Wisconsin Dells became famous for its strange rock formations, first photographer by the photographer HH Bennett. He visited many of these locations on the winter, when he could walk across the ice. His most famous pictures were highly improbable action shots of loggers on the river, and his son leaping from one rock chimney to the other.

Nowadays, the only way to reach these locations is by taking a boat tour.  Most of these unique formations are located on private property. The tour is well worth taking, though.

As the boat wends its way north, it passes plenty of unique rock shapes in the sandstone cliffs. The boat’s first landing is Witches Gulch and the high point of the trip.  This narrow slot canyon winds through twisting carved walls, covered in moss and ferns. A small waterfall runs under the wooden path, ending at a small cul-de-sac where there is a gift shop and snack stand. Amusingly, these are an original “feature” of the tour, put in place by Bennett nearly 150 years ago.

The second landing is Stand Rock. As a special treat a trained dog now does the leap from rock tower to tower. Impressive as it sounds, in reality the gap is only around 5 feet (and there is a safety net). After this display, visitors wander a trail looking at more of the pink and yellow sandstone walls, ridged by wind and water.  There is, of course, another gift shop and then back to the landing.

All told the tour is over two hours.

Upper Dells Boat Tours
107 Broadway
Wisconsin Dells, WI