Unlike most state parks, I have visit this one is in the middle of nowhere -- literally down a windy, hilly county highway. It is an unmanned state park so the park fee is by the honor system with envelopes and pay boxes. Neither Stacy or I had an cell reception... not a good thing since no one really knew where we were. At least my hubby knew I was going to state park.
The park consists of 1 main looping trail to the Natural Bridge and side trail up to a look out point. There is also an additional trail or two that cross the highway. There are some picnic tables and scary looking bathrooms -- not quite sure if there were just holes in the ground or actual toilets.
The trail, Indian Moccasin Nature Trail, up to the Natural Bridge is about 1/4 mile. It is a nice easy, informative trail with explanations of how the Native Americans used the medicinal plants.
Once we got to the Natural Bridge, it was impressive what nature can do as it is Wisconsin's Largest Natural Arch.
Below the Arch is Raddatz Rockshelter which was used by Indians and on the Natural Registry of Historic Places.
After snapping a few pictures, we headed up the lookout area. We had to pass a very large animal den that we hoped contained no creation looking for it's next meal.
Once we got to the lookout area, we were unimpressed. We literally looked across the rolling hills of the Dells... trees, trees, and more trees. We were kind of hoping for a lake.
The walk back took us past the scary animal den but we were lucky not to see the critter that lived inside. Overall we probably walked about a mile.. maybe a little more.
This is another great place to visit if you need to escape the Dells for an afternoon and don't want to bother with the bigger, busier state parks in the area including Devil's Lake. It is truly a hidden gem and I am glad I was able to hike another new trail this summer.
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