We are in the Dells quite often and were looking for different things to do so we decided to check…read moreout Baraboo and came across the mansion and brewery. Walking into the brewery was awesome, such a cool place and quite large. The girl at the spot were I believe you can order food wasn't too friendly but the bartender was awesome! Bartender was super friendly, I wish I could remember his name. We told him how we were looking for things to do and he was more than happy to write down some recommendations for us. I thought that was super nice because I feel like sometimes, at least in the Dells area, it seems like they get tired of us tourists and aren't always as friendly as I feel they should be considering they know they're working in a tourist area. We happened to be sitting next to the lady that does the tours so we thought, awesome, we love seeing old buildings and hearing the history so we signed up! It's $20 per person and about 50-60 mins. It was super cool to see, informative, the lady was friendly, and answered any questions we had. It was pretty amazing to hear that people actually live on the 4th floor, I wasn't expecting that for some reason. After the tour was over she played the large organ for us which was great. We sat down for another beer, listened to the awesome music the bartender was playing and set up our next tour at the Driftless Glen distillery. This was on our list plus it was one of the recommendations from the bartender. If your in the area and looking for something different to do, I highly recommend checking this place out!

This was a beautiful history lesson. The tour guide, Kim was very knowledgeable. I appreciated that…read moreshe included my 3 children in the conversations by addressing them, talking with them, and answering their questions. The house is beautiful and has so many gorgeous rooms and architecture. The tour ends in the brewery where Kim plays the calliope. She also offered the adults a free sample of beer from the Ringling brewery. Tour took about an hour and was well worth the time and money. Highly recommend.

We went on the Lower Dells jet boat adventure. This was our favorite part of our trip to The Dells!…read more The price for tickets is $37 per adult. But if you purchase them online you can get $6 off each adult ticket. The price is the same for the lower and upper dells tours. The lower dells tour seems to depart more frequently. The upper dells tour is a little longer. Parking was plentiful for the Lower Dells. There's bench while waiting for the next tour. Be prepared to be soaked. They don't sell ponchos. You will be drenched from the power stops. The spin outs are fun but not as wet. Literally every seat will be wet. No life jackets for adults but children are seated towards the center of rows and do get life jackets. Our tour guide Nate was great. He was very knowledgeable about the scenery. The rock formations are very pretty. Your tour guide gets very close to the rocks. One guy in the front row reached out and was able to touch it. It's a great activity to get a break from the heat. But you should have a change of clothes ready, a towel, a swimsuit on, or be prepared to go back to your hotel for a shower afterwards. It was well worth the ~$30 for the tour. We liked it so much we considered going on the upper dells tour the next day but the timing didn't work out since those tours are more limited.

Our visit to the Wisconsin Dells area began with a journey along the River Walk. To our left was…read morethe scenic Wisconsin River and towering above to our right was the tourist-trap laden Broadway. In between, the River Walk features stories of the citizens of the Dells from the past and present. The stories displayed along the walk perfectly lay out what the Dells are - A narrative of 'loving and protecting' the nature while operating an area that exists solely on the exploitation of said nature. This is where we meet our Upper Dells Boat Tour. The Dells Boat Tours leave from a handful of flights of stairs down from the River Walk to a dock on the river. An elevator from street level is available to access the docks as well. I brought our youngest down the stairs in my arms while my wife brought our other children down in the elevator. Arriving at the front of the dock I was refused a seat as my whole party had not arrived yet. I explained my wife was on route in the elevator and would be joining momentarily, this was met by the greeter with a "We know what we are doing." My wife explained when she made her way down that voyage on a boat was first come first serve and apparently the ability to sit served as a queueing mechanism. Sure! The boat ride itself? Comfortable enough. Old boat, river tour. You know what you are getting. The boat had access to two stops (Witch's Gulch, Stand Rock) for some interaction and up close views of the natural wonders formed in the area. At face value there, the whole tour was pretty good. Nice sites. About two hours of activity. To me though, the tour, and all of the Dells collapses underneath the weight of its own hypocrisy. The guide and captain both carried forward the "We know what we are doing" and "Loving and protecting nature" attitudes introduced at the beginning of this experience, while also contradicting themselves throughout. The tour references George H. Crandall, speaking lightly to his idea that 'No man can own the Dells' and his quest to purchase and preserve as much of the land as possible to promote stewardship over private exploitation. You are then dropped off at a raised platform hammered over the Witch's Gulch area to walk to a concession stand and souvenir shop built onto a paved area. Early on in the tour the guide points out and celebrates a carving into the rocks by Leroy Gates, an early entrepreneur operating Dells Boat Tours, advertising himself and his tours. Later in the tour at Stand Rock, security cameras and warning signs surround some exposed sandstone where curious tourists have etched initials over time. Also carved into that sandstone? Another concession stand where you can purchase a beer or a $55 sweatshirt. Now, I'm not encouraging carving into the rock but these messages feel mixed. Stand Rock also presented a bizarre presentation of a dog jumping over a 5.5 foot chasm up 46 feet in the air, to recreate a famous photograph taken by local H. H. Bennett in 1886. Bennett is celebrated for his early photography work documenting the Dells area and discovering many of the natural wonders. This beauty is yours because others before you loved it - and we honor them by hanging signs everywhere, selling slushies, and installing this safety net between rocks in case something happens when the dog jumps? One of the more disappointing tid-bits passed on by our guide was of the local Ho-Chunk people being formerly known as the Winnebago, which was a name they did not choose for themselves and was ultimately viewed as a slur. The Ho-Chunk had to fight for many years to have their name Federally recognized. This story was told in sort of a jokey fashion, with the English translation of Winnebago landing like a punch line. It was also mentioned later in the tour that one of the Dells Boat Tour vessels includes Winnebago in the name. Near the end of the tour we are pointed toward the Kilbourn Dam which is presented as a historic and wonderful achievement. The Dam split the Wisconsin River and raised the water level of the new 'Upper Dells', which concealed many of the natural structures H. H. Bennett had previously documented. He was a fierce critic of the Dam, and died the year it was built. I am not saying we shouldn't encourage preservation and take the opportunity in our lifetimes to preserve nature for future generations to enjoy. I have loved every visit to a National and State Park and we are teaching our children to do the same. What I would prefer, is that we pick a lane here. You either rally against defacing nature, or you pump tourists up and down a river to your concession stands every 1/2 hour. You know when you meet someone who isn't genuinely presenting as themselves and it makes the whole encounter feel weird? That is essentially the feeling I left the Dells and the Dells Boat Tour with. We declined leaving with a souvenir photo.

This place is really cool and fun if you like trains and it is scenic to I also saw a deerread more

We had such a wonderful ride on the train today!!…read more The train follows the original 1850s rail bed, through beautiful Wisconsin forest land. If one wants an interior view of local flora & fauna, this is low energy, fantastic way to explore it! Children & adults (esp those who are children at heart!) will thrill at riding the small scale train. We loved watching the engine be turned around on the hand-operated round table. Our favorite part of the visit was the personal attention we received from Conductor Greg! We visited on a late summer Thursday afternoon when the rail was not as busy, and he treated us to a personalized narrated tour of the history of the railway as well as the fauna, flora, & major attractions of the area. Thank you so much, Greg!! All told, this & the Wisconsin Dells Boat Tours were the highlights of our trip! From a nature-loving local's perspective, some other great places to visit: Devil's Lake, Pewit's Nest, Parfrey's Glen, & the Chapel Gorge trail. If one is interested in Native American culture, there are mounds found at Man Mound Park & Kingsley Bend at Devil's Lake.

had a group of 14, alex and britney were literally so fun so awesome so amazing love them so much…read more i hope y'all intend to keep them because they're soooo amazing and truly did make the experience better. britney is iconic and alex is actually so hilarious with how he engaged with the big group. love them both!! tipped them great and I hope to see them again next year if we come again. :) pls show this to them so they know the yelp review was left.

Went great Trent was a great tour guide sorry if I spelled his name wrong. Very funny and…read moreknowledgeable.

Wish we could give more than 5 stars! This experience far surpassed my 6-year-old grandson's…read moreexpectations. We got to see a two-headed snake, so many gators, and the biggest snakes we've ever seen. The absolute highlight was when my grandson and his Dad got to hold a gator--he hasn't stopped telling everyone about it since! Definitely a must-see highlight of the Dells.

My son has become Mr Alligstor almost overnight (well it started maybe around May of this year and…read moreapart from his normal video gaming, Alligators -- and to a lesser extent Crocs and Caimans) are his jam. He had been watching science-related videos, reading books, talking alligators and crocs nonstop. We were planning a mini father son trip and I wasn't sure where to go, when to my surprise I saw that Wis Dells had an alligator place! So we actually headed up there from NW Chicagoland for Alligators first...and boy this did not disappoint. The place was surprisingly very clean and not smelly at all--I had a college roommate who bought an old Used car that had a garter snake in it and he kept it and boy did it smell...so this is no small feat to keep it clean with this many reptiles. It was the first thing we did in Wis Dells and my son was there a good couple of hours (entrance was about $20 for us to visit and then you can buy food to feed -- meat packets were very reasonably priced), and also feed alligators, pythons, snapping turtles, alligator snapping turtles, caimans live mice and/or rats depending what the animals needed that day. Thankfully the owners -- lovely people who have been there nearly 30 years -- feed the live animals we don't have to touch them. I'll admit that left me a little squirmish but my son was in heaven. We were there about 2 hours (most folks I imagine last about 30 mins) and my son was really excited to see the animals -- behind closed glass tanks. They have 14 or so gators in the big tank right as you walk in, have an albino alligator (large one too) in a separate tank behind. Several pythons- including a jumbo yellow scary python and one a little smaller next to it. They have turtles, some smaller snakes, and some toads etc in other cages.... I figured we saw all we could ever see that first 2 hours as it isn't the biggest place, but my son really wanted to go back before we left, so we went back 2 days later and I don't know how we missed it on day 1, but they had a photo opportunity to hold an alligator (its mouth is taped for safety) and that was the thrill of my sons life! He's been telling everyone about that post our visit. Overall it was impressive how clean and not smelly the place is, showing the care the handlers/owners take to these animals. One bit of advice, while they have some very brief blurbs on some (not all) of the animals, I'd recommend adding more complete blurbs in the animals like a traditional zoo would. They also have an opportunity to buy alligators (which presumably is legal in Wisconsin) and that is something I'd never recommend -- Thankfully they aren't cheap so kids likely couldn't do that without a parent being involved:). All in all across 2 visits we were there 3.5 or so hours and my son had the absolute best time of his life. I can't thank them enough and they were super great to him answering his questions, etc (especially since on the second visit they were pretty darn crowded but they gave my so. Extra special treatment :) ). A wonderful experience-- and a reminder of the things we parents do for our kids lol - as Id never be there if it was t for my son, let alone be there twice! We will be back too next time we go to the Dells (I hadn't been to the Dells in over 20 years--first time as an adult, and I hadn't a great time, but this was amongst our biggest highlight of the trip)

We had a really fun time getting a new perspective on this sweet town. We loved the enthusiasm and…read morestorytelling of Gwen and Shelly and wish them all the best on the release of their book! Exactly what we wanted and a fun activity for a warm summer evening. It was easy walk through a neat town.

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).

We are really enjoying our camping vacation here. Patty was very nice over the phone and in…read moreperson, our site is clean and spacious (#20), and the pool is great. It would be nice if the store was open a little later for ice and such but not that big a deal really. Firewood was available about 1/2 mile down the road. Our granddaughters are having a nice time and have met new friends. This is good family camping. No frills, but fun and safe. Close to the Dells but not too close. We will definitely make the longer drive to come back here over closer places nearer our home. I booked because of the price, the pool, and the fair cancellation policy. I am so glad we came!

I came to this campground last year as a workcamper and loved working for the couple who owns it…read more I find Stand Rock to be a great family place. It is under new ownership, since 2014 and the new owners are remodeling and revamping the place.Some of the staff is new to camping but they are people people, so it all works out in the end. It has some of the lowest rates in the area even though the campground is 2.5 miles from Downtown Dells. The facilities are kept clean and the staff is quick to respond when an incident occurs. I highly recommend this place.