The Midwest is stereotyped as a vast expanse of flat, boring farmland, but there are a few places that shatter this image and you would think you are far out west or in the Appalachian. Devil’s Lake State Park in Wisconsin is one such place, where ancient mountains tipped with impressive rock formations tower hundreds of feel above with a lake nestled in a valley. After visiting, I can see why it is the most popular state park to visit there.
Located roughly 3 hours from Chicago or Minneapolis on the outskirts Baraboo, Wisconsin, the park is on the very edge of the state’s driftless area. That is the southwest corner of the state that was never covered by glaciers during the last ice age, which ended about 11,000 years ago. So, unlike most of the state that was, the hills and low mountains of the area were not plowed flat by the mile high ice sheets. Today, the low mountains of the park tower about 500-700 feet above the lake and the original quartz bedrock has been eroding slowly into unique rock formations for millions of years, forming rock features similar to what you can find in in other ancient mountains like the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Photos we shot on our hikes resting on the side of very steep and tall rock cliff, and kayaking on the lake with the rock faces of the hills showing in the background tricked a few friends into believing we were not in the Midwest.
This park also features two very popular beaches on the mile long lake. Photos make it look like it is nestled in the mountains.
As with all Wisconsin state parks, you are required to have a sticker in your car window or show you paid for a day pass at the entrance to the park.
Hiking Trails at Devil’s Lake
If you don’t have a lot of time, the key sights are the Balanced Rock and Devil’s Doorway formations. Both are close to each other along the east bluff above the south end of the lake. Taking the Balanced Rock Trail, then the East Bluff Trail will offer spectacular, scenic views as you ascend the craggy cliff face of the bluff. Heading east on the East Bluff Trail at the top, there are numerous natural rock overlooks.
Be very careful because some have a straight down 50-100 foot drop. It becomes more hazardous when the rocks are wet. The park reminds visitors that on average 1 person is killed and dozens more severely injured each year when they fall off the cliffs or steep rocks. They say many killed were trying to get a better selfie and did not pay attention to their surroundings.
From these overlooks facing east, you will be able to see Wisconsin Lake, part of the Wisconsin River, about 10 miles away.
To the east of the Devil’s Door formations, you can descend the steep bluff on the old CCC Trail (which is the long way). Or, you can make a rapid decent in the Potholes Trail, which pretty much goes straight down a steep path all the way 700 feet down to the valley below. The Pot Holes trail features several circular rock bowls carved naturally out of the rock from water coming down the hillside. It has steps and spots to rest, but is steep going up or down.
We hiked the East Bluff Trail as well, which overlooks the lake most of the way. Toward the northern end of that trail are the Elephant Rock formation, Elephant Cave and numerous rock outcroppings with great views over the lake, The vistas reminded us a lot of hiking in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Elephant Cave is very small. You can walk into it about 15-20 feet. There is an opening you would have to crawl through to see the rest of the small, narrow cave, but you can find YouTube videos of other people spelunking it rather than getting muddy and going through the Indiana Jones spider webs. The Elephant Rock formation is about 100 feet away and looks like an elephant from behind.
The Tumbled Rocks Trail runs along the western shore through the rock fields where boulders tumbled from the crest of the hill. At the south end of the lake this curve and connects to the Western Bluff Trail, which ascends the mountain and you can walk along the needle rock formations and other outcroppings along the top of the hill back to the other side of the lake.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s improved all the trails with stairs and clear paths through the fallen rock fields and rock outcroppings. Some of the original stone and log buildings they constructed are also on the property.
Two other hikes that are worth while not too far outside the State Park are Pewits Nest, on County Road W about 3 miles northwest of the north park entrance. It has a 40-foot deep gorge formed by the retreat of the glaciers 13,000 years ago. The water from the glacial period melt cut into Cambrian sandstone and formed a series of potholes and small waterfalls.
About 4 miles east of Devil’s Lake is Parfrey’s Glen, on the north side of County Road DL. It is a spectacular gorge deeply cut into Cambrian period sandstone conglomerate.
More information on hiking at Devil’s Lake. Map of trails and amenities.
Devil’s Lake Beaches
The Park has a public beach on both the north and south shorelines of the mile-long lake. Parking lots for both (including lots for hiking trails) fill up early so plan to arrive before 10 am or you might be parking half to three quarters of a mile away along the road, or paying $10 for a remote lot on private land outside the park. We arrived at the South Shore beach lot around 8:30 a.m. and when we came back around noon the lots were full, the road into the park was blocked and more than 100 cars were parked on both sides of the road.
There are paddle boat rentals at the dock at the North Beach. There are confessions and ice cream shops at both beaches. Kayaking is allowed on the lake.
We swam at the North Beach and found it is very shallow out to about 100 yards. My 6 and 9 year old girls were about to walk out in waist deep water at 30-50 yards from shore. However, the water does drop to a depth of about 47 feet toward the center, closer to the south end of the lake.
Unique Geology of Devil’s Lake Wisconsin
Devil’s Lake actually sits inside a large mountain gorge carved out by a river that used to run through the park until the last ice age. The Green Bay ice sheet followed the river valley on both sides of the lake and stopped just short of the lake itself. The ends of massive sheets of ice dumped more than 100 feet worth of glacial till to form the moraines, a mix of rocks and dirt. Today, the Nature Center sits on top of the northern end glacial moraine hill . The other moraine can be seen bridging the low mountains in the valley below the Devil’s Doorway rock formation.
The mountains and most of the hills in the area to south and west of the park are quartzite stone. Look closely and you will see colored layers of sand and rippled sand from the bottom of the swallow ocean that once covered all of modern day Wisconsin in the Pre-Cambrian age, about 1 billion years ago. This makes these rocks among the oldest in North America. That oceans then were devoid of fish, which had not evolved yet.
The sand has a lot of iron hematite mixed in with it, causing the red or purple hue in the stone. It was compacted over hundreds of millions of years under subsequent layers or geology that formed above it. The heat deep in the earth and pressure melted to the silica and converted this sandstone into quartz, forming quartize, a much stronger stone.
There was some large geological force that caused a massive uplifting of the quartzite to the surface. The hills of Devils Lake are just part of a ring of quartzite mountains that stretch 20 miles by 10 miles. If you drive near by Route 12 south, a couple miles away from the park you descend a steep grade into a large, flat valley 10 miles across to Sauk City, where the other side of this ring can be seen. In the flat valley, all the mountains that can be seen around the parameter in the distance are part of the same quartzite ring formation.
The Devil’s Lake Nature Center has an awesome geology display with maps, dioramas and artist renderings showing how this quartzite formation stood the tests of time. From ancient oceans eroding the tops of these mountains that were once islands in the middle of a vast topical sea, to a deep, rocky gorge carved by a river, and then showing when that river was plugged and largely filled in by the last ice age.
Swimming in the lake, there is a large amount of quartzite stone that has eroded from the surrounding hills. But there are also a large amount of other smaller, well rounded rocks that are not native to the area, including limestone, sandstone, granite and basalts that came from as far away as Canada. These are mostly the remains of the glacial till debris the glacier picked up as it moved south over hundreds of miles. These mostly eroded out of the glacial moraine at either end of the lake.
Visiting Nearby Baraboo and the Wisconsin Dells
The town of Baraboo is located just north of Devil’s Lake, about a mile from the entrance to the park. We never made it there because there was plenty to do in the park.
We did however, venture less than a half mile north from the park entrance to get food and drinks at the Tumbled Rock Brewery and Kitchen. A little pricy for lunch, but the food was outstanding and all the beers we tried in the flights we got were all very good. My wife and I would have been happy with any of the beers if we had ordered blindly off the menu. We bought a growler of our favorite beer to bring home.The sandwiches and appetizers we ordered were excellent, well balanced with flavors and I felt were crafted, not slapped together. They came with pickle salads they made fresh on site from their own refrigerator pickle blend, and were very refreshing on hot summer day. The brewery is also a Harvest Host for those with RVs looking for a place to boondock overnight. We plan to go back and were very glad we tried it.
Baraboo caters to the tourist crowds that come to Devil’s Lake and nearby Wisconsin Dells area, so there are restaurants, shops and museums. The Circus World Museum highlights the interesting history of Wisconsin as the circus capital of the Midwest, where the old circus companies that traveled by train a century or more ago would winter the animals and many of their workers in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Dells and Mirror Lake State Park are located about 7-10 miles north of Baraboo. The Dells are unique rock formations in gorges along the Wisconsin River. There are hiking trails in the area, but most people take one of the boat or amphibious duck tours of the Dells in the river.
The downtown Main Street of the town of Wisconsin Dells in best described as a tourist trap with many stores and restaurants catering to the tourists. It is a Wisconsin version of Wall Drug South Dakota.
The area to the west and south of town, including Lake Delton, are home to scores of hotels, water park resorts and tourist attractions. The area is one of the hottest vacation spots in the Midwest and nearly every kid in Wisconsin and Illinois has spent many summer trips there.
Other Cool Places to Visit in Wisconsin and the Michigan Upper UP:
Wisconsin’s Door County Peninsula State Park Is My Happy Place
16 Exciting things to do in Door County Wisconsin
Exploring the Michigan UP Delaware Copper Mine Abandoned in 1887
Entering Washington Island via Death’s Door
Monument to Russian Sputnik Space Race Junk Raining Down in Manitowoc Wisconsin
