Adams County
Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

Located along the Wisconsin River, in Central Wisconsin, Adams County indeed is a natural wonderland full of activities and adventure for every one of all ages to enjoy! With Wisconsin's second and fourth largest inland lakes, Lake Petenwell and Castle Rock Lake, plus 24 more lakes and ponds, 8,000 acres of recreational land, 22 canoe trails, 270 miles of snowmobile trails, 15 miles of designated cross-country ski trails, 40,770 acres of public hunting land, 100 miles of trout streams, four golf courses and more, it is no wonder that Adams County is Central Wisconsin's number one four-season outdoor playground, recreation and relaxation center.

Adams County owes much of its breathtakingly spectacular scenery to the geological twist of fate that spared all but the eastern edge of the county from the worse ravages of the crushing ice mass during the previous glacial epoch about 12,000 years ago.

Slowed in their relentless advance by the deep basins of Lake Superior and Michigan to the north and east, the lobes of the great ice sheet diverged, spreading around and bypassing most of southwestern and central Wisconsin, including nearly all of Adams County. The glacial lobes rejoined to the south, thereby encircling sections of Wisconsin and neighboring states in a ring of ice demarcating what is known as the Driftless Area because of its lack of rocky glacial debris.

As a result, the scenery of Adams County harks back to an ancient time before the glaciers planed and abraded the landscape into the great plains characteristic of the upper Midwest. Fantastically shaped spires, pinnacles, and castles, domed buttes and flat-topped mesas, through more typical of the American West, are found throughout Adams County.

Friendship Mound, Lone Rock, Ship Rock, Roche-a-Cri, Quincy Bluff, and Rabbit Rock are but a few of these natural monuments which once stood as islands in Glacial Lake Wisconsin when the impounded waters of the melting ice sheet heralded a warmer age.

Make Tracks in Adams County

• You might amble down one of our leafy hiking trails on foot.
• Or put your tire tread on one of our thrilling ATV trails.
• Or plow a parallel ski track through powdery snow on one of our challenging cross-country ski trails.
• Or churn a foamy trail as you sail your way across one of our glistening lakes
• You might even leave invisible boot tracks as you ascend walls of solid rock, just for the challenge of the climb

So, what's your pleasure? Whatever it is, you're sure to find it in our little corner of Wisconsin.  More and more people are discovering the hidden gem that is Adams County.

If you're a first-time visitor to our part of the world, we welcome you.  If this visit isn't your first, you already know why it will not be your last.

So, get out there and enjoy!  We'll be watching for your tracks in every corner of Adams County!

PHONE: (608) 339-6997         TOLL-FREE: (888) 339-6997