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The Castle Rock Lake Region is located in Wisconsin. It includes cities such as Wautoma, Montello Mauston, Madison, Necedah, Reedsburg, and Wisconsin Rapids. Also within the destination are state parks, lakes, and rivers. Activities in the area include swimming, boating, canoeing, and fishing at Castle Rock Lake, along with visiting the beaches and parks near the lake.[1] Other things to do within the district include the Chazen Museum of Art, Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace, Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Estate, the Wisconsin State Capitol, and Henry Vilas Zoo.[3] The weather in the area is warm from June to September, with the coldest month of the year occurring in December. It snows from October to April, with only a few months where it isn't snowing during the year. Rain is the most likely to fall in June, July, August, April, and May. The most popular time to visit the destination is in July, May, and June.[4]
The Castle Rock Lake Region is home to Castle Rock Lake, Madison, Wisconsin Rapids, Reedsburg, and other cities, along with multiple lakes and rivers. The main thing the destination is known for the Castle Rock Lake. At Castle Rock Lake, people can go boating, fishing, canoeing, paddleboarding, kayaking, and swimming. There are three different beaches that people can go to at the lake, along with multiple parks that are within 1000 feet of the lake. There are ten boat landings around the lake where people can use the ramps to get their boats into the water. There are also various trails that go around the lake that can be walked or biked.[1] Castle Rock Lake gets the most visitors in July, with other popular months being May and June.[4]
Madison, a city in the region, is home to many activities. Some of these activities include Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Estate, the Wisconsin State Capitol, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace, the Chazen Museum of Art, and Henry Vilas Zoo. Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Estate can be toured and is located 35 miles west of Madison. Also on the property is a theater, studio, gallery, school, a dam, waterfalls, a visitor center with a cafe, and the Romeo and Juliet Windmill and Midway Farms. Wisconsin State Capitol is a large, white building with statues and pillars. Various people take their pictures in front of the building annually. The capital was finished in 1917 and has been used ever since.
The Olbrich Botanical Gardens are home to many different kinds of plants. The gardens have pavilions, structures, and, depending on the time of year, roses that grow. There is also a conservatory on the property that can be toured. Frank Lloyd Wright's Monona Terrace can be explored. There is a rooftop terrace that people can go on, along with the main structure that is available to go in. The Chazen Museum of Art has art from distinct time periods and from different artists. The museum features paintings, sculptures, drawings, watercolors, and photography, along with a few other things.
The Henry Vilas Zoo holds many animals. It has a rainforest exhibit that has various types of plants and fish, along with a free-flight aviary with many birds. The zoo also has an exhibit called Arctic Passage, where polar bears and harbor seals can be viewed. Also on the property is a restaurant where people can eat.[3] The city of Madison gets many visitors, and the city relies on the tourists and the money they spend. In 2018, tourists spent $13.3 billion, with the overall economic impact being $21.5 billion. The state's tourism industry helped to increase the number of jobs up to 199,073.[7]
In the Castle Rock Lake Region, there are multiple lakes, rivers, and cities. The landscape is flat with trees, fields, and small hills. There are no mountains visible from the lake. The destination is an oval shape that curves around the cities of Wisconsin Rapids, Wautoma, Montello, Madison, Reedsburg, Mauston, and Necedah. It is located in Wisconsin. Within the zone are multiple state parks, including the Grand River State Wildlife Area and Devil's Lake State Park. The weather in the zone has a high of around 74 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low average of about 26 degrees. The warmest months of the year are from June to September. December is the coldest month of the year.
The area gets rain the most in May, with other high chances of rain in June, July, August, and April. It snows the most in October, with other snowy months being November, December, January, February, March, and April. It typically doesn't snow from June to September. Because of the weather, it has been said that the best time to visit the region is from the middle of May to the middle of October.[4]
Animals in the district include badgers, black bears, brown bats, chipmunks, flying squirrels, groundhogs, raccoons, red foxes, river otters, skunks, whitetail deer, wolves, and squirrels. Birds include bald eagles, blue jays, Canadian geese, great blue herons, great horned owls, mallard ducks, robins, ruffed grouse, turkey vultures, wild turkeys, and whooping cranes. Examples of fish are bigmouth buffalo, channel catfish, crayfish, largemouth bass, northern pike panfish, rock bass, and tiger musky.[5] Animals within the territory include Adam's needles, amur chokecherries, annual mallows, apache plumes, apricots, Austrian pines, bearded irises, beauty bushes, black chokeberries, black currants, bird's nest spruces, black-eyes Susans, blue flax, and Bosnian pine.[6]
Before 1951, Castle Rock Lake was a glacial lake near farmlands, prairies, and forested knolls that were separated by the Wisconsin River. Wisconsin River Valley supported life for over 10,000 years. The first people to live in the Wisconsin River Valley were the Ho-Chunk people. Because people lived at Castle Rock Lake so many years ago, there are historical things near the lakes, such as the Effigy mounds and Petroglyphs at Roche-A-Cri Rock.
The mounds take on many different shapes and sizes, some of which being crests, panthers, and birds. They varied in size in height and width. Some of the mounds are gravesites for people or tools, while others exist purely for decorative purposes. Roche-A-Chi Rock has a cave with ancient artwork inside of it. The drawings inside the cave include birds, canoes, animal tracks, phases of the moon, and people. The Ho-Chunk people are believed to have used these drawings for things such as storytelling, politics, and record keeping. The illustrations tell the history of the people who lived near Castle Rock Lake many years ago. In 1951 a dam was completed in the area. The dam still stands to this day, and it holds water into a specific area.[2]
Valley Springs Farm Bed & Breakfast
Valley Springs Farm Bed and Breakfast is a family-owned farm that has been a bed and breakfast for the past 8 years and is run by Don and Dorothy Harms. The farm is located in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and has been on Don's side of the family for the past four generations, making the property over 135 years old. It was primarily a dairy farm but is now operated as a beef farm and a bed and breakfast. There are three bedrooms available for lodging with a complimentary breakfast made fresh by the owners every day using resources from their farm or the local community. Don and Dorothy offer activities to their guests including ATV tours of the large farm, workshops on how to can various farm-grown goods, and make pies upon request from guests. The property is located near many attractions including state parks, hiking trails, wineries, local farms, and cheese factories.
...Read MoreThe Ringling House Bed and Breakfast is located in Baraboo, Wisconsin. There are a total of six rooms available for guest reservation, each with a unique name and style. Every room is on the second floor of the establishment, and all have en suite bathrooms. Breakfast is offered each morning between 8:00 and 10:00 AM in four courses and is served in the dining room or front porch, weather permitting. On the lower level, guests can access the music room, library, and parlor. The inn is decorated with pictures and antiques from both the Charles and Henry Ringling families, who both owned the home separately and were each co-owners of the Ringling Brothers Circus, Charles being one of the founding members. To learn more about the history of the house and the Ringling Brothers Circus, guests can schedule a tour of the home free of charge or visit the Circus World Museum in Baraboo. Julie, the owner of the house, says she hopes guests feel “transported in time” during their stay.
...Read MoreNestled on the edge of town in Greenlake, Wisconsin, sits a quaint motel called the Bayview Motel & Marina. Positioned right on the edge of Dartford Bay of Green Lake, the property has 17 guest accommodations available. A unique feature of the Bayview Motel & Marina is that it has a private pier on the lake itself for guests to use as lake access and dock their boats. Alternatively, they have boats available for rent should the need arise. The town of Green Lake gets its name from the lake and is a small tourist town in Wisconsin. Some know the city for its golfing, fishing, and boating. Other activities nearby include biking and hiking or visiting one of the local museums or local opera house.
...Read MoreThe Tabacco Warehouse Inn is located in the small town of Soldiers Grove in Wisconsin. The building that the inn is a part of was previously a storehouse for tobacco that was shipped out of Ohio. It was bought and then renovated by Noel Miller, who turned it into what is now known as the Tabacco Warehouse Inn. There are now 5 rooms available for guests to rent out, all of which have a personal kitchen. Out in front of the building, there is a field and various greenery all around the building. The neighborhood is relatively small, offering a quiet vacation area to visitors.
...Read MoreThe Norske Inn is a single story motel located in the rural area of Westby, Wisconsin. The property spans over four and a half acres of grassland with the inn, general store, parking lot, fuel pumps, and a pull-through area for large vehicles. There are twenty one rooms in the inn varying in size with single and double beds. A complimentary juice and coffee bar is located in the inn lounge, and the convenience store and restaurant on the property serve food for every meal of the day. Norske Inn is located right of of Highways 14 and 27, offering a convenient stop for truck drivers and work crew members passing through the area.
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