Places to See Fall Colors in Wisconsin Dells
Sunny days, cool crisp nights, and a landscape painted red, yellow, and orange. Yay to fall in Wisconsin Dells! We have leaf-peeping ideas just ahead.
Wisconsin Dells is its own kind of wonderful in the fall, thanks to the array of color-filled leaf-peeping locations and energizing autumn activities. We run down the best places for Wisconsin Dells fall colors, followed by tips to help you answer the question, what is prime time for fall colors in Wisconsin Dells.
Wisconsin Dells Fall Activities
We’re theming Wisconsin Dells fall colors around “land-sea-air.” OK, river, not sea, but you get the picture.
On land, you’re spoiled for choices.
- Hike at one or all four of the state parks in the area – Devil’s Lake, Mirror Lake, Rocky Arbor, and Roche-A-Cri. Each is distinct in flora and fauna, and you can expect Mother Nature to be showing off her finery at each.
- Saddle up for some horseback riding at Canyon Creek, Red Ridge Ranch, or Woodside Ranch riding stables. The gentle clip-clop of the horses on the scenic trails will put you in an autumn state of mind in no time.
- Spend a morning at Country Bumpkin Farm Market where seasonal veggies and flowers are just the start of this bountiful visit. There’s also a Lil’ Bumpkin Play Village & Petting Farm, corn maze, pumpkin patch, and farm train ride.
- Take a ride through the countryside on restored passenger cars dating to the “Golden Age” of railroading at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in nearby North Freedom. Choose from weekend rides in September through mid-October or purchase a ticket for one of their special event rides in the fall - Autumn Color Weekend Oct. 8-9 or the Pumpkin Special Oct. 15-16. Riverside & Great Northern Railway is sized right for the tiny tots. Their 15-inch gauge railroad goes along the Wisconsin River offering picturesque views of fall foliage. Mark your calendar for their pumpkin trains throughout October.
- The Downtown Wisconsin Dells Farmers’ Market, located in Bowman Park, runs Sunday mornings and is another tasty stop on your fall itinerary. Pick up some local maple syrup, honey, baked goods, and seasonal produce, along with crafts from local artists.
- Get in as much golf as you want, with Wisconsin Dells being home to seven courses, each incredibly scenic, with beginners to seasoned pros sure to find a course to their liking.
- Go camping. Reserve a tent site at Bonanza Camping Resort, Holiday Shores, or Red Oak Campground. Can’t get much closer to fall color than camping!
Taking in the fall colors from the vantage point of a Wisconsin River tour is a favorite fall pastime among many Wisconsin Dells visitors.
- A river tour with narration on Dells Boat Tours gives context to all that natural beauty you’ll see in the fall. The first and last tours of the day really bring the glow.
- A ride on a WWII amphibious vehicle known as a Duck is a tradition that only gets better, if that’s even possible, thanks to the colorama show on the banks of the river. Choose Dells Army Duck Tours or Original Wisconsin Ducks.
- If you’re looking for double the exhilaration – meaning blazing colors and blazing speed – then a jet boat tour from WildThing or Jet Boat Adventures is for you.
See the fall color from the air.
- Put yourself among the leaves with a leaf-peeping zipline experience at Vertical Illusions. You’ll zip from treetop to treetop at Chimney Rock Park during this eco-canopy tour.
- BigFoot Zipline Tours adds the color blue to the autumn palette with a zip over a lake. Add in their aerial ropes course for a brisk fall workout.
- The Wilderness Canyon Zip Line Canopy Tour has you soaring 60 feet in the air over Lost Canyon.
- Dells Zipline Adventures is both zipline attraction and adventure park, located on six scenic acres within the grounds of Chula Vista Resort. The zipline takes you through a picture-perfect canyon as you pass by sandstone rock formations.
How to Know When Colors Will Peak
October is prime color viewing in central Wisconsin, with mid-October a good bet for peak fall colors near Wisconsin Dells. Still, Mother Nature offers no guarantees so, rather than leaving your leaf-peeping luck to chance, get exact in your trip planning by following the Fall Color Report from the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, with their Wisconsin Fall Color Report. The report is updated regularly by local Fall Color Reporters and provides the estimated week of peak colors, descriptions of the color’s progress, and weather forecasts.
The staff at the Wisconsin Dells Welcome Center is another terrific resource for up-to-the-minute updates on the march of fall color in the region. Don’t miss a single bright yellow birch, ochre-tinged oak, or majestic scarlet maple when you call 800-223-3557.