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Juneau
County Attractions
Bordered on the
east by the Wisconsin River, with 57 lakes, including Wisconsin's
2nd and 4th largest inland bodies of water, and hundreds of miles
of rivers and streams, Juneau County is a natural year 'round
vacationland! Hunters, anglers, hikers, cyclists, trail riders,
naturalists, birders, boaters, swimmers, water-skiers, canoeists,
cross-country skiers, and snowmobilers can all enjoy the thousands
of acres of parks, the numerous trails, abundant wildlife and
hundreds of miles of rivers, streams and lakes.
Carved from sandstone
bedrock 18,000 years ago by the North American glacier, Juneau
County was covered for 4,000 years by the waters of Glacial Lake
Wisconsin. When the lake dried up, the land became covered by
giant boulders and later was covered with grasslands, scrub brush
and forests of towering pines rich with wildlife.
The power of
the Wisconsin River was harnessed by the construction of two
hydroelectric dams, one at Petenwell Rock and the other at Castle
Rock, forming the state's 2nd and 4th largest inland lakes, both
on the eastern border of Juneau County. Constructed in the late
1940's, the Castle Rock and Petenwell Dams were the first "floating
type" dams in the U.S.; built on sand and constructed of
concrete, with imbedded cutoff walls that penetrate deep into
the glacial sands, permanently anchoring them. Together, these
power plants generate enough electricity to serve more than 250,000
homes; and, the lakes they created serve the recreational needs
of thousands of visitors every year.
From the effigy
mounds and petroglyphs of the Juneau County's earliest known
inhabitants and one of the Midwest's largest collections of Woodland
Indian Cultural artifacts, to the dams and mill sites established
by the first wave of Yankee entrepreneurs and the schools, churches,
and mansions constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
the area's rich historic heritage is protected, preserved, and
celebrated throughout Juneau County.
Treasures of
the past, including ancient arrowheads, 19th century fishing
lures, pioneer farming implements, turn-of-the-century furniture,
porcelain and enameled household goods, art and clothing are
waiting to be discovered in Juneau County's many antique, specialty
and collectibles outlets.
More than one-third
of Juneau County's total land area is dedicated to wildlife preservation
and available for public recreational use; including fishing,
hunting, camping, hiking, boating, canoeing, cycling and wildlife
observation.
The prairies,
forests, and scrub lands of Juneau County host an abundance of
wildlife; including a variety of rare and endangered plants and
animals. Here nature lovers will find the world's largest population
of the delicate endangered Karner blue butterfly, a growing number
of shy and elusive gray wolves, solitary Blanding's Turtles,
an occasional Massasauga Rattlesnake, one of the largest concentrations
of whitetail deer in the Midwest, black bears, raccoons, squirrels,
ruffed grouse, pheasants and sandhill cranes.
The woods and
waters of Juneau County also host a great variety of bird life,
including bald eagles, hawks, grouse, turkeys, songbirds, herons,
egrets, shorebirds and thousands of migrating waterfowl. The
County's lakes, rivers and streams are alive with brown, brook,
and rainbow trout, bass, pan fish, walleye, northern, catfish,
and muskies.
Cyclists enjoy
biking through Juneau County's scenic beauty and historic sites
on the County's peaceful backroads, the fully-paved, handicapped
accessible Omaha County Trail, the multi-tunneled, easy graded,
crushed limestone Elroy/Sparta Trail, Wisconsin's premier rail-to-trail
conversion, and the Wisconsin "400" Trail. Snowmobilers
and cross-country skiers enjoy riding and gliding through the
County's winter wonderland on hundreds of miles of trails prepared,
groomed and signed for safe and comfortable passage. Several
segments of trail are also open to horseback riders and ATV vehicles
as well as hikers and cyclers. Along the many miles of trail,
travelers will find rest stops, towns, food, beverages, supplies,
campsites, and overnight accommodations.
River adventurers
enjoy canoeing through spectacular scenery and historic sites
along the Lemonweir, Yellow and Wisconsin River trails. Area
outfitters provide maps, equipment, and guides. Along the shores,
interpretive signs provide information about the historic significance
and folklore of various trail segments. From the Castle Rock
Dam south, the Wisconsin River flows easily to the Dells. The
Yellow and Lemonweir Rivers are smaller and faster flowing, and
can be navigated by skilled canoeists. All of the area's rivers
are relatively stable. Camping grounds, rest stops and picnic
areas are found along the way.
Juneau County
diners enjoy a wide range of menus offered in a variety of settings,
including delectable desserts, baked goods and deli specials
served in an authentic coffee house atmosphere; great sandwiches,
fish fries, lunches and dinners served in friendly area bars
and grills, cafes, pubs and family restaurants; elegant continental
cuisine and all-American favorites served on lakeside decks,
in supper clubs, restaurants and resort dining rooms.
At day's end,
Juneau County visitors can choose from a variety of lodging accommodations,
including primitive, starlit campsites, full-service campgrounds
and, RV parks, rustic resorts, lakeside cottages, country inns,
ranches and bunkhouses, full service luxury lodges and economy
motels.
Located along
Interstate 90-94, Juneau County is a natural year 'round vacationland
for everyone! Back to top
Museums and Historic
Sites
Juneau County
Historical Society
Boorman House Museum
North Union St., Mauston
The Boorman House, a 13-room mansion with windowed cupola, built
in 1876, houses the Juneau County Historical Society's museum
and its collections of artifacts, records and research materials.
This site also features two additional buildings, the Dr. McIntosh
medical office building, which houses a collection of medical
and dental artifacts, and a recently constructed storage building
that houses the Society 's collection of agricultural implements,
water wagon, storage and workshop. Open Saturday and Sunday afternoons
from memorial Day to Labor Day.
Stewart's
Chapel
Cty. Hwy. 0, Mauston
This community hall from a far earlier time still houses community
activities and a collection of rural church artifacts. Located
just off of State Highway 58 on Cty. Hwy 0, south of Mauston.
Twin Bluff
Cty. Hwy. A, Hustler
The Twin Bluffs contain exceptional petroglyphs (pictorial etchings)
carved and painted by the
Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) people over a 1,750 year period from about
100 B.C. to 1650 A.D.
Wisconsin
National Guard Memorial
Library and Museum
Camp Williams - Volk Field, Camp Douglas
Housed in a restored 1896-log lodge, the museum features 3,000
sq. ft. of exhibits, video and slide programs. Historic research
assistance is provided in the Memorial Library. Open year 'round.
Kalpproth
Museum
Cty. Hwy H, Cutler
Located north of Camp Douglas on Cty. Hwy. H, just past the intersection
with 30th Street, is the Kalpproth Museum of early farm machinery;
a fascinating collection of tools and equipment that contributed
to the development of agriculture as Wisconsin's principal industry.
Harry A. Mortensen
Collection
Memorial Library, New Lisbon
A massive collection of artifacts from the Woodland Culture,
representing the life's work of the late Harry A. Mortensen,
is displayed at the New Lisbon Memorial Library, one block west
of US 12 and 16 on Park Street. A part of the Mortenson Collection
is also on display at Raabe's Pharmacy on US 12 and 16 in downtown
New Lisbon. Back to top
Parks and Nature
Centers
Castle Rock Park
Cty. Hwy. G, Juneau County
608-847-9389/608-847-7089
Situated in a beautiful wooded area on 16,000 acre Castle Rock
Lake, the state's 4th largest inland body of water, this 160
acre park has 300 campsites, half with electrical hookups, all
with fire rings and picnic tables, abundant playground equipment,
handicap-accessible bathhouse showers, sanitary station and boat-launching
facilities. Favorite park activities include swimming, boating,
water-skiing, fishing and canoeing.
Wilderness Park
21st Ave., Juneau County
608-847-9389/608-565-7285
Located in northern Juneau County on 23,000 acre Lake Petenwell,
the state's 2nd largest inland body of water, this scenic 80-acre
park has 140 campsites, 56 with electrical availability, showers,
playground equipment, sanitary station and boat-launching facilities.
Swimming, boating, canoeing, water-skiing, and, great fishing
are favorite activities on t he clear blue waters of the Pentenwell.
Necedah National
Fish & Wildlife Refuge
State Hwy. 21, Necedah
608-565-2551
Administered. by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the 43,656-acre
Necedah Wildlife Refuge provides a breeding and nesting area
for migratory birds and other wildlife. The refuge is also responsible
for preserving natural diversity and an abundance of flora and
fauna, and for providing for the needs of threatened and endangered
plants and animals. Necedah Refuge boasts the world's largest
population of the endangered Karner blue butterfly, as well as
bald eagles, timber wolves, Blanding's turtles and Massasauga
rattlesnakes. The Refuge is an excellent place to observe spring
and fall migrations, as almost 200 different bird species nest
or rest here on their way to and from their wintering grounds.
The Refuge provides opportunities for people to enjoy and learn
about our natural world through wildlife-compatible activities
including hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting, fishing, photography,
birding and various educational events. Known for its abundant
white tail deer population, the Refuge is also one of the largest
and most popular bow hunting spots. The Refuge office is open
year-round from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm weekdays, while the Refuge
grounds are open seven days a week during daylight hours. The
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is located 4 miles west of Necedah
on State Highway 21.
Central Wisconsin
Conservation Area
Juneau County
Located north and south of Eagle Nest Flowage on the western
boundary of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, the 60,000
acre Central Wisconsin Conservation Area provides public hunting
grounds for waterfowl and upland birds, including wild turkeys,
first established near here in 1953. Camping permission may be
obtained from the Meadow Valley Ranger Station.
Buckhorn State
Park
Cty. Hwy. G, Juneau County
608-565-2789
This 2,500 acre state park, located on a Peninsula on the 16,000
acre Castle Rock Flowage, Wisconsin's 4th largest inland lake,
offers year-round outdoor activities for the entire family, including
swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, camping, canoeing, picnicking,
hunting, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
The park features
24 walk-in campsites on the shoreline. Most have "push garden
carts" to haul gear into the site. Four campsites are suitable
for pop-up or hard-sided trailers, and three large group campsites.
The park also has two large picnic shelters and three accessible
hunting blinds, an accessible fishing pier and an accessible
boat boarding dock, and an accessible cabin for persons with
disabilities. Reservations may be made for all facilities.
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Points of Interest
Panther Effigy
Mounds
State Hwy. 12/16, New Lisbon
South of New Lisbon on State Hwys. 12 and 16, lies an ancient
Native American burial ground featuring a number of effigy mounds.
Glacial Lake
Wisconsin
Juneau County
About 18,000 years ago, the last great North American glacier
crossed the Baraboo Hills at Devil's Lake and blocked an ancient
riverbed with a giant earthen dam, creating "Glacial Lake
Wisconsin." Glacier lake Wisconsin is a million-acre freshwater
lake up to 150 feet deep, covering 1,800 square miles including
all of Juneau County, and stretching from Stevens Point in the
north and west to present-day Tomah.
About 14,000
years ago, the loose rock, sand, and earthen dam that created
the Glacial Lake burst, generating a colossal flood that emptied
the lake in about three days. The force of the rushing waters
carried boulders weighing more than a ton, created a new course
for the Wisconsin River, carved out the Dells, swung east around
the Baraboo Hills and forever changed the landscape and the destiny
of the land that was to become Wisconsin.
The land that
had lain under the water for 4,000 years was level and sandy,
studded with rocky outcroppings, towering buttes and bluffs of
Cambrian sandstone that had once been islands protruding from
the glacial lake. The water is gone, but the lake can still be
seen from viewing platforms atop the sandstone spires throughout
Juneau County. The top of Mill Bluff provides a matchless view
of the great glacial lakebed, now covered with woodlands, scrub
brush and prairies, strewn with rocky islands stretching as far
as the eye can see.
Petenwell
Rock
19th Ave., Necedah
The largest scenic rock formation in northern Juneau County,
Petenwell Rock is named for a star-crossed lover, who legend
has it, leaped to his death from this spot with the local Indian
Chief's daughter, Clinging Vine. It is said that the Indian gods
returned Clinging Vine to the rock where she stands today, faithful
to the memory of her lover, Peter Wells, surrounded by magnificent
bald eagles that nest and soar over their special place. The
eagles are particularly evident here in winter when they fish
the bountiful open water below the dam.
Buckley's
Bridge and Mill
Cty. Hwy. M, Juneau County
Where Buckley's Bridge carries County Highway M over the Lemonweir
River, is the site of Buckley's Mill, built in 1850 by the first
settler of Clearfield Township. The stone foundations of the
mill can still be seen at the river's edge, and is best viewed
from a canoe.
Civil War
Memorial
Heritage Park, New Lisbon
Heritage Park features a statue erected by the Grand Army of
the Republic in 1897 as a memorial to veterans of the Civil War.
A rifled Civil War cannon is part of the memorial. The park also
holds an impressive horse watering trough that once graced the
main intersection of the city, where US Highways 12 & 16,
STH 80 and CTH A meet. Long abandoned, the relocated and restored
watering trough is a reminder of the slow-paced 19th century
summer days when children in pony carts, ladies in carriages,
farmers on wagons and boys with their dogs met, chatted and shared
the news of the day as they lined-up to water their animals in
the center of town.
New Lisbon
Flowage
New Lisbon
The New Lisbon Flowage is a 60-acre pond fed by the Lemonweir
and Little Lemonweir Rivers, backed-up by a 10 ft. dam, built
in 1843.
The Mauston
Dam
Mauston
Built in 1842 to power a sawmill that turned white pine harvested
along the river to lumber, the dam at Mauston created Decorah
Lake, named for a prominent Ho-Chunk Indian family who lived
in this area. Beyond the dam, the Lemonweir River takes a hard
left turn, heading for the Wisconsin River, 15 miles to the East.
Gee's Slough
Effigy Mounds
Indian Mounds Park, New Lisbon
Indian Mounds Park, owned and maintained by the local Lion's
Club, preserves the "Gee's Slough Group of Effigy Mounds."
The main attraction of this mound group is a unique panther effigy;
a mound constructed of earth and formed in the shape of a long-tailed,
running panther. All other known panther effigies have straight
legs; this one is running on flexed legs. The mounds are remaining
testimony to the tenacity and endurance of the Woodland Indian
Culture, ancestors of Wisconsin's Ho Chunk (Winnebago) people.
Access to the park is along Indian Mound Road at the south end
of New Lisbon, just off US Highways 12 and 16.
Marian Shrine
Necedah
608-565-2617
At the site where it is believed the Virgin Mary, Mother of God,
appeared to a local farm woman 50 years ago, followers have built
14 grottos depicting several saints and events in the lives of
the Holy Family. Guides are available for tours of the grottos.
Also on site is a home for wayward men, a Mother's Infants Home,
a K-12 Christian Catholic School; and, a House of Prayer, currently
under construction. Back
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Special Things to Do
4th Annual Youth Fishing Tournament
Lyndon Station
Kids ages 17 & under are welcomed to get together and fish. Sponsored by www.lake-link.com Hosted by: Country Corners Bait & Tackle. Two full days of fishing, camping, cookouts & campfires. On Sunday after all the fish are registered, the Awards & Prizes will be handed out along with a Pot Luck/Fish Fry. This is a free event for the kids. Donations welcomed.
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