Baraboo Wisconsin? Well, why not. While we really didn’t check out the town, we did make a stop at Devil’s Lake State Park.

Devil’s Lake State Park

The park was created around a glacial lake surrounded on three sides by quartzite clefs. The cliff faces were covered with boulders that fell victim to water that seeped into small cracks that expanded when the water froze. Although the quartzite is supposed to be pink, red and purple, these colors were only visible on freshly cleaved, pre-weathered rocks. Those exposed to the environment turned greyish-brown and many of these were encrusted in greenish algae.

We took a four mile round-trip hike. We began on the aptly named lake-level Tumbled Rocks trail. The narrow trail was really more like  a long line of people walking to the same destination.Well, it was a beautiful summer day and people were taking advantage of it.

Our return was on the steep (perhaps 500 foot elevation gain) West Bluff Trail. Much less populated and also more beautiful.  The views were stunning, albeit generally filtered. We caught glimpses of  views across the lake and over the surrounding hills. One end of the lake is dedicated to a popular beach while the other is popular with fisherman. The lake itself is dotted with canoes. And, a must to be seen is balanced rock.

A very pretty, very worthwhile stop.