Ancient Glacial Lake Wisconsin
Wetlands! Woodlands! Water! Wildlife! Welcome, adventure traveler, to the Glacial Lake Wisconsin region — a restored guide to its natural, cultural, and commercial destinations across central Wisconsin.
Most of this landscape was once a lake. Between about 18,000 and 14,000 years ago an ice-dammed body of water more than 1,700 square miles in extent covered central Wisconsin, then drained in a matter of days and cut the Dells on its way out. The flat sandy plain, the sandstone buttes and the cranberry marshes you can visit today are what it left behind. Read the complete history.
Explore
Explore by County
- Adams County
- Clark County
- Columbia County
- Jackson County
- Juneau County
- Marquette County
- Monroe County
- Portage County
- Price County
- Sauk County
- Waushara County
- Wood County
Start here
- 1897 Clark County Jail Museum
- 1964 World’s Fair Wisconsin Pavilion
- Adams County Heritage Center
- Ahdawagam Trails
- Al Ringling Theatre
- Aldo Leopold Legacy Center (Leopold Center)
- Alexander House – Center for Art & History
- Allen F. Blocher Planetarium
- Amey Pond Wildlife Refuge
- Arbutus Oaks State Natural Area
- Arthur J. Pejsa Observatory
- Baraboo River Floodplain Forest State Natural Area
From the Articles
Wisconsin Concrete Park: Fred Smith's Concrete Kingdom
Hidden Gems: Timm's Hill, the Highest Point in Wisconsin
Glacial Lake Wisconsin: The Complete History
Editorial Policy and Corrections
About the Archive
This site restores the original Ancient Glacial Lake Wisconsin tourism project, which documented 221 destinations across 11 counties. The guide now also extends north to Price County, Wisconsin. Read more about the project.