Things To Do In Baraboo

At most golf courses, players look out onto dew-kissed fairways or swaying trees and, for a moment, have their breath stolen by the picturesque landscape. At Baraboo Country Club, those moments arrive seemingly at every turn.

With unrivaled views of the bluffs at nearby Devil's Lake State Park and water features formed by Draper Creek in play on nine holes, Baraboo Country Club’s scenery enchants golfers as they traverse the 18-hole course. The inventive layout makes the most of its surroundings, as showcased on the club’s signature hole—the par 5 8th—where drives must carry a water hazard down a tree-lined fairway that dog-legs left on its way to a blind green that, like all of the Club’s putting surfaces, reads a slick “10” on the stimpmeter and doubles as a dance floor for squirrel wedding receptions.

Golfers can prime swings for upcoming rounds with a 10-stall driving range, practice bunker, and putting green, while a full-service pro shop lets golfers replace worn-down gloves or disloyal sandwedges. A wraparound bar with granite countertops awaits at the Fore Seasons Restaurant and Lounge, which serves a menu of classic sandwiches and weekly specials.

Throughout a golf career that encapsulates a stint as a collegiate player at Weber State University and a Class A membership with the PGA of America, Jared Shears has had ample opportunity to identify what works and what doesn't on the golf course. While many approaches have been tried—from rote drills to hypnosis to becoming one with the golf ball by going on a couple's retreat with it—Jared believes that improvement can realistically be narrowed down to five keys. He's come to this conclusion only after spending hour upon hour studiously watching film of hundreds of the game's greats. His analysis? These elite players keep their head steady and weight forward, maintain a flat left wrist, control the clubface, and guide the club's sweetspot on a diagonal swing path. Jared believes that, with practice, each of these key skills can be achieved by golfers of any skill or experience level.

Dells Watersports, a boating haven founded in 1979 by Steve and Kathy Zowin, creates adventures aboard its high-speed and leisurely paced watercraft. Atop the waters of Lake Delton, inflatable tubes bounce over waves as they’re pulled by rental ski boats, and rental waverunners heed the stop signs held up by mermaids. Taking more leisurely trips, kayaks and canoes carry groups on scenic floats by sandstone bluffs, white pine trees, and the Timme Mill dam. Back on shore, staff members man a full-service marina department stocked with boating equipment. Dells Watersports also maintains sister facilities for watercraft rental at Mirror Lake, Castle Rock Lake, and inside all the world's fishbowls.

Forget actors, scripts, or props: Wisconsin Dells Ghost Tours likes its ghosts stripped bare of gimmicks and its encounters backed by bone-chilling authenticity. Its guides spin true tales of eerie happenings, all supported by police reports and historical documents, raising goose bumps as guests rumble through the darkest corners of the Dells on a luxury bus. The 75-minute expeditions visit more than 20 haunted locales, including unmarked burial grounds, houses plagued by spirits, and back alleys populated by dancing zombies. The tour guides open the closets of Newport, Wisconsin Dells, and Lake Delton to reveal skeletons lurking inside, and the tour’s well-researched, heart-quickening stories thrill and educate minds both old and young.

Aiming to improve the lives of its community members through water sports, Absolute Aqua Sports offers its visitors unique, thrilling expeditions along the shores of its many surrounding lakes. Adventurers can suit up with flyboards—air-powered jet packs that soar over the water with finesse and ease—after a brief lesson with instructors that get clients airborne in under 10 minutes.

Adrenaline Sports Management corrals runners in an array of races to benefit several area charities, such as Back on My Feet and Fathers Helping Fathers. Each course winds its way through historic neighborhoods, lush lakefront paths, or energizing vistas, and most reward the top overall male and female finishers as well as the top-three runners in each category with medals or celebratory eye patches. Costume contests ramp up competition in the Halloween and Santa Hustles, with top prizes going to best individual costume, best group costume, or most-authentic centaur lookalike. At the many after-parties, finish-liners can revel in après-race accolades from family, friends, and shoulder-perched cherubs.