Why Go? The drive from Baraboo to Rock Springs takes you through a perfect slice of rural Wisconsin while keeping you on track since you can follow one road the whole way. Ableman’s gorge is a pretty hike and there is probably not a more obvious display of basic Baraboo Hills geology than at Ableman’s Gorge.
Difficulty: Easy. Nearly flat gravel trails form a short loop creating about a 1-mile hike.
Description: A natural gorge along the Baraboo River and an abandoned quarry create amazing views as you walk a forested trail along the base of bare, rocky cliffs. On this short hike, you’ll see many diverse rock formations, lush forest, and some interesting remnants of the old quarry.
Geologic History: Ableman’s gorge has always been a center of geologic study because so much history can be seen in the exposed rock.
The story goes something like this; Once, an ancient ocean once covered this area. Sediment sunk to the bottom. Layer after layer. Slowly the layers turned to sandstone, then to quartzite. Eventually, geologic forces did something amazing, they lifted and bent the stone, even turning some of that ancient sea floor, vertical! As time marched on, in came another sea which covered these layers with even more sediment. Eventually, these layers turned to stone as well. What’s cool at Ableman’s Gorge, is that you can see this story for yourself by observing the quarry walls.
To the south of the main trail is an area often referred to as Dott’s Detour. This little spur trail will lead you to a rippled vertical wall that used to be at the bottom of a shallow sea!
Along the western face of the quarry wall, you can see the older layers with their more vertical lines (near the bottom) rising up to meet the younger and still horizontal layers near the top of the cliffs.
Van Hise Rock: At the northing parking area, you’ll see the geologically renowned “Van Hise Rock” which is named after professor Charles R. Van Hise who used this area to demonstrate what he saw as fundamental principles of structural geology at the beginning of the twentieth century. “Van Hise Rock” is still a stop for dozens of colleges who use the Baraboo hills as part of their course instruction.
When You Arrive: There are two small pull-over type parking areas, both along the Baraboo River side of the gorge. From either one, you can walk directly across the road to the closest trailhead. The parking lots rarely have more than a car or two at any one time.
The Artesian Well: The more southern of the two parking areas is located by a locally famous artesian well which has been used by generations of local residents and for some, was their main source of water before private wells became common. Visitors are free to fill their bottles and sample the water, however, be sure to park in public areas and not block the bottling companies truck access.
