Black Forest Camping

We've been wanting to go to the black forest, but needed a better excuse than to go all the way out there for a cookoo clock.  So, for 4th of July, we decided to do a family camping trip. 
We went with another family and it worked out great b/c then my kids had more than just eachother to play with.
It took me a couple of weeks to figure out which campsite we wanted to go to.  I didn't want one that was huge and overpopulated and where your tent was right up against someone elses.  I didn't want to be 'glamping', but I also wanted to be able to use the restroom and shower in some sort of primitive bathroom set up and have the possibility of electrical hook up if needed.
We found the perfect place and you can find them here.
What sold me on this place was:  the location, the running stream where the kids could play in and stay cool in the stifling July heat, parking, playground for the kids, electrical hook up, running water, and that there was a specific camping area designated for no cars (so the kids could run around freely and not have to worry about someone backing up or hitting them).
When we arrived, this place well over exceeded my expectations.
The owner was out on an errand, but left us a personalized note and map of where to set up our tents. (I had previously reserved certain tent sites based on the map that their website provided).
The note was wonderful and a great personal touch from this 'mom and pop' owned campsite.
We found a parking spot at the entrance of the campsite and there were multiple sized wagons to carry your camping gear from your car to your site.

the small building to the left is where you check in/out and

where the wagons are stored to cart your camping supplies.

View from top of site hill.  Parking is to the right, ,bathrooms are the stairs to the left,

check in is right behind from where I took the photo.

View from the top of the site hill.  Parking on the left,

to the right is the bathrooms and check in.

Another view of parking on the right and campsite down on the left. 

Cars are not allowed in this part of the site, which is why I chose it. 

In other parts of the campsite in the WAY back you can find parking along with your tent areas.

You can see the little wooden bridge to cross over with your wagon of supplies

and the small stream the kids are playing in.

It took us about 4 trips to get everything from our car to the site where we were setting our tent up. This was super easy because there is a little wooden bridge that we went over to get to our site (since we selected the campsite that cars were not allowed to drive on). 

Another view of the small bridge to bring your camping supplies from the parking area

to the actual site with the wagons provided.

We set up our tent while the kids explored the campsite area.
There is a small park for the kids to play at and a VERY shallow water splash area from the stream that the kids an cool down in. 

We also brought a covered canopy, with screens, to keep bugs out and this thing SAVED us on more than one occasion and shielded us from the dreadful heat of the sun.  By far, the entire summer we ended up camping on the HOTTEST weekend!  We put our kitchen prep table in there and a small fold out picnic table that fit the 4 kids perfectly.  It was great! (I pinterested the mess out of this trip and used lots of little tips and had 'stations' for kitchen prep, etc.).

You can see all the space that we had. 

To the left of this picture is small faucet that had running water readily available.← 

Also, because of all the space in the center, all the kids of all nationalities played soccer in the afternoon. 

It was so neat to see that even though not everyone spoke the same language,

the kids didn't care and were able to play together well.

The good news is that due to the side of the grounds that our tent was set up at, we were shaded in the late afternoon and our tent cooled off for the nighttime.  We were right beside the stream and the coolness from being by the water helped a little as well as the GLORIOUS sound of the flowing water put us to sleep every night.  I loved it!

The stream was surprisingly cold, so we utilized that to keep our drinks cool.  My husband joked that this was the 'best catch of the day';)

There's a lot to do in the nearby town where the site is at, but honestly we only went exploring one day because the site had such great stuff to relax and keep everyone entertained. 
Tip:  We reserved our campsite near the stream and beside our friends so that we could have everything set up together. 
I emailed the campsite to find out about the electrical set up of the campsite and what European plugs were necessary.  I'm glad I did!

I was able to buy a cord exactly like the one pictured, at our local hardware store-easy peasy. 

If you are going with another family, compare menus and resources.  You can team up for meals and prevent double packing items=saving space in the long run.
The bathrooms were great!  The showers were timed and you had to pay in euro coins.  I wish I had known this, because at the end of the trip we were scrounging for change.lol.

The main building.  There are men and women showers and restrooms. 

You can see that there is a very large outdoor sink to wash your dishes in if necessary.

There was only one shower for the women and one shower for the men on the other side of the women's facilities.  The stall to the left is the single shower.  The stall to the right is a changing and washing up area.  There is also the sink where you can brush your teeth, etc.

Here is the shower stall.  You can see the box where you pay for the shower. 

It was something like 3 euro for an 8 minutes shower. 

You push the green button after you put in your coins for the shower to start.  Very efficient.

Next door to the shower area, was a completely separate women's bathroom. 

This had 2 stalls and a sink as well.

None of the bathroom facilities were coed, which I was grateful for.  In Europe a lot of restrooms and changing facilities are coed for things like camping and public pools, etc.
Pinterest hack for sleeping:  I got 2 cheap blow up swim floats and put under my kiddos sleeping bags for extra cushion-worked great!

We had a great time and would recommend this place to anyone.  We would definitely go again.

Happy Camping!