Travel Guide Wisconsin Dells

This is a sad example of a particularly beautiful geographical area that has been disfigured by investment and tourism development. It was during the 1850s that the photographer H. H. Bennett, having left his native Canada, came to Kilbourn (then called Wisconsin Dells). He advertised the area so well, crossed by the Wisconsin River and riddled with unique geological formations, that soon crowds flocked to the area. Cruises were organized on the river, and the region developed rapidly. The construction of a dam brought electricity, and with electricity came the sawmills and the development of employment in the area. Soon hotels became part of the scenery. After the Second World War, the Dells gradually transformed into what they are today: a huge amusement park centre, the Las Vegas of aquatic complexes, the Mecca of water slides, wave pools and deckchairs lined up on terraces in full sun. Such a tourist windfall has inevitably attracted hundreds of small restaurants, signalling their presence long before the entrance to the city with brightly coloured billboards. In Wisconsin Dells itself, the eye is drawn to thousands of signs, signs, signs of all kinds. You will have understood it, it is not the ideal place for a calm, relaxed and close to nature holiday, but for children, it is a real paradise