Free & Cheap Things to Do in Wisconsin Dells

Parks & Waterfront

A quarter-mile paved path above the Wisconsin River with clear views of the sandstone bluffs that gave the Dells its name, plus game tables and benches spaced along the way. Soul of the River, an open-air art gallery added in 2022, runs alongside it and covers the river's history and the city's connection to it. Free and open year-round.

Address: Downtown Wisconsin Dells along the Wisconsin River, WI 53965

Tip: Free and open to the public year-round — walk it, bike it or run it. The city's interactive parks and trails map shows where the path connects to downtown. Early morning and evening light on the sandstone is far better than midday, and the crowds are thinner.

Parks & Waterfront

The Village of Lake Delton's own swimming beach, free to everyone, with parking, grills and public restrooms on site. In a town where a day at an indoor waterpark runs $50 and up per person, a free beach on a real lake is the single biggest budget lever a family visiting the Dells has.

Address: Park Drive, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: Open daily 10am–7pm from mid-May to mid-September. There is no lifeguard on duty — swim at your own risk. Dogs and glass containers are not allowed. Parking, grills and restrooms are free with the beach.

Parks & Nature

The Dells' quiet park — a mile and a half from the strip but a world away, with wooded campsites, hiking trails, picnic areas and a playground tucked among pines and sandstone bluffs. It's the smallest of the three state parks around the Dells and by far the least crowded, which is exactly why it's worth the sticker.

Address: N101 US Hwy 12/16, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: One vehicle sticker covers every Wisconsin state park that day, so pair Rocky Arbor with Mirror Lake or Devil's Lake and pay once. Daily admission is $13 with Wisconsin plates and $16 out-of-state; annual stickers are $28 and $50. Only a mile and a half from downtown Wisconsin Dells.

Parks & Nature

Named for a lake so still that it reflects the wooded shoreline and 50-foot cliffs around it without a ripple. The park's 2,200 acres hold a swimming beach, wetlands, picnic areas and paddling water that's calm enough for beginners — plus the Seth Peterson Cottage, one of the last houses Frank Lloyd Wright designed.

Address: E10320 Fern Dell Rd, Baraboo, WI 53913

Tip: Just off I-90/94 at the US-12 exit south of Wisconsin Dells, roughly ten minutes from town. A road construction project runs through 2026 and affects the boat landing parking lot and launch — check the DNR property notices before towing a boat. Canoe and kayak rentals are available in season.

Parks & Nature

The headline hike of southern Wisconsin — 500-foot quartzite bluffs standing over a 360-acre lake, with nearly 30 miles of hiking trail, two swimming beaches, lakeshore picnic areas and year-round naturalist programs. The Ice Age National Scenic Trail runs straight through, and the bluff-top scrambles are the best free views in southern Wisconsin.

Address: S5975 Park Rd, Baraboo, WI 53913

Tip: About 25 minutes south of the Dells. Parking lots often fill before 9am on summer and fall weekends and access can be restricted until the crowd thins — arrive early or come on a weekday. Facility improvement work runs through 2026–2027 and the north shore lots and boat launch close at times; south shore facilities stay open.

History & Museums

Step into Henry Hamilton Bennett's 1875 photo studio on Broadway and you're standing in the room that made the Dells famous — his landscape photographs turned a small lumber town into a nationally known tourist destination. The Wisconsin Historical Society runs it now as a self-guided museum of late-1800s film equipment, artifacts and hands-on activities.

Address: 215 Broadway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: Seasonal — the 2026 season runs May 23 to September 28, Thursday through Monday 11am–5pm, and the studio is closed the rest of the year. Teens 13–17 pay the full $12 adult rate. It sits in the middle of downtown Broadway, so it pairs naturally with the free River Walk.

Family Fun

Built on the original Ringling Bros. circus winter quarters in Baraboo, a National Historic Landmark on the banks of the Baraboo River, with restored circus wagons, poster collections and the Ringlingville exhibits. Summer brings live big-top performances; spring and fall drop to exhibits only — and drop the price by half, which is when a budget traveler should come.

Address: 550 Water St, Baraboo, WI 53913

Tip: The $12/$8 rate applies April 20–May 14 and September 8–25, 2026, weekdays 10am–4pm, exhibits only with no live programming. Performance season (May 15–September 6) costs $24 adults and $16 ages 5–12 but includes big-top shows, wagon tours and the Kids' World Circus. Under 5 is free either way.

Parks & Nature

The foundation calls itself the only place in the world with all 15 crane species, and its global headquarters sits ten minutes from the Dells amid the farmland south of Baraboo. Walk the outdoor crane exhibits and the nature trails on your own, or join a themed guided tour on subjects like crane behaviour and Cranes and Culture.

Address: E11376 Shady Lane Rd, Baraboo, WI 53913

Tip: Open daily May 1–October 31, 9am–5pm, with last entry at 4:30pm; closed the rest of the year. Parking is free. Guided tours are at 10am, 1pm and 3pm — weekends only in May, September and October, daily in June, July and August. AAA members get 20% off adult admission. Roughly ten minutes from the Dells off US-12.

Historic Sites

The worn-out sand farm where Aldo Leopold wrote A Sand County Almanac, and the chicken coop he converted into the Shack. A self-guided visit gets you a booklet, a one-mile trail loop past the Shack and points of interest, a side trail down to the Wisconsin River, and the exhibits inside the Leopold Center. Children ten and under go free.

Address: E13701 Levee Rd, Baraboo, WI 53913

Tip: The Leopold Center is open May–October, Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 9am–4pm, closed Sunday. Self-guided is the value pick at $10 per person with kids free; guided Shack tours run $15 adults, $10 for ages 11–17 and seniors, and $1.50 for children 10 and under. GPS units often place the building wrong — it's just west of where Schepp Road meets Levee Road.

Quirky Landmarks

Wisconsin's only free ferry, and one of the last free car ferries in the country. The state-run Colsac III carries vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians across the Wisconsin River on Highway 113 in about seven minutes, no ticket, no reservation. Pedestrians and cyclists ride free too, which makes it one of the cheapest genuinely memorable things to do anywhere near the Dells.

Address: Highway 113 at the Wisconsin River, Merrimac, WI

Tip: The ferry generally operates April through November and runs 24 hours a day, closing only 9–10am Wednesdays for refueling. Pedestrians and bicyclists ride free too. Maintenance closures get posted to the 511 Wisconsin travel site, worth a look before you build a route around it.

Quirky Landmarks

A field of salvaged industrial scrap welded into the Forevertron — a towering contraption its creator built, in the story he told about it, to launch himself into the heavens — surrounded by a flock of metal birds and other machines. It sits behind a surplus store on Highway 12 and costs nothing to walk through.

Address: S7703 US Hwy 12, Sumpter, WI 53591

Tip: Behind Delaney's Surplus on Highway 12, about 25 minutes from the Dells. Posted hours are Thursday–Monday 11am–5pm (Sundays from 12:30pm), closed December 24 through March 31, but the operator's website has not been updated in some time — call 608-219-7830 before making the drive.

Family Fun

A 50-year-old walk-through wildlife park on the Dells Parkway where more than 100 deer and other animals come to you — hand-feeding is the whole point, and a $2 cup of feed turns a quiet stroll into a scrum of very confident whitetails. Small children love it and it is a fraction of the price of the strip's bigger attractions.

Address: 2183 Wisconsin Dells Parkway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: Open mid-April to late October; 9am–7pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day and 10am–4pm the rest of the season, with admission sales stopping 45 minutes before close. Deer feed is $8 a bag or $2 a cup and vending machines take quarters. The whole park is wheelchair accessible.

Parks & Nature

The city park just off Broadway, a block from the tourist strip and free of it — a band shell stage, playground, two lighted basketball courts, a picnic shelter, grills and restrooms. It's where a Dells afternoon costs nothing, and the band shell hosts city events through the summer.

Address: Broadway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: On the south side of Broadway, an easy walk from downtown. The lighted basketball courts stay usable after dark. The Stable Building shelter can be rented for picnics through Wisconsin Dells Parks & Recreation; everything else is free and first-come.

Shopping & Strolling

Broadway and the streets around it are the old Dells — souvenir shops, fudge and candy stores, arcades and neon, all of it free to wander. The new Elm Street Plaza fills a summer calendar with musicians and entertainers at no charge, and downtown is where the Dells still feels like a river town rather than a resort corridor.

Address: Broadway, Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965

Tip: Elm Street Plaza programming is free — the calendar of musical acts and entertainers is posted on the visitor bureau's downtown page. Downtown is walkable from the River Walk and the H.H. Bennett Studio, so all three fit in one morning. Evenings are when the neon and café lights make it worth photographing.