Wisconsin

ABOUT WISCONSIN

Woods and water are two of the reasons WISCONSIN has become the Midwest's vacation playground; from the nation's largest collection of indoor waterparks to 22,000 miles of groomed snowmobile trails, a variety of indoor and outdoor activities await Wisconsin winter travelers. In the summer, if you enjoy camping, biking, boating, hiking, picnicking or just hitting the beach, there is a state park, forest or trail waiting for you; there are ethnic, food and music festivals everywhere.

ASHLAND/BAYFIELD is the gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 22 islands that are home to lighthouses, sea caves, hiking trails and blue-water sailing. The Superior Water-Logged Lumber Company at Ashland salvages 100-year-old logs from Lake Superior. Near Ashland is the Northern Great Lakes Regional Visitor Center. Between Ashland and Bayfield, Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua stages cabaret entertainment under the Big Top.

The "Timber Trails" in CHIPPEWA VALLEY feature historic museums, auto tours, nature trails, and parks. Located in the rolling hills and river valleys of West Central Wisconsin, the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire traces the history of the Ojibwa people and tell stories of townbuilders who arrived during the mid-19th century lumber boom. The Paul Bunyan Logging Camp is an authentic replica of an 1880s logging camp.

GREAT RIVER ROAD links the river towns that have established themselves on the banks of the Mississippi. Stonefield Village and State Agricultural Museum at Cassville is a replica of an 1890’s Wisconsin rural village. North of Cassville is Prairie du Chien which preserves local history at the Museum at Fort Crawford and at Villa Louis Historic Site. Other towns include La Crosse, and Trempealeau with its picturesque Main street.

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin’s oldest community, is famous for its namesake Green Bay Packers football team whose legendary past and present can be viewed at the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame. City attractions include the 25 historic buildings and costumed interpreters at the Heritage Hill Living History, and the National Railroad Museum.

HAYWARD LAKES region keeps its past alive with the Lumberjack World Championships, but fishing enthusiasts know it better as the home of the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. There’s also family fun at Scheers Lumberjack Shows. An interesting tour nearby at Couderay is of The Hideout, the retreat once owned by gangster Al Capone. The first female white buffalo born in 600 years and sacred to the Native Americans can be seen at Miracle - The White Buffalo, JANESVILLE. Just south of Janesville at Beloit visitors will find the Hanchett-Bartlett Homestead, a 1857 Victorian farmstead, and at the Angel Museum, the world’s largest museum of angels.

LAKE GENEVA, a resort community, offers camping, hiking and swimming at Big Foot Beach State Park. North of Lake Geneva at Eagle costumed interpreters illuminate Wisconsin pioneer life at Old World Wisconsin.

LAKE WINNEBAGO is the largest inland lake in Wisconsin and has some interesting destinations along its edges including Appleton, hometown of magician Harry Houdini, with its Houdini Historical Center/Outagamie Museum. Other attractions include Oshkosh with its EAA Airventure Museum, the Historic Galloway House and Village at Fond du Lac, a restored 30-room Victorian mansion set in a complex of 23 other historic buildings.

MADISON, the capital, blends big city culture with small town charm. Madison’s city center is dominated by the State Capitol, modeled after the Capitol in Washington DC. On Saturday mornings from early spring to late fall farmers transform the Capitol Square into the open-air Dane County Farmers' Market. State Street in Madison has an eclectic collection of shops, restaurants, nightclubs and galleries while the Museum Mile includes six museums: Madison Art Center, Madison Children's Museum, State Historical Museum, Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Elvehjem Museum of Art, and UW Geology Museum. There is also the Henry Vilas Zoo and the Olbrich Botanical Gardens & Tropical Conservatory.

Known as Wisconsin’s “Maritime Capital”, MANITOWOC has the largest maritime museum on the Great Lakes with displays of everything from wooden sailing ships to a World War II submarine. The Pinecrest Historical Village is a living history museum with 23 historic buildings.

MILWAUKEE is the home of Miller beer (brewery tours are available) and Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but one of its landmark buildings is the Basilica of St Josaphat which is designed after St. Peter's in Rome. The city’s array of museums includes the Betty Brinn Children's Museum, the William F. Einer Museum of Advertising & Design and the International Clown Hall of Fame. Other attractions include the Boerner Botanical Gardens, Discovery World, the Milwaukee County Zoo, Pettit National Ice Center, the Schlitz Audubon Center, wildlife sanctuary, and the Wehr Nature Center, a 'Living laboratory' designed to foster environmental awareness.

Near Milwaukee, GERMANTOWN has embraced its heritage over the past few years and the town’s Dheinsville Historic Park has several restored buildings and a collection of 5,000 bells.

The main thoroughfare of MOUNT HOREB is decorated with life-size carved, wooden trolls, the classic creatures of Scandinavian folklore. It also boasts the Mustard Museum, the world’s largest collection of mustard. Just west of Mt. Horeb, the Scandinavian theme continues in the community of blue mounds where the attraction Little Norway features an 1850s-era Norwegian pioneer farmstead.

South of Mt Horeb there is a Swiss Historical Village at NEW GLARUS.

Famous for its kringle, a delectable Danish pastry, RACINE is also famous for architect Frank Lloyd Wright who designed the S.C. Johnson Wax Company corporate headquarters. Racine’s Zoological Gardens is home to more than 300 animals.

The Logging Museum Complex at RHINELANDER is a full-scale reproduction of a 19th century logging camp with narrow-gauge railroad. Nearby in the region are Carl’s Wood Art Museum at Eagle River and at Laono there is the Lumberjack Special Steam Train & Camp Five Museum.

SPRING GREEN's most famous native son, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, built his Wisconsin home, Taliesin just outside Spring Green in the early 1900s. Just south of town, a more idiosyncratic architectural creation than anything Wright designed is on display at House on the Rock, a huge complex of several buildings housing a museum of oddities and collectibles built atop a 60ft. chimney of rock.

With its Door County Maritime Museum, STURGEON BAY is an ideal place to begin or end a visit to Door County which has 250 miles of shoreline, five state parks, cherry and apple orchards and artist colonies and a variety of attractions.

WISCONSIN DELLS is one of the state’s premier vacation destinations. Its waterparks include America’s largest, Noah’s Ark, and the FamilyLand/Bay of Dreams. The original Russian MIR space station is at Tommy Bartlett’s Robot World & Exploratory.

Some 13 miles to the south of Wisconsin Dells, BARABOO, hometown of the Ringling Brothers, attracts visitors with Circus World Museum, the world’s largest collection of antique circus wagons and memorabilia.