By:
Submission
From jct US 18 & Hwy 35/60/27: Go 7 mi N on Hwy 35.
Generally, since I work in the customer service industry, I am reticent on giving negative reviews unless I feel that I have been treated in a manner that is just absolutely rude or unprofessional, and if I could give ZERO stars on this occasion, I would.
I am certain that the people that stay here long term have a very good relationship with the facility; there sites looked lovely, well taken care of and nicely maintained, and those are the photos you see on the facility's website. However, as vacationing travelers passing through for just 3 nights, our experience was brief and abysmal. We had booked many weeks previously, basing our booking on the 4.4 google rating, obviously based upon the opinion of those who stay on a seasonal basis, and we mailed them deposit checks of $40 per site to hold our reservations.
We were traveling as three couples in 3 RVs; a Class A, Class B, and Class C. We had been assured over our previous phone contacts that we would have 3 sites together. Upon arriving, after driving for 6 hours through some bad weather, we were shown 3 sites; 1 being a so called "pull through" which was in the middle of what appeared to be the driveway around the campground, right in front of the maintenance shed. The other 2 sites were back in or pull in, whichever we preferred. All 3 of the sites were 100% covered in white rock, like a parking lot, with no shade within 50 yards. The only thing that even gave any indication that these sites were possibly campsites at all was that there were oddly spaced electric and water hookups.
There were NONE of the following: Picnic Tables, Fire Rings, Grass, or Trees. When I asked Dave- the manager/owner/who ever he was- "Are there any sites with trees or grass," he looked up at the cloudy sky and said, "I don't think that's going to be and issue." (NOTE: if we had stayed as planned, the next day it was sunny and 80+ degrees and we would have roasted on the white rocks). When I said that the situation was unacceptable, he said, "What did you expect?" To which I responded, "At the very least a picnic table!" He said that he had found that he didn't like dealing with people like us "because we were never satisfied. " To which I said, "If we had been delivered on what was promised at the cost quoted, we would have been satisfied." He then said, "Well, that's we get for dealing with the general public instead of making this a private campground." To which I replied, "Well, then you should put that at the very top of your website." He didn't like that and he walked away. I got the feeling that the way Dave acted from the beginning, it was as if he knew we were not going to be happy with the campground before we even arrived.
If the rate had only been $10 a night, we might have just said, screw it- we were tired and stayed the night, and left early in the AM and been on our way, but after being so rudely dismissed by this jerk who thought our expectations were "unreasonable," we weren't staying any longer than necessary.
So, in short, if you're just passing through and looking for a place to stop for a night or two, don't believe anything that you see or read on Frenchman's Landing's website, and do yourself a favor and go across the river from Prairie du Chien and 3 miles south past McGregor, Iowa to Pikes Peak State Park, and for $16 a night you can get a really nice, shaded electric campsite with lovely hiking trails and great views of the Upper Mississippi River Valley. They have picnic tables and fire rings, and lots of shade trees.
It is a clean, well organized campground, with the exception of a couple of dead trees. We enjoyed our stay there, for the most part. The one drawback is the close proximity to double train tracks. The trains run both ways 24/7 So don't plan on a full night of uninterrupted sleep!
Got a great shade spot. Grounds are kept extremely picked up and clean. Friendly folks everywhere. And Dave is an amazing host. Great place, can't wait to bring my family back for future visits.
This is a great campground several miles north of Prairie du Chien. It's not overly large and it seems that most sites are permanent residents. The owners were extremely friendly and nice to work with. Since the campground is on the Mississippi River, there are train tracks and unfortunately, the trains blow their horns at night. If you have kids, they'll love hearing the rumble, horn, then see the train. Also, there is a boat landing on site. The bathrooms we're clean and maintained. There is a dump station with running water. Seems like most sites have power and water. There is WiFi, but it was pretty slow. We'd easily come back.
