Journey In God's Amazing Grace: Devil's Lake State Park

On Sunday, we drove north and west from Lake Farm County Park near Madison to Baraboo, WI and Devil's Lake State Park. This is south of the Wisconsin Dells.

Beautiful farmland on our way up US 12

Such pretty fields

A barn with a "barn quilt" on the end

zoomed in on the end of the barn

This overpass near Baraboo gave homage to the fact that Ringling Brothers Circus started in this area and wintered here from 1884-1918 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_World_Museum)

Devil's Lake State Park

Our campsite in Quartzite Campground (not Quartzsite as in Arizona!). The campground information online indicated that this site had "moderate" slope... it is a bit more slope than we would want, but, we're okay for a few days!

We like staying in public parks (county, city, state, national), but we don't end up staying in state parks very often because they usually require both an entrance fee and the campground site fees. Most (all?) states have state park passes which cover the entrance fees and sometimes provide a campground discount, but, the prices of the state park passes are usually so high for out-of-state residents that it would require that we be using the state parks for 20-30 nights before the cost is justified. This particular Wisconsin state park is also part of the National Park system as the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve, so Carl's Golden Age Passport with the National Park system covers the entrance fees.

As an example of the state park pass costs, in Wisconsin, the price for out-of-state annual pass is $38 for the first vehicle, and $20.50 for the second (note, this is a point of frustration too: if we had a pickup and were towing a trailer or 5th-wheel, only the pickup would require a pass, but, since we drive a motorhome and tow a Jeep, and would be driving the Jeep while staying, we have to get two passes). In Wisconsin, the out-of-state daily fee for most state parks is $11, but for Devil's Lake, it is $16 -- so it would have made sense for us to get the annual pass if we didn't have the national park pass or if it was not valid to use here.

In Texas, a park pass is $70 and gives free entry to all state parks, and 50% discount on the second camping night in a campsite (so you pay full price the first night, 50% second night). The daily entry fee to parks varies - I've seen them $3-$8 per day. Dwayne and I had purchased the Texas state parks pass two different years -- I don't think it ever ended up saving us money. We had friends who primarily stayed in Texas, and they found it very valuable - using it to get entry to state parks for dumping their RV tanks and filling with water... even though they didn't stay in the campgrounds very often, they could dump and fill for free with the park pass.

On Monday, Carl wanted to take me to the south shore area of the park where he had been camping with his dad from the time he was a boy, and a hiking trail that has a lot of good memories for him.

At the south end of the lake, heading across the railroad tracks to Grotto Trail.

There were nice directional maps at intersections of trails.

We would be going east along from the star marking "You are here" on Grotto Trail, and then up to the top of the bluff on the CCC trail (where Carl is pointing), across the bluff on East Bluff Trail, and back down to our starting point via Balanced Rock Trail.

Carl remembered winter camping as a teenager with Christian Service Brigade and their group scrambling up and down these rocks for fun! He said that the overnight lows were in the 5-10F range and up to 20F during the day. He said that those temperatures were more comfortable than 29-35F where it would be more humid and feel colder!

Thankfully, it was not that cold on the Grotto Trail on Monday (it was a bit hot and humid though!).

Starting up the CCC trail

It was pretty steep and we had to watch for where the rocks on the trail had concrete or asphalt to keep them in place to make sure we stayed on the trail!

We eventually were above the canopy of the trees below.

There were some rock climbers that we passed along the way.

Another view out over the trees below

We got to the higher point where the rock climbers had set their ropes - you may not be able to see her in this picture....

Here is a zoomed in version of the previous picture. Better her than us!

Looking over toward the south end of the lake

"That's a big rock!"

Up along the East Bluff Trail was relatively level.

We came to the point where we would head down on the Balanced Rock Trail.

Looking down at the south end of Devil's Lake

The path down Balanced Rock Trail was steep like the CCC Trail had been coming up.

Lots of stair steps carved into the rocks

We took it slowly

... were careful with our steps

Make sure that each step is solid!

Take frequent breaks to take pictures

Balanced Rock for which the trail was named -- you can see some ropes from climbers who had set their ropes here and are climbing up from below. You may also see another hiker to the left that gives perspective on the size of Balanced Rock.