New Glarus Woods State Park in south-west Wisconsin was established in 1934 and covers 431-acres of  rolling hills covered by a mix of forests and restored prairie just outside of the village of New Glarus.  From Baraboo, the park a scenic, 2 hour, winding drive through Wisconsin’s rural driftless region. 

New Glarus Woods is not a large state park by any means but it does offer some nice quiet camping  and features over 20 acres of restored prairie.  (Not to mention on of the coolest kids play areas in any state park) In addition you can catch a spur of the Sugar River State Bike Trail at the park which will take you into the Village of New Glarus and onto the main trail. New Glarus which bills itself as “America’s Little Switzerland” is an attraction in-of-itself being founded by Swiss Settlers in 1845, and themed with everything Swiss.  They also have a great little coffee shop by the way.   We’ll talk more about New Glarus later in the week.

If you only have a few hours to visit the park, we’d recommend you stop in at the small ranger station. (Yes, it does look like a mini Swiss Chalet.) and pick up a free guidebook for the Havenridge Trail. The trail which begins right at the main parking area, is just over 4 miles long and will take you through sections of both woods and restored prairie.  The guidebook will lead you through 36 stops along the way, while for the most part not actually tell you much about the trail itself. What it does do is invite you to see the world around you in new and interesting ways.  At first we found the 1988 guidebook a bit silly, but in time we came to appreciate where then park naturalist Bob Papp was going.  Just hang in there, even if you don’t find the Hawthorn tree!

I have to admit it, here in the Baraboo hills we’re spoiled being home to Devil’s Lake & Mirror Lake State Parks.  Their popularity speaks to their uniqueness.  Still you can’t help but enjoy the quiet wonder of a park like New Glarus Woods.  It won’t knock your socks off.. but it will make you want to walk through the grass barefoot.  – See Our New Glarus Woods Photo Gallery.

More:

• New Glarus Woods State Park – DNR Website
• Friends of New Glarus Woods
• Sugar River State Trail
• A few more pictures of from the park
• Locate the park on our Big Map

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