Snowshoe Rocky Arbor State Park!

When it comes to winter play at the parks of Sauk County, we generally say something like, “Devil’s Lake State Park is for snowshoeing & Mirror Lake State Park is for Skiing.” While not 100% true, this simple phrase will get visitors to the area to their happy place without disappointment. For snowshoers looking for a new place to explore, we’ll often send them off to Wisconsin Dells and Rocky Arbor State Park.

Rocky Arbor State Park is open from 6 am – 11 pm every day and is about a 30-minute drive north of Devil’s Lake. (See the map below.) The small, 244-acre Wisconsin state park was established in 1932 to protect some of the beautiful sandstone outcrops, walls, and ledges that made Wisconsin Dells famous. During the off-season, after Labor Day, the main gate is closed, but visitors can park at the entrance gate and walk into the park from there. In the winter, there is room for maybe 4-5 cars to park, but you’re lucky to see more than one or two. And yes, a Wisconsin State Park sticker is required on your car, even if you park on the road.

The Road

Locals who frequent Rocky Arbor in the winter, generally snowshoe up the snow-covered road to the campground and back. There are some nice rock walls on either side of the road which make for a scenic hike. You’ll often find a well-worn snowshoe track. This isn’t an “easy” trek to start since the road works it’s way uphill to the campground, but at least on the way back it’s all down!

The Trail

Rocky Arbor also has one main hiking trail which is where my wife and I generally go. The first half of the one-mile trail is an easy, flat, path that skirts along a wetland. As you go, you’ll see many awesome sandstone walls and formations. At one point, there is a sandstone “island” that is sometimes described as looking like a head. (The winter snow disguises it a bit. See above.) After about a half-mile, you’ll come to the first of 2 staircases along the trail which take you up out of the valley and then bring you back down at the end. Your best line of attack here is simply to take off your snowshoes. Navigating stairs hidden under deep snow in snowshoes is an art form of its own. Normally, I’d suggest just walking around or alongside the stairs but at Rocky Arbor, that isn’t really possible. 

The upper section of the trail winds through an oak forest along the top of the sandstone walls. You’ll often have opportunities to look back down into the valley to see the trail you were first on below. Sadly, traffic noise from the interstate highway can really take away from the experience on the upper section. You can easily understand why birds have trouble communicating in noise like this. Thankfully, you’ll quickly move away from I90/94, and the roar will fade back into the background. The one-mile loop will end as the trail gently switchbacks down to the last staircase which returns you to the picnic area, and to your car.

• Rock Arbor Trail Map

Wildlife?

Traveling along a wetland on the lower half of the trail, and even through the noisy oak forest on the upper section, you will have many opportunities to see wildlife. You may see deer, ducks, cranes, raccoons and other Wisconsin critters. On our last visit, we found otter tracks!

If you’re snowshoeing in the Devil’s Lake region, I’d encourage you to put aside a couple of hours for Rocky Arbor. In fact, snowshoeing is the best way to “hike” the Rocky Arbor trail in my opinion. In summer it can be a mosquito nightmare! You’ll certainly give your camera a workout with all the awesome ice and sandstone!

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