The Scenic Beauty of the Dells on the Wisconsin River

Wisconsin Dells is a tourist town with lots of fun things to do. Some might call it kitschy, but I love the Dells.

The Wisconsin River and sandstone bluffs make this area, in my opinion, the prettiest area in Wisconsin.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Table of Contents

Wisconsin Dells: Shop at the Bavarian Village & Stroll the River Walk

The Bavarian Village has some neat little shops and places to grab a bite to eat.

Go to a Water Park

Seriously they have some of the best in the USA. Wisconsin may not be the first state that comes to mind when you think of waterparks, but perhaps it should be. Wisconsin Dells has the highest concentration of waterparks in the world. With a population of less than 6,000 full-time residents, Wisconsin Dells is home to six water parks.

Noah’s Ark Water Park

Wisconsin may not be the first state that comes to mind when visiting a water park, but it is home to one of the largest such parks in the country. Noah’s Ark Water Park is my favorite water park in Wisconsin Dells, even after 20+ years they deliver on the water park rides. The kids will have a blast. We’ve gone here at least a dozen times and took the kids this past summer. The rides are fun for all ages and they keep the smaller kids in mind as well, at 43″ there were only 3 rides that our youngest could not ride on.

The kids favorite rides were the Anaconda, the Time Warp, Big Kahuna Wave Pool and an oldie but goodie the Jungle Rapids slides. If you don’t mind heights The Point of No Return is a rush. We were fortunate to go during the week when the lines were not so long and went on all of the rides at least once and many several times.

The wristband is your all day pass to the waterpark, so you are free to leave and come back later in the day. This is great if you are staying nearby and wish to eat lunch at your hotel and helps keep costs down.

The waterpark generally has several promotions for discount tickets, check on their website. Our best deal was tickets at Kwik Trip gas station.

Escape the Room at the Wizard Quest

Wisconsin Dells is a popular tourist area in Wisconsin. If you’re looking for a totally different experience, Wizard Quest is like being inside of a video game. A great indoor activity for the whole family.

Your goal is to work together to find clues and release the 4 wizards in 4 different “realms” within 90 minutes. This is a great activity for older kids 7+ years and those who love video games as it is very interactive and you’ll be crawling through tunnels, fighting your way through spiderwebs and rope ladders to beat the clock.

Don’t bring bags in here or purses they are just a nuisance and if you’re tall you might hit your head in a few places, but it is a cool place to visit that will have the kids talking long after they’ve left.

Directions: Downtown WI Dells by the Boat Tours

Visit Timbavati Wildlife Park & Storybook Gardens

Storybook Gardens in Wisconsin Dells has been around since the 1950’s. As a child this was a classic family attraction. I took our daughter here for nostalgic reasons. Storybook gardens has now since closed (in 2010), however the Timbavati Wildlife part of the park is still open.

Visiting a childhood place is quite different than when you visit as an adult. However, I enjoyed the nostalgic aspect of the old school house and the two-story house on Storybook Lane.

Originally the park was a garden with fairy tale buildings and statues such as Humpty Dumpty and Cinderella, Jack Be Nimble. There is a short train ride every hour on the hour that you can take if you veer right as you exit the little store. You can explore and climb into some of the buildings.

Later they added the Timbavati Wildlife Park. They added animals to the park and my daughter enjoyed feeding the goats, cows, and giraffes.

They have also add a wild animal show, that my daughter enjoyed. They let the kids pet and hold some of the animals and she still talks about this years later. This park is definitely geared towards the younger kids.

Take a Tour of the Dells on the Wisconsin River

Taking a boat ride down the Wisconsin River is my favorite thing to do in Wisconsin Dells because the area is so pretty. We have taken both the Dells Army Duck Tours and the Dells Boat Tours. You can take a tour of the Upper or Lower Dells or both.

On our last visit we took the Upper Dells Tour to see Witches Gulch and Standing Rock.

Circus World in Baraboo

When I was a small child I remember seeing the circus animals arrive by train. The Circus World Museum has over 200 elaborate train cars to see and explore.

This indoor/outdoor museum is laid out in more than 60 acres and is an interactive way to learn the history of the Circus.

Devil’s Lake State Park

My favorite state park in Wisconsin is Devil’s Lake. There are some great hiking trails within the park and it is a great spot to cool off in the summer.