information on Castle Rock Hideaway or to make reservations, visit castlerockhideaway.com.