Pick Three

Having spent my formative years in Wisconsin Dells—my family owned a motel here—it is easy to select two experiences that I would classify as “classic,” and then one that very much defines the community today.

• Tour the Wisconsin River: It was the river that first drew travelers here more than 150 years ago to take in sights they’d never before seen—unusual sandstone bluffs towering 100 feet above a meandering river that literally bisects this community. Back then, the tours were by rowboat. Today, groups often enjoy an Upper Dells riverboat cruise aboard a double-decker, with shore landings at two spots that have been popular for decades: Witches Gulch, where visitors can snake their way through cool narrow caverns, and Stand Rock, where groups are treated to the sight of a trained dog making the leap from one teetering sandstone bluff to another. It was here that famed landscape photographer H.H. Bennett captured his son jumping mid-air, the first stop-action photo ever taken, and that was in 1888. Which leads me to recommend a side trip to put all this in perspective, and that’s to the H.H. Bennett Studio, a state historic site right on our main street where Bennett’s original photography studio is perfectly preserved. Here visitors can also view his mesmerizing photos of the river and the Native Americans who once inhabited its shores.
  
  
• Take in the Tommy Bartlett Show: Celebrating 55 years of high-speed waterskiing stunts and circus-style acts, this show is one of the last of its kind in the country. It really is synonymous with Wisconsin Dells.
  
  
• Take the Waterpark Plunge: You simply can’t visit “The Waterpark Capital of the World” without taking a spin on a tube ride, surf machine, water roller coaster, or sky-high waterslide. Wisconsin Dells pioneered the indoor waterpark craze, so this is a must-do.