Red Ridge Ranch is the place to go for an authentic horseback riding experience. A real ranch in the scenic Wisconsin countryside, horses quietly graze in the paddock, kittens tumble at your feet and plump chickens scratch in the dirt. Owner Cindy Kanarowski welcomes guests to stroll through the tidy barn and pet the animals. You can even bring your...

There are three state parks near the Dells, and 244-acre Rocky Arbor State Park is the closest. Just two minutes north from the intersection of the Strip and downtown Dells on Highway 12/16, it offers 89 wooded campsites, a playground with picnic facilities and a one-mile, self-guided nature trail. The nature trail, while admittedly short, passes by numerous 500-million-year-old Cambrian...

You will get when when you take a Wild Thing Jet Boat Ride. Possibly soaked. You’ve been warned. Wild Thing Jet Boats are yet another twist on seeing the Dells’ famous limestone formations in an entertaining fashion. In this case, by 1,200 hp speedboat. Several dozen passengers climb into a boat. The driver then whips, zips and whirls them around...

If you’ve never been on a zip line, the Wilderness Canyon Zip Line is a great one to try. Tucked behind the Wilderness Resort, the zipline has five cables that criss-cross the tree canopy over Lost Canyon. (Lost Canyon resembles a shallow ravine more than a canyon, so it’s not too scary. The cables are different lengths and pitches. You...

You’ll be occupied for hours at Tommy Bartlett Exploratory. This multi-story, hands-on science museum features +150 interactive exhibits. Your visit starts with a faux journey aboard a spaceship before depositing you on the museum’s top floor. You’ll then make your way down, around, in and out of the complex to see all of the displays, which include everything from a shadow room and the popular...

Lost Canyon is a horse-drawn wagon tour of – not surprisingly – Lost Canyon, Wisconsin’s longest, deepest land canyon. A team of draft horses pulls tourists in bright blue wagons roughly one mile through the Y-shaped canyon. The canyon is quite narrow. In fact, you can often touch the walls from your seat. In a few spots, you’ll swear the...