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Discover Delightful Spots in Wisconsin

There are plenty of appealing places and things to see in Wisconsin. My section presenting photography of the Countryside can get your mind set on enjoying the ride. The section on the Great Outdoors tips you off to stunning parks in the state I have visited. This section will acquaint you with other delightful spots to visit that I simply felt compelled to show you.

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.”

Herman Melville

Algoma

Algioma, situated on Lake Michigan, is a great stand-alone stop, and a super stop if you’re heading to Door County, whether coming from Milwaukee or Green Bay.

Algoma would serve you well as a base for visiting Door County and Green Bay. It is a small community, with a wonderful sand beach, boardwalk, and shops. It is a quiet, welcoming place to plant your feet and relax.

I liked walking out to the Pierhead Lighthouse and getting some good old Wisconsin oxygen.

Baraboo - The Circus

Baraboo in Sauk County is often called “Circus City” because Ringling Brothers saw the city as its home from about 1884 - 1918.

The Circus World Museum features many historical remnants of the Ringing Circus and also holds live shows. Baraboo is one of the cities in the country where many varied commercial entities surround the courthouse in the center.

One of those is the Ringling Theater, “America’s Prettiest Playhouse.” It opened its doors in 1915, has been restored, and now hosts plays, cinemas, and orchestras. There is a lot to do in the city and in the rural areas around it.

Bayfield

We go from one marvelous harbor to another. Conde Nast Traveler has named Bayfield as one of “The 23 Best Places to Go in the US in 2023.”

The city is amazing as its population is below 600. The harbor opens up to the magic of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands. The city is enchanting and charming. The Chamber of Commerce has coined the phrase, “Where the water meets the soul.”

I have visited Bayfield a number of times. I do not tire of it. I always find something new to me and always enjoy these discoveries. Last time, I found a small coffee and ice cream shop in the town center. I had some of both and sat in the park overlooking the bay, captivated by the beauty and wonder of it all. I took the ferry to Madeline Island.

Cornucopia - a picturesque harbor

I recall the first time I visited Cornucopia. I thought, ha, what a crazy place. It is on the shore of Lake Superior, in a small bay called Siskiwit. Many know the town as “Corny.” I like that.

On my first visit, I thought it was on old beat-up place that did not merit nay attention. Then I got out of my car and walked around. I ended up being fascinated why the place. Many of the buildings indeed are old. Some present the image of an old sea-town.

There are a few very old Lake Superior boats parked on just above the beach. At the time I knew very little about such boats, so this was a good learning experience. People have occupied the old buildings and are working hard to make a go of their business.

Covered bridges

It is arguable how many covered bridges there are in Wisconsin. Wikipedia says, “there are five authentic covered bridges in … Wisconsin; only one of them is historic.

A covered bridge is considered authentic not due to its age, but by its construction.

An authentic bridge is constructed using trusses rather than other methods such as stringers, a popular choice for non-authentic covered bridges.” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2018 that there were “8 picture-perfect covered bridges to visit around Wisconsin.” I’ll keep looking, but I have come across three.

Cranberries, Wisconsin’s native crop

When you say Wisconsin, you say cranberries! Wisconsin is the international leader in cranberry production, yielding 60 percent of the world’s crop. Furthermore, University of Wisconsin (UW) research has helped Badger growers achieve this.

Growing cranberries begins in the spring. A road trip through Wisconsin Rapids, Warrens, Pittsville, Nekoosa, and Tomah in the fall will reveal cranberry marshes in full bloom and bright red berries floating atop water pumped into them. The land in these areas is flat, the marshes or bogs are easily seen, and their bright red color at harvest time is fun to see.

The cranberry country is best experienced during the harvest when the berries are red, popping out at you against the fall foliage. The Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers have identified a “Cranberry Highway” to help you see the marvels of the crop.

Dells Mill

I have read that Dells Mill and Museum in Augusta is “the most photographed site in Wisconsin, so I tried my hand.

It is a water-powered flour and feed mill built in 1864, the first flour mill in the Chippewa Valley, which still stands to this day. It is three and a half stories high, also known as five levels.

It originally ground wheat, which at the time was the agricultural mainstay of the state. It is made of hand-hewn timbers with wooden pegs joining the timbers together.

It operated continuously from 1864 through 1968. The mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is

Durand’s Circus Lithograph in the pub

I live in Eau Claire. A friend said I should come with her to Durand. Durand? What’s in Durand? She smiled and just said,” Come with me to Durand. I have something to show you.

Okay, it’s a short trip, about 25 miles, so I’ll go. My friend then walked me into what appeared to be an event room, suitable for weddings, special events, and the like. And then she said,

“Look at that!”

I did. The wall was covered with what looked like old-time art. The wall was covered with an original lithograph poster advertising the Grand Anglo-American Circus that came to Durand in 1885.

The name “Miles Orton” shows up brilliantly at the top of the lithograph advertising that he, the circus owner, was “standing atop a galloping horse while holding two child acrobats, Allie and Bernard, on his shoulders.” I took some photos to share with you.

Elkhart Lake - a picturesque harbor

Elkhart Lake is in Sheboygan County. Its population hovers in the area of 1,000 plus or minus. It is a legendary vacation spot. The residents see Elkhart Lake as a village. It most certainly is a quaint one and is filled with lots of fun. The village is seen as a getaway any time of the year. The entire area is picturesque. The lake resembles an elk’s heart, so the first residents, the Potawatomi Native Americans, called it “Great Elk Heart Lake.”

The Village tells you, “Located in the middle of the beautiful Kettle Moraine, the Village of Elkhart Lake is nestled on the shores of one of Wisconsin’s deepest and cleanest lakes.

The Village is known for the charm of its Victorian architecture and welcoming spirit.”

Gills Rock - a picturesque harbor

Gills Rock is in Door County, at the northern tip of the mainland, just west of Northport, where you can catch a ferry to Washington Island. Andrea, known on the internet as “Door County Mom,” describes it as “Door County’s Hidden gem … a quiet fishing village with Hedgehog Harbor serving as its ‘downtown.’”

Gills Rock, for me, provided a quiet respite from the bustling tourism of the other towns in Door County.

I confess I have not visited Gills Rock since 2012. I need to update my photos. I am confident, however, that it remains a beautiful place to visit.

When you leave Gills Rock, drive up to Northpoint on Hwy 42. You will travel on what’s known as the “Winding Road.” It is one of the most famous stretches of roads in the Midwest. Destination Door County says this: “The curves make for a beautiful picture, a fun drive, and the obvious question ‘why all the curves?’ One story has it that the road was constructed to weave around utility poles that originally went straight down the center of the road. “

Granite Peak

Rib Mountain in Wausau stands over the southwestern part of the city. Rib Mountain State Park and the Granite Peak Ski Area are there. Rib Mountain is not a mountain. It is a ridge. It is a four-mile-long chunk of very old quartzite, one of the hardest rocks known to humankind.

The land around it has worn down faster than this quartzite ridge. That’s why Rib Mountain stands out so much. The skiing area is known as Granite Peak, an understandable name. It advertises as the oldest ski resort in Wisconsin, “kicking around since 1937.”

Mural walks - select one below

Almost every town and city in the state has murals on the sides of buildings. I like them. They add color, often to otherwise drab locations. There are two cities where murals are worthy of particular attention.

Ashland Mural Walk

Plymouth Mural Tour

Niagara Escarpment

An escarpment is a long, steep slope, especially at the edge of a plateau or separating acres of land at different heights. The Niagara Escarpment travels some 650 miles from Niagara Falls, New York in a semi circle westward through eastern Wisconsin.

It runs predominantly east/west from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, ending in Wisconsin. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named.

Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center

Norskedalen means “Norwegian Valley.” It is a “nature and heritage center dedicated to preserving, interpreting and sharing the natural environment and cultural heritage of the area surrounding Coon Valley in southwest Wisconsin. “

The Center provides environmental education, Norwegian heritage classes, and a host of events celebrating the heritage and nature that are so important to Wisconsin’s to Wisconsin’s Coulee Region.

Guided tours provide a first-hand view of historic buildings and share historic information about Norwegian immigration to this area.

Norskedalen is located three miles north of Coon Valley on La Crosse County Road PI.

Oehler Mill Site

This is the Oehler Mill site, located in an area known as Mormon Coulee, six miles south of La Crosse, on County Road MM.

The stone mill was built in 1862. Two German immigrant brothers Valentine and Gottfried Oehler constructed the mill complex.

In 2002, the Oehler's mill was placed on the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation's List of ten most endangered historic properties.

It is a beautiful ride to get to the mill.

Plymouth Mural Tour

A group of over 160 artists from around the world known as the Walldogs has been painting murals in towns and cities across the country for many years. They came to Plymouth in Sheboygan County in 2011. They created 21 murals on downtown buildings in four days! They returned in 2012 to touch up old murals and paint four new ones.

The Walldog movement began in 1993 in Allerton, Illinois. They have been to Algoma and Chippewa Falls, and are booked for the University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonie and the City of Menomonie is on the list beyond 2030.

Plymouth lies in the hills of the Kettle Moraine, an hour north of Milwaukee. The murals downtown are a real pick-me-up, fun to view.

Portage Canal - Much ado about something

While living in Wausau, traveling south on I-39 and then on I-90, I passed signs for Portage many times. Honestly, I never thought much about it. Then one day, I decided to stop and see the town. I then learned the city is named Portage for a reason: a canal connects the Wisconsin River to the Fox River. You might ask, “So what?”

Get out your atlas. The net effect is one could travel by water from the North Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes to Green Bay and up the Fox River through the Portage Canal to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico!

Now that is something. Let’s take a look.

Port Washington - a picturesque harbor

Port Washington is the county seat ion Ozaukee County on Lake Michigan’s western shores, about 30 miles north of Milwaukee. Its downtown mixes historic pre-Civil War buildings with maritime charm.

The city boasts it combines New England appeal, Midwestern friendliness with a historic fishing village and suburban atmosphere, one of my favorite places to visit and stay.

The harbor area is a great place to stroll. I have often grabbed a seat on a park bench at Rotary Park overlooking the harbor. It’s a wonderful spot where you can take it all in, watching the many boats go out and come in. It’s fun to watch the boats come in to see if the crew caught any fish.

There are many shops and restaurants in the downtown area. Among them my favorite is the Twisted Willow. There are multiple casual places along Franklin Street, the main drag. I’ve stopped in at most of them and enjoyed my time in each.

Portage Canal - much ado about something

While living in Wausau, traveling south on I-39 and then on I-90, I passed signs for Portage many times. Honestly, I never thought much about it. Then one day, I decided to stop and see the town. I then learned the city is named Portage for a reason: a canal connects the Wisconsin River to the Fox River. You might ask, “So what?”

Get out your atlas. The net effect is one could travel by water from the North Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes to Green Bay and up the Fox River through the Portage Canal to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico!

Multiple efforts were made to construct a canal joining the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. The first three failed. The final one, conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, succeeded in 1876.

Seven Bridges of McGilvray Road in the Van Loon Wildlife Area

Located on a former vehicular road is a unique combination of seven rare bowstring arch truss bridges and one low truss bridge. They represent two styles of bridge construction popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries which are quickly being replaced due to deterioration or inability to meet today’s greater traffic requirements. Currently the McGilvray Road and its bridges are open only to pedestrian traffic.

The bridges were built between 1905 and 1921. New planking has been added, rusted steel support beams have been replaced, and repairs have been made on new pilings.

St. Croix and Brule Rivers, their sources

This is a wackadoodle story that ended up as a lot of fun, despite the fact there was egg on my face! My idea was to visit the Boise Brule River in northern Douglas County. It’s commonly known as the Brule.

Looking at my map on the run, I concluded that Lake Superior was the source of the Brule River and that it joined up with the St. Croix River to the south, after which it would meet up with the Mississippi southeast of Minneapolis.

This looked like a straightforward mission up Hwy 53. A piece of cake. I had not spent much time in this area, so getting excited about the ride was easy.

But…

St. Feriole Island

"St. Feriole Island, where the city began, has the greatest concentration of historic landmark properties in the country." So wrote Mary Bergin in 2004.

"The Prairie du Chien terrace derives new interest not only because of the antiquity of its occupance and the variety of its cultural successions but also because the historical geography of this site, for the two centuries following 1685, epitomizes that of the Upper Mississippi Country." So wrote Glenn T. Trewartha in 1932.

"It is the uniqueness of historic buildings that makes each place individual. The history and heritage of a city give it a sense of place. Preservation of historic buildings is changing the face of and actually saving many towns." So wrote Mary Jane Hettinga in 2005.

St. Feriole Island is 240 acres and on the Mississippi River's east channel. It has a mix of habitats, including beaches, floodplain forests, and grassland. In the spring, floodwaters create mud flats ideal for migrating shorebirds.

Two Rivers - a picturesque harbor

I have many favorite cities in Wisconsin, and Two Rivers is one of them. The city was named from its location at the confluence of the Mishicot and Neshota rivers, now known as the East Twin and West Twin Rivers, respectively. Both rivers empty into Lake Michigan. The city claims to be “the birthplace of the ice cream sundae.”

It’s fun to visit the Rogers Street Fishing Village, a maritime museum and heritage park. It is known as the “French Side Fishing Village Historic District.” French from the motherland and French Canadians from Quebec established themselves here. It is on the list of the National Register of Historic Places.

There is a historic swing bridge in Two Rivers. The Chicago & North Western Railway built it in 1930. Its mission was to cross the West Twin River to enable trains to cross.

The Point Beach State Park is a 2,903-acre Wisconsin state forest along six miles of the Lake Michigan coast. The beachfront is beautiful.

The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) list bridge crossing the St. Croix River just as it meets the Mississippi River is quite a sight and engineering feat. It connects to Point Douglas Park in Hastings, Minnesota, from Prescott, Wisconsin.

It is a vertical lift bridge carrying BNSF railway tracks. It replaced a swing bridge at the same site. The center section lifts up so boat traffic below can pass.

It is a wonderful structural sight when standing still. It is even more wonderful if you can catch it being raised as a train can pass across.

Andrew Carnegie built a fortune in his day. The Wisconsin Library Association tells us this about him,

Carnegie had his libraries built according to “the Carnegie formula.” The town receiving the donation had to maintain and operate the library primarily because he wanted the library to have public support.

I live in Eau Claire. A friend said I should come with her to Durand. Durand? What’s in Durand? She smiled and just said,” Come with me to Durand. I have something to show you.

Okay, it’s a short trip, about 25 miles, so I’ll go. My friend then walked me into what appeared to be an event room, suitable for weddings, special events, and the like. And then she said,

“Look at that!”

I did. The wall was covered with what looked like old-time art. The wall was covered with an original lithograph poster advertising the Grand Anglo-American Circus that came to Durand in 1885.

The name “Miles Orton” shows up brilliantly at the top of the lithograph advertising that he, the circus owner, was “standing atop a galloping horse while holding two child acrobats, Allie and Bernard, on his shoulders.” I took some photos to share with you.

Norskedalen means “Norwegian Valley.” It is a “nature and heritage center dedicated to preserving, interpreting and sharing the natural environment and cultural heritage of the area surrounding Coon Valley in southwest Wisconsin. “

The Center provides environmental education, Norwegian heritage classes, and a host of events celebrating the heritage and nature that are so important to Wisconsin’s to Wisconsin’s Coulee Region.

Guided tours provide a first-hand view of historic buildings and share historic information about Norwegian immigration to this area.

Norskedalen is located three miles north of Coon Valley on La Crosse County Road PI.

This is the Oehler Mill site, located in an area known as Mormon Coulee, six miles south of La Crosse, on County Road MM.

The stone mill was built in 1862. Two German immigrant brothers Valentine and Gottfried Oehler constructed the mill complex.

In 2002, the Oehler's mill was placed on the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation's List of ten most endangered historic properties.

It is a beautiful ride to get to the mill.

Get out your atlas. The net effect is one could travel by water from the North Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes to Green Bay and up the Fox River through the Portage Canal to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico!

Now that is something. Let’s take a look.

Get out your atlas. The net effect is one could travel by water from the North Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes to Green Bay and up the Fox River through the Portage Canal to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico!

Multiple efforts were made to construct a canal joining the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. The first three failed. The final one, conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, succeeded in 1876.

This is a wackadoodle story that ended up as a lot of fun, despite the fact there was egg on my face! My idea was to visit the Boise Brule River in northern Douglas County. It’s commonly known as the Brule.

Looking at my map on the run, I concluded that Lake Superior was the source of the Brule River and that it joined up with the St. Croix River to the south, after which it would meet up with the Mississippi southeast of Minneapolis.

This looked like a straightforward mission up Hwy 53. A piece of cake. I had not spent much time in this area, so getting excited about the ride was easy.

But…

"St. Feriole Island, where the city began, has the greatest concentration of historic landmark properties in the country." So wrote Mary Bergin in 2004.

"It is the uniqueness of historic buildings that makes each place individual. The history and heritage of a city give it a sense of place. Preservation of historic buildings is changing the face of and actually saving many towns." So wrote Mary Jane Hettinga in 2005.

St. Feriole Island is 240 acres and on the Mississippi River's east channel. It has a mix of habitats, including beaches, floodplain forests, and grassland. In the spring, floodwaters create mud flats ideal for migrating shorebirds.