Caprices of nature left southern Wisconsin with two distinct geological personalities. The last Ice Age glacier bypassed the southwest, leaving its rugged hills and valleys intact, while the southeast’s unique glacial landscape was carved and sculpted by the massive ice sheet. Both regions offer impressive scenic drives.
THE SOUTHWEST
Madison, the state capital, is a bustling city of fascinating shops, galleries, museums and restaurants. Shop the Dane County Farmer’s Market (Capitol Square, 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays through Nov. 6) for fall produce, flowers and baked goods. Then stroll down State Street to the University of Wisconsin campus.
Autumn is the perfect time to visit the University’s Allen Centennial Gardens (620 Babcock Dr.; 608-262-1549). Olbrich Botanical Gardens (3330 Atwood Ave.; 608-246-4550) has 14 acres of outdoor gardens and a tropical conservatory. The University Arboretum (1207 Seminole Hwy.; 608-263-7888) features 1,200 acres of restored prairie, woodlands and gardens. Admission is free.
Follow U.S. Highway 18-151 west to Mt. Horeb, a community of Norwegian heritage and a popular spot to shop for antiques and imported items. The annual Fall Festival, with crafts, music and more will be held Oct. 9-10. Call 888-765-5929.
The bluish-gray hills to the west are Blue Mounds, highest point in southern Wisconsin (1,716 feet). At the top, Blue Mound State Park (608-437-5711) has spectacular scenic views. (Admission charge). Stop at Cave of the Mounds to view subterranean caverns formed a million years ago (Cave of the Mounds Road; open year-round, weekends only in winter; 608-437-3038; admission charge). Above ground are gardens, picnic areas and a visitor center. Close by is Little Norway, an 1856 Norwegian farmstead and outdoor museum of Norse buildings filled with pioneer furnishings, arts and crafts (3576 Hwy JG North; tours daily through Oct. 31; 608-437-8211; admission charge).
Continuing west along a highway lined with Queen Anne’s Lace and wild chicory, you’re entering Wisconsin’s lead region, which once produced 80 percent of the world’s supply of lead. The last mines closed in the 1970s.
Dodgeville, a former mining town, is today the corporate headquarters of Land’s End. Downtown, the Iowa County Courthouse (c. 1863) is the oldest still in use in Wisconsin.
Follow U.S. 151 south to Mineral Point, onetime Queen City of Wisconsin’s rough and tumble lead region. Miners from Cornwall, England, arrived in the 1840s and left a heritage still seen today in the community’s food, architecture and folklore. Many galleries, shops and businesses are housed in mid-19th century stone buildings.
At Pendarvis State Historic Site, costumed interpreters lead tours of restored 1840s Cornish miners’ cottages (114 Shake Rag St.; open daily through Oct. 31; 608-987-2122; admission charge). On Sept. 25, Pendarvis’ Drolls of Old Cornwall, featuring Cornish folk tales, is part of Mineral Point’s Cornish Festival, Sept. 24-26. (888-764-6894).
The mining town of Platteville is named for the plats or ingots into which smelted lead was poured. The Mining Museum (345 E. Main St.; 608-348-3301; admission charge) has exhibits tracing the development of area mining. Guided tours include a walk through an 1845 lead mine 50 feet below the surface (through Oct. 31).
———-
Madison is approximately 145 miles from Chicago via Interstate Highway 90. Information: Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 800-432-8747.
KETTLE MORAINE
A gift of the last Ice Age glacier, southeastern Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine is a magnificent collection of rolling hills and ridges, sparkling lakes and gumdrop-shaped mounds. Stretching north-south for more than 100 miles, the Kettle Moraine is divided into two components. Much of the northern section includes the 29,000-acre Kettle Moraine State Forest-Northern Unit (414-626-2116, weekdays; 920-533-8322, weekends).
At the south edge of the state forest is West Bend. The West Bend Art museum is noted for its outstanding permanent collection of early Wisconsin Art (300 S. 6th Ave.; 414-334-9638; free). The city’s Kettle Moraine Jazz festival takes place on Sept. 10-11 (877-271-6903).
From West Bend, follow U.S. Highway 45 north 5 miles to Kewaskum, take Wisconsin Highway 28 east across the Milwaukee River to Kettle Moraine Drive and head north.
Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive uses many different roads, but the route is marked with green-and-white “Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive” signs. The landscape features mixed pine and hardwood forest, small lakes, scattered farms and small villages. If you stop to use state forest recreation areas, picnic facilities or trails, you’ll need a park vehicle sticker. One-day stickers cost $5 for state residents, $7 for non-residents and are available at forest recreation areas and trailheads.
Some of the Kettle Moraine’s glacial landscape was created by ice, some by glacial meltwater. Stop at the Reuss Ice Age Visitor Center (920-533-8322), a half-mile west of Dundee on Wisconsin Highway 67, where exhibits and a film explain how this fascinating landscape came into being. Free.
Drive into Dundee and continue to follow the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive. On the edge of town is Dundee Mountain, a 255-foot gumdrop-shaped hill created by glacial meltwater.
Further on, stop at the Butler Lake parking area to view an esker, a narrow gravel ridge created by a meltwater stream flowing beneath the ice. There’s a four-mile-long hiking trail atop the esker. Two miles north is the 50-foot Parnell observation tower (spectacular views), a picnic area and hiking trails.
The Greenbush Recreation Area features the Greenbush Kettle, a huge cup-like depression created when ice buried in the glacial debris slowly melted.
Before long the Scenic Drive slides into the village of Greenbush, home to the State Historical Society’s Wade House and Wesley Jung Carriage Museum. The Wade House (920-526-3271; admission charge), a restored 1850s stagecoach inn, offers tours daily through Oct. 31. The carriage and wagon collection is Wisconsin’s largest. The site’s 39th annual Outdoor Arts and Crafts Fair takes place Sept. 12. Dates are Oct. 2-3 for the Ninth Annual Wade House Civil War Weekend with Confederate and Yankee armies re-enacting the lives of Civil War soldiers.
———-
The Northern Kettle Moraine is about 120 miles from Chicago. Take Interstate Highway 94 to Milwaukee and U.S. Highway 45 to West Bend. Information: Wisconsin Department of Tourism, 800-432-8747.
