Things to Do in Baraboo

Stationed on the shores of Lake Mendota, SkipperBud’s staff pairs clients with their choice of vessel before launching them into the lake’s placid waters. Up to 12 passengers can lounge on the Sylvan pontoon’s wraparound couches as the vessel cruises past the university campus and circles Governor’s Island. The more compact Sea Ray, meanwhile, kicks up waves as it races to the dock, water-skiers or hitchhiking mermen in tow.

At Bouncy Town USA, children cavort, slide, and bounce across five inflatable structures. Regular hours encourage kids to make friends across the padded bounce floor, while parties make memories out of birthdays with private rooms, pizza, and cupcakes. On some days, Bouncy Town USA welcomes kids for drop off while parents enjoy a night out.

Dance Fabulous's instructors think that dancing should be a stress-free experience. With that in mind, they’ve crafted a lineup of commitment-free drop-in classes that introduce students to hip-hop grooves, teach them core-strengthening belly-dance shimmies, and help party away calories with energy-packed Zumba moves. The lineup also includes more sensual classes meant to boost students' confidence, such as aerobic striptease dance and core-strengthening pole dance. During Hot Heels Hour classes, participants learn a new routine designed to be performed in pumps, which help strengthen cores, lift buns, and aerate the front lawn if practiced at home.

In addition to their drop-in classes, the instructors also schedule private lessons, which may cover the styles taught in group classes or focus on ballroom techniques or wedding choreography. Their adult parties come with similar themes, with lessons in styles from break dancing to striptease to Irish step. The studio was also named one of The Daily Page's picks for best places for a kids' birthday party; soirees can center around such themes as cheerleading, West African dance, and ballet. The staff offers a kids' hip-hop classes and a once-a-month family dance party, during which parents can tenderly pass down their ability to do the worm.

Packs of go-kart racers keep pace as they round an uphill turn, and dart through the stomach of a giant Trojan horse. They drive past Greek ruins and navigate ramps up to elevated tracks—or head under the water of a manmade pond. Riders soar past these scenes pulled straight from Greek and Roman mythology on many of Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park's eight go-kart tracks. Alongside other themed attractions, the racetracks sprawl across the 200-acre year-round resort's four areas: an indoor and outdoors theme park, and an indoor and outdoors water park.

In the outdoor Zeus theme park, screams and laughter echo around the turns of four wooden roller coasters and seven themed go-kart tracks. At the Parthenon indoor theme park, a wild mouse roller coaster pulls passengers through dips and spins, while smaller children learn the basics of government cover-ups in an extraterrestrial-themed ball pit.

The Medusa indoor water park and Neptune outdoor water park contain 44 waterslides that send riders down dark tubes and steep inclines, or spinning around a giant funnel. Indoors, a tubing river runs past decorative Mayan ruins, and a beached pirate ship houses tunnels and waterspouts. Outside, visitors navigate a six-story semi-aquatic fortress, and ride currents in a surf pool. Visitors who can’t soak in all of these park attractions can find overnight lodging in more than 20 resort buildings and a Roman-themed hotel.