Camping at Lake Wissota State Park (WI)

Recently I spent a weekend camping in Lake Wissota State Park, located just outside of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It was a fun weekend, as we enjoyed our time in the park and in town.

We had a nice wooded campsite, and set up two tents for six of us. The campsite had the usual, a fire ring and a picnic table, but also had plenty of firewood-enough, in fact, that we didn't need to purchase any at the park.

We left our campsite on one of the days to do some hiking around the park. One of the trails followed the lake and took us to a beach and playground. The playground was pretty nice, as it included a mini climbing wall! We took another trail back to the other end of the park, which led us through the woods, and eventually to a lookout over the lake. It was a good view on a beautiful day.


Later, we headed into Chippewa Falls to check out Irvine Park & zoo. The highlights were seeing a tiger, seeing Glen Loch dam, and going inside a small cave. Pretty cool park for a small town! Next stop was the Leinenkugel brewery, where we went on a brewery tour and sampled some of the brew-a great way to cool down!

We had a great time at the State park and in Chippewa Falls that weekend, and I'm sure we will keep the area on the radar for future trips. 

Climbing and hiking in Devil's Lake state park (WI)

Devil's Lake State park is located in Southern Wisconsin (Baraboo), not too far from Wisconsin Dells. It is a very popular park, and it is easy to see why when you go there. I had the opportunity to go there recently and did some hiking and climbing while there.

 The Park has several miles of trails, and I took what was certainly one of the most popular in the "East Bluff" trail. There were several named rock features along the way as the trail followed the top of a bluff, offering many great views of the lake. Two of the coolest rock features were called "Balanced Rock" and "Devil's doorway". I definitely recommend this trail to anyone who is thinking about hiking in the park.

Hiking through the park wasn't enough for my friends and I, though, so we went rock climbing early the next day. There is an area along the railroad tracks called "Birthday Rocks" which we climbed. We set up two ropes and had some fun. After a little while, more climbers showed up and one group set up a rope close to us. They were pretty friendly, but it just goes to show that it pays to be early when setting up your climbs at this park. There are hundreds of different routes in the park, though, so I'm guessing that if you look hard enough you will find something.

In addition to climbing and hiking, there are several other activities that make Devil's lake state park a great place to visit. We played some volleyball, had a picnic, and went to the beach to cool off for a while during our time at the park. One thing we didn't do that I would like to next time I'm there is rent a canoe or kayak and paddle around the lake. To anyone looking for a cool park to visit this summer, I recommend Devil's Lake State Park. I had a great time.