Definitely wear solid shoes with good traction if you plan to climb the rocky trail to the top. Oh…read moreboy. I only made it half way, it's quite challenging! Very steep in parts. If you don't want to climb up to catch the views, there is still beauty all around and you can walk by the lake or around the flatter trails. $16 was the daily fee for my car, as I have Illinois plates. I'm guessing it's cheaper for folks who live in Wisconsin. I will have to return in the spring to see the colors! But this state park was gorgeous, even on a chilly March day!

The State Park is absolutely amazing! The trails, lake, Rangers and Ice Age store employees were…read moreall amazing. What lowers this down to a three star review instead of a 5 star were the conditions of the Shower/Flush toilets building and Non-Flush Toilets at the Upper Ice Age Campground. Both were extremely dirty and needed a good cleaning. The number of incests and variety thereof rival that of the Indiana Jones movie, Temple of Doom. It was impossible to use the men's non-flush toilets without crunching over the collection of unidentified "creepy crawlers" calling that place home.

Nice place to hike! Trails traverse over multiple sites…read morealong the lakeshore and other intersecting trails. Seen some turkeys along the way. Nice prairie grasses in abundance.

Beautiful place to hike, especially in the fall. Magnificent views of Lake Mendota and even the…read moreCapital Building. I stumbled across it my first week living on campus as a hapless freshman and it immediately became one of my favorite spots. I always make sure to stop by whenever I'm back in Madison.

Super cute place to hike if you want something short. I made it around the whole trail, up and back…read moredown the one way street in under 30 minutes. This place is probably more adorable when it's spring/summer. A family was out on the frozen pond while I hiked by and many more people showed up to take it in as well. It's a short drive from downtown, maybe 10 minutes and super worth it.

Not a park to picnic in, but it has a short trail that runs around the pond , and you are likely to…read moresee lots of wildlife on your walk. Sandhill cranes, rabbits, field mice, red wing blackbirds all make this park their home, among many other critters. Worth a walk through if you are in the neighborhood.

This is a great little walk by Lake Mendota on university property. Take a little dirt road to the…read moreparking lot. The dirt parking lot can hold maybe 8 cars. There are stairs down to the waters edge. A few intrepid swimmers met here for an early morning dip. The trail to the left starts from the bottom of the stairs and goes roughly a quarter mile until it hits private property. The trail to the right goes from the parking lot. It's mostly through the woods but there are a few secret spots to view the lake, including a newly installed bench.

Definitely a hidden gem near campus. So many trails following the water, some with entrances down…read moreto the lake. I hiked a good two miles and barely touched the many places to go over here. It's beautiful and quiet even though the city is bustling just beyond the tree line. I'd recommend this place to hike if you're a beginner, don't want to drive super far, want to take in the outdoors, and spot some fun birds.

We rented kayaks on Mira Lake. It was one of the most beautiful kayaking trips we've taken. We did…read moreit an early fall, and it was absolutely perfect. The scenery is beautiful. The water was calm. And there weren't a lot of other people kayaking at the time. Highly recommend if you're in the Dells area.

Wonderful State Park! Memorable experience! Would certainly plan to return!…read more Our big annual camping trip with the family recently took us to Mirror Lake, a spot that was new to all of us. It's an easy distance from where we live in Milwaukee, as it's in close proximity to the Wisconsin Dells. That said, even though we were deep in the woods camping, there was plenty of civilization close by should we have needed to restock on anything. Since we had quite a big group, we booked a double-site and boy did we luck out. I think we had the largest double that was available. It fit two large RV/campers and five tents, leaving ample room for tons of chairs around the fire pit and the big picnic tables provided. Oh and they are *electric campsites* which can be hard to find! No water hook up though. Not too far down from our site was the big shower houses/bathrooms. And let me just say, these are NICE! Like very nice. And very clean. Probably the best campsite bathrooms I've ever seen. I feel as though the building was very new / freshly redone. Other pros: plenty of lake activities (we rented both kayaks and pontoon boats), great walking paths (freshly laid wood chips and clear signage), lakeside beaches, and various playgrounds for the kiddos. Oh and fun planned experiences by the park - it was "Smokey Bear's birthday" when we were there and they had a firetruck on-site, water games, bday treats, prizes, and a meet and greet with the bear himself. A hit with our kids. Even if you're not camping, this state park would be wonderful for a day trip!

Last Saturday we were so stir crazy from this long winter we headed out to Waunakee to explore…read more After a quick stop at DD for breakfast we stopped at Schumacher farm for a quick geocache. We found it by simply googling "things to do in Waunakee". Great hiking trails, huge barn to explore, During warmer weather there are 5-6 programs you can be a part of such as prairie restoration and chicken wrangling. The website has a fun history lesson: http://www.schumacherfarmpark.org/about. It is a 40 acre farm filled with trails, historic buildings, and summer programming. Definitely worth checking out. We will be back - when it is warmer! :)

We had a great tour on Saturday morning at 10am, it went until almost 1pm. Bring the sunscreen and…read morebug spray but leave feeling truly inspired and attuned with nature. Lovely scenery, history and experience.

Nice facility in a nice area. Glad that the shack and surrounding area have been preserved…read more Challenge with this place is that there is so much natural beauty (and great ways to explore it) in the area that this particular facility isn't all that differentiated. If you are in the area for a couple of days, probably shouldn't make the cut in terms of things to experience, but if you have more time to explore the area, definitely a place to check out. Shack is only "open" on Saturday, but that is not really the reason to come to the facility. The hiking trails are open all week and cut through some beautiful ecosystems. I should also add if you are a Leopold fan (or A Sand County Almanac) this is obviously a must visit).

Token Creek is a huge County park with a campground, disc golf and numerous group shelters for…read morepicnics. It's also dog-friendly with numerous trails through the park (on-leash) along with a fenced in off-leash area. The off-leash area is at the back of the park (if you enter off of 151) so keep driving back, back, back until you get to it. There is a perimeter trail that follows the fence line which is your best hope for some shade as the rest of the park is primarily prairie and sunny. You can do loops circling the whole park or cut through the middle (over a slight hill) to make your loop shorter. It's maybe 15 -20 minutes if you're doing the full perimeter loop. There also is a separate puppy / small dog area which is nice. This area offers some agility equipment but unfortunately that's not accessible to the rest of us! It's similar to other County/City parks, there are bags for poop pick-up but no running water so bring your own. There also weren't a lot of people at this park so if you're looking for fewer folks, this may be your spot. If you want a lot of canine company, you may be better off at nearby Sycamore Park. Overall, it's a great option if you're passing through town as it's right off the highway.

This park is lots of fun! It's a large circular park with one main walking trail (although there's…read morea less waked trail along the perimeter of the park). The park has a couple small forests, one of which reminds me of the Blair Witch Project- it's got these tents made out of fallen branches and sticks from the park- super creepy vibe if you're there when it's gloomy or dark out. The small dog section has these dog agility course which are great for training. This is definitely one of my favorite parks to go to!