Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Once nothing more than a sleepy backwater bend in the river—albeit one that happened to
havethemostspectacularstretchesofriversidegeologyinthestate—theWisconsinDellsis
now the state's number one tourist attraction, with a capital “T.” Door County (not to men-
tion Milwaukee) might squawk a bit at that statistic, but thanks in part to a public-relations
campaign rivaling a presidential election, the Dells has become for some the free-associat-
ive symbol of Wisconsin. Three
million
people visit the Dells each year. They come for the
inspiring 15-mile stretch of the upper and lower dells of the Wisconsin River, a serpentine,
tranquil journey through breathtakingly beautiful 150-foot sandstone bluffs.
This popularity has not come without controversy. Spirit-killing crass commercialism
has exploded in all directions. (One national tour operator association tagged it with the
dubious honor of the “tackiest place in America.”) So much development has gone on that
Dells businesses, desperate for workers, contract to bring in foreign college students.
Natural History
The media kit on the Wisconsin Dells does a great PR two-step on the region's history by
juxtaposing images and text from a Ho Chunk Nation tribal member and a University of
Wisconsin geology professor. The Ho Chunk attributes the geology to an age-old serpent
that slithered southward along the Wisconsin River fleeing the frigid beginnings of the ice
ages. Upon reaching a large rock wall, it plowed through, scattering smaller snakes ahead
of it. Voila!—a riverway and smaller canyons. The professor dryly explains that the Dells
came about from the ineluctable advance of billions of tons of ice, primeval seas, and
more—longbeforetheiceages.Takeyourpick.Somehow,thelowerregionoftheWiscon-
sin River managed to carve magnificent dells through intensely colored sandstone escarp-
ments.
Several state natural areas have been established in the canyons. The sandstone facings
are home to unique plant species, including the state's only native rhododendron (en-
dangered) and cliff cudweed, an aster found only in Wisconsin.
Human History
Indians of the Ho Chunk (formerly Winnebago) Nation were the first inhabitants in the re-
gion. Little European settlement took place until Newport sprouted up five miles south of
present-dayWisconsinDells,atasitewhereIndiantrailsandwagon-trainrouteshadalways
