Welcome!
I spent many summer vacations being hunted by skeeters up there. One of my sisters still lives there (It's amazing she has any blood left at all
Hey, just across the river from Steven's Point is a park called "Yellow River State Park". If you go there the weekend before Memorial Day you'll have a great time camping and taking day hikes and you'll have the whole park all to yourselves. This might be a good place to test out your gear.
If you're all new to backpacking I have to recommend you spend some time reading up on the gear list recommendations here and getting to know the area where you'll be packing in to. When you're packing with friends you should remember not to duplicate items you can share, like camp stoves, cookware, first aid items, etc. (see below for why this is important).
Don't try and do to many miles. Take your time and enjoy being outdoors. Backpacking and hiking are not races or distance contests. The real key to enjoying backpacking is in the number of hours you get to spend doing it, not the number of miles you go doing it.
Listen, Colorado has some tough laws, so don't do anything stupid there cuz they have a private prison system that donates heavily to judges running for election. Don't drink and drive and don't piss off law enforcement. Personally, I won't go there. (And I try not to go to Illinois anymore either
And be sure to take aimless's advice. Everything I mention above and much more is summed up in it.
Finally, and this is important, always remember...
Lighter gear = more beer.
(I learned that while studying Physics in the field)
Bill