List of Wisconsin state parks
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A Wisconsin state park is an area of land in the U.S. state of Wisconsin preserved by the state for its natural, historic, or other resources. The state park system in Wisconsin includes both state parks and state recreation areas. Wisconsin currently has 66 state park units, covering more than 60,570 acres (245.1 km2) in state parks and state recreation areas. Each unit was created by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature and is maintained by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation. The Division of Forestry manages a further 471,329 acres (1,907.40 km2) in Wisconsin's state forests.
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[edit] History
Wisconsin became the first state to have a state park in 1878[1] when it formed "The State Park". The park consisted of 760 square miles (2,000 km2) in northern Wisconsin (most of Vilas County).[2] The state owned 50,631 acres (205 km2), which was less than 10% of the total area.[2] There were few residents in the area. Lumber barons were powerful in the area, and they purchased 2/3 of the state's land at $8 per acre.[2] This defeated the purpose of the parks for it didn't save the land from the ax.[2]
In 1895, the state legislature created an act which authorized the state governor to examine some land in Polk County at the Dalles of the St. Croix River to become a state park.[2] In 1899, the legislature approved the purchase of Interstate State Park and it was established on September 20, 1900.[2] Architect John Nolen was hired in 1907 to draft a feasibility plan for a Wisconsin State Parks System and State Parks for Wisconsin was released later that year.[2] The report was the guideline used to set up the state park system. It recommended the creation of four state parks: Dells of the Wisconsin River, Devil's Lake, Door County's Fish Creek (now Peninsula State Park) and the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers (now Wyalusing State Park). Three became state parks, and the fourth became Dells Natural Area in 2005.[2] A State Conservation Commission was formed in 1915 by combining the State Park Board, the State Board of Forestry, the Fisheries Commission, and the state Game Warden Department.[2]
[edit] List of Wisconsin state parks and recreation areas
| Park name | County or counties | Area[3] | Year established[2] |
Body of water | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amnicon Falls State Park [1] | Douglas | 825 acres (3.3 km²) | 1961 | Amnicon River | Series of waterfalls and a historic covered bridge |
| Aztalan State Park [2] | Jefferson | 172 acres (0.7 km²) | 1947 | Crawfish River | Site of ancient Native American settlement that flourished in the 10th to 13th centuries |
| Belmont Mound State Park | Lafayette | 1961 | None | Operated by the Belmont Lions Club; has a 64-foot (19.5 m) observation tower atop a 400-foot (120 m) hill | |
| Big Bay State Park [3] | Ashland | 2,418 acres (9.78 km²) | 1963 | Lake Superior | On Madeline Island, largest of the Apostle Islands |
| Big Foot Beach State Park [4] | Walworth | 272 acres (1.1 km²) | 1949 | Geneva Lake | Picnic and camping grounds near a beach. |
| Blue Mound State Park [5] | Dane | 1,153 acres (4.67 km²) | 1959 | None | |
| Browntown-Cadiz Springs State Recreation Area [6] | Green | 644 acres (2.6 km²) | 1970 | Beckman and Zander Lakes | |
| Brunet Island State Park [7] | Chippewa | 1,225 acres (4.95 km²) | 1936 | Chippewa and Fisher Rivers | Has a 169-acre (0.7 km2) island and backwater channels popular with canoeists |
| Buckhorn State Park [8] | Juneau | 6,990 acres (28.2 km²) | 1971 | Castle Rock Lake | |
| Capital Springs State Park and Recreation Area [9] | Dane | 3,000 acres (12 km²) | 2000 | Lake Waubesa | Established in the centennial year of the state park system |
| Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area [10] | Chippewa | 3,272 acres (13.2 km²) | 1971 | Numerous kettle lakes | Visitor center interprets the area's glacial geology |
| Copper Culture State Park [11] | Oconto | 42 acres (0.16 km²) | 1959 | Oconto River | Burial ground used by the Old Copper Culture between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago |
| Copper Falls State Park [12] | Ashland | 3,068 acres (12.4 km²) | 1929 | Bad River | The Doughboy Trail |
| Council Grounds State Park [13] | Lincoln | 509 acres (2.05 km²) | 1938 | Wisconsin River | |
| Devil's Lake State Park [14] | Sauk | 10,200 acres (41.2 km²) | 1911 | Devil's Lake | High bluffs surround the lake, with hiking trails of varying difficulty |
| Fischer Creek State Recreation Area [15] | Manitowoc | 124 acres (0.5 km²) | 1991 | Lake Michigan | |
| Governor Dodge State Park [16] | Iowa | 5,270 acres (21.33 km²) | 1948 | Two man-made lakes | Surrounded by Driftless Area topography |
| Governor Nelson State Park [17] | Dane | 422 acres (1.7 km²) | 1975 | Lake Mendota | |
| Governor Thompson State Park [18] | Marinette | 2,600 acres (10.5 km²) | 2000 | Peshtigo River, Woods Lake | In development |
| Harrington Beach State Park [19] | Ozaukee | 637 acres (2.57 km²) | 1966 | Lake Michigan | |
| Hartman Creek State Park [20] | Waupaca and Portage | 1,417 acres (5.73 km²) | 1962 | Several lakes | |
| Heritage Hill State Historical Park [21] | Brown | 48 acres (0.19 km²) | 1973 | Fox River | Outdoor museum with 25 historical structures |
| High Cliff State Park [22] | Calumet | 1,147 acres (4.64 km²) | 1954 | Lake Winnebago | |
| Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area [23] | Dunn | 707 acres (2.86 km²) | 1980 | None | |
| Interstate State Park [24] | Polk | 1,330 acres (5.38 km²) | 1900 | St. Croix River, Lake O' the Dalles | Wisconsin's first state park, formed in conjunction with an adjacent state park in Minnesota |
| Kinnickinnic State Park [25] | Pierce | 1,239 acres (5.01 km²) | 1972 | St. Croix and Kinnickinnic Rivers | |
| Kohler-Andrae State Park [26] | Sheboygan | 988 acres (3.99 km²) | 1928 | Lake Michigan, Black River | |
| Lake Kegonsa State Park [27] | Dane | 343 acres (1.38 km²) | 1962 | Lake Kegonsa | |
| Lake Wissota State Park [28] | Chippewa | 1,062 acres (4.29 km²) | 1962 | Lake Wissota | Mix of forest and prairie aside a lake |
| Lakeshore State Park [29] | Milwaukee | 22 acres (0.08 km²) | 1998 | Lake Michigan | Urban green space in development on Milwaukee's lakefront |
| Merrick State Park [30] | Buffalo | 320 acres (1.29 km²) | 1932 | Mississippi River | On a backwater slough, with campsites on the shore |
| Mill Bluff State Park [31] | Monroe and Juneau | 1,337 acres (5.41 km²) | 1936 | None | Steep sandstone bluffs that formed as islands in a glacial lake |
| Mirror Lake State Park [32] | Sauk | 2,179 acres (8.81 km²) | 1962 | Mirror Lake | Wooded shores and steep, narrow sides give this reservoir a smooth surface |
| Natural Bridge State Park | Sauk | 530 acres (2.14 km²) | 1972 | None | Contains the largest natural arch in the state and a rock shelter once used by Paleo-Indians |
| Nelson Dewey State Park [33] | Grant | 756 acres (3.05 km²) | 1935 | Mississippi River | River bluffs that were once part of the Stonefield estate of Nelson Dewey, the state's first governor |
| New Glarus Woods State Park [34] | Green | 431 acres (1.74 km²) | 1934 | None | |
| Newport State Park [35] | Door | 2,373 acres (9.6 km²) | 1964 | Lake Michigan | Wisconsin's only wilderness-designated state park |
| Pattison State Park [36] | Douglas | 1,476 acres (5.97 km²) | 1920 | Black River | Contains Big Manitou Falls, highest waterfall in the state |
| Peninsula State Park [37] | Door | 3,776 acres (15.2 km²) | 1909 | Green Bay | Rocky bluffs and nearly 7 miles (11 km) of Green Bay shoreline |
| Perrot State Park [38] | Trempealeau | 1,270 acres (5.13 km²) | 1918 | Mississippi and Trempealeau Rivers | 500-foot (150 m) high bluffs bear rare "goat prairie" communities on their southwestern faces |
| Potawatomi State Park [39] | Door | 1,225 acres (4.95 km²) | 1928 | Sturgeon Bay | |
| Rib Mountain State Park [40] | Marathon | 1,528 acres (6.18 km²) | 1927 | None | |
| Richard Bong State Recreation Area [41] | Kenosha | 4,515 acres (18.2 km²) | 1963 | Several small lakes | |
| Roche-a-Cri State Park [42] | Adams | 604 acres (2.44 km²) | 1948 | None | 300-foot (90 m) outcropping bears the Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs. |
| Rock Island State Park [43] | Door | 912 acres (3.69 km²) | 1965 | Lake Michigan | No vehicles, including bicycles, are permitted on the island, which can be reached via passenger ferry from Washington Island |
| Rocky Arbor State Park [44] | Juneau | 225 acres (0.91 km²) | 1932 | Sandstone outcroppings | |
| Straight Lake State Park [45] | Polk | 2,780 acres (11.2 km²) | 2002 | Straight Lake | In development |
| Tower Hill State Park | Iowa | 77 acres (0.31 km²) | 1922 | Wisconsin River | Has a reconstructed shot tower where lead shot was manufactured from 1832–1860 |
| Whitefish Dunes State Park [46] | Door | 863 acres (3.49 km²) | 1967 | Lake Michigan | Has the highest sand dunes in Wisconsin |
| Wildcat Mountain State Park [47] | Vernon | 3,643 acres (14.7 km²) | 1948 | Kickapoo River | |
| Willow River State Park [48] | St. Croix | 2,891 acres (11.6 km²) | 1967 | Willow River | River has a waterfall, a reservoir, and trout fishing |
| Wyalusing State Park [49] | Grant | 2,628 acres (10.6 km²) | 1917 | Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers | High bluffs overlook the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers |
| Yellowstone Lake State Park [50] | Lafayette | 968 acres (3.91 km²) | 1970 | Yellowstone Lake |
[edit] List of former Wisconsin state parks and recreation areas
| Park name | County or counties | Area | Year founded |
Year closed |
Body of water | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lost Dauphin State Park | Brown | 19 acres | 1947 | circa 2005 | Fox River | Surrounded the cabin site of Eleazar Williams, once rumored to be the Lost Dauphin |
| Old Wade House State Park[4] | Sheboygan | Mullet River | Now run by the Wisconsin Historical Society as the Sylvanus Wade House |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Loohuis, Jackie (May 6, 2006). "Happy trails, old and new". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. http://www2.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=418317. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Wisconsin State Parks through the Years". Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/Centennial/. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
- ^ Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Parks and Recreation. "Wisconsin State Park System: 2006 Visitor Information Guide for State Parks, Forests, Recreation Areas & Trails."
- ^ "Old Wade State Park". StateParks.com. http://www.stateparks.com/old_wade_house.html. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
[edit] External links
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources page on parks and forests
- Wisconsin DNR Maps State Parks, Forests and Recreation Areas
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