A Day Trip from Wisconsin's Devil's Lake State Park

With rising gas prices a day trip can be an economical way spend a day away from your normal routine. Using a State park as a base camp further helps you save money. This day trip starts from Wisconsin's Devil's Lake State Park. We are fortunate to have friends who live in Baraboo which borders the park. They will be our guides on this day trip.

We have spent time in Baraboo and were eager to see the country so had no complaints as we immediately headed out of town. Baraboo is a lovely town and a destination in of itself. Today we will tour the countryside.

First, we went west on State Highway 136 to the town of North Freedom and saw Dr. Evermore's Forevertron. This has the distinction of being the world's largest junk sculpture. Driving back on County road W, we were on the west side of the Baraboo Escarpment.

The Baraboo Escarpment is a geological formation which forms a ridge of continuous hills to the north and west of Baraboo. Directly north of us was the town of Reedsburg and beyond that is the Wisconsin Dells. The area we were seeing was what the Dells looked like before the motels, condos, and water slides took over.

Our next stop was a grotto built by Karl Hausner, a native of the Schwansdorf region of Germany, now a part of the Czech Republic. The chapel is dedicated to those who fled Europe after the Communist occupation. A plaque and a continuous running tape stated that the real victims of World War II, were those who were forced from their homes after the Communists took over their governments. He includes a tribute to the American Indian.

This novelty is well worth the stop and is located outside Sauk City. Go west on state highway 60 and then south on County Road B.

We then drove west on County Road B over rolling hills to the Cedar Grove Cheese Factory in the town of Plain. This cheese factory is unique by using a biological method to process their waste water. They cycle it through containers of plants and it comes out clean and clear to be sent back into a local creek. You can visit the greenhouse and see the process at work.

They also recycle the whey, a by-product of the cheese making process. It is shipped to the Alcon Dairy in Richland Center, and made into butter. This is the best tasting butter I have ever had. It comes packaged as Alcon Butter and is sold throughout Central Wisconsin. Pick some up while in the area and enjoy the taste knowing you are helping the environment.

We loaded up on cheese and butter and took off to visit St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church. This church serves a Friday fish fry for several thousand people each month in a town with a population of only 771 people. The profits are poured back into the church building which was completed in 1940. This Romanesque styled building with two Gothic styled towers is spectacular and worth seeing. We have since returned for the fish fry and I highly recommend that as well.

Down the road on Wisconsin 23 is Spring Green. This is a lovely town which was Frank Lloyd Wright's hometown. His home, Talliesian is open for tours. There are a number of craft stores showcasing local artists and several nice restaurants. We had a lovely lunch at the old RR Depot. I also highly recommend Arthur's Supper Club for prime rib.

Returning to Devil's Lake we took State highway 60 east to County Road C north, follow the sign to Leland. This took us past Natural Bridge State Park, a lovely small day use park with hiking and picnicking. As the name implies there is a large limestone natural arch in the park.

County Road C will take you back to US 12 and Devil's Lake State Park. On the ride back you will enjoy the drift-less area of Wisconsin. This is an area the glaciers missed during the last ice age.

I appreciate when we have guides to show us some of the local flavor, like the grotto or the magnificent church building in Plain, which most of us would never find on our own. The area surrounding Devil's Lake State Park is worth the drive. You will see scenery as spectacular as there is inside the park and enjoy many interesting sites.