Start from 24 curated places around Baraboo, WI, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Driftless Glen Restaurant
The dining room of Baraboo's craft distillery along the Baraboo River, with a menu that reaches well beyond pub food — think locally sourced steaks, creative appetizers, and serious cocktails made with the house spirits. The setting on the water is relaxed and the kitchen punches above the usual distillery-restaurant standard. One of the region's better all-around dinner spots.
Little Village Cafe
A restored 1940s diner on the courthouse square where the original booths, counter stools and neon set the scene for an eclectic menu — burgers and burritos alongside fresh seafood, pasta and homemade soups, with a full bar and plenty of vegetarian and gluten-free options. It serves lunch and dinner rather than breakfast, and fills up on weekends.
Trails & outdoors
East Bluff Trail — Devil's Lake State Park
The signature hike at Devil's Lake, climbing 500 feet along the quartzite East Bluff to Devil's Doorway and connecting views over the lake that earn every step of the ascent. The rocks, lichen and exposure make the route feel more dramatic than the mileage suggests. The full loop back via East Bluff Woods adds welcome shade on warm days.
Parfrey's Glen State Natural Area
Wisconsin's first designated State Natural Area, a narrow sandstone canyon wrapped in ferns, mosses and shade where a small stream cuts through walls draped in green. The trail is short — less than a mile — but the gorge feels like a different world. A very different texture from the open bluffs.
Things to do
Driftless Glen Distillery Tours & Tasting Room
Behind the restaurant, Baraboo's homegrown craft distillery runs tours of its production floor and opens the tasting room for flights of bourbon, rye, gin and vodka. The spirits have won serious national awards and the riverside setting makes a leisurely afternoon easy to justify. A good rainy-day or end-of-day option.
Al Ringling Theatre
A 1915 Italian Renaissance opera house built by Al Ringling at a cost then equivalent to a palace, with ornate gilded plasterwork, velvet seating and a ceiling that makes you forget what you came to see. It still hosts films, concerts and live performances and is easily one of the most beautiful small-city theaters in the Midwest. Worth a visit even without a performance.
Landmarks & sights
Devil's Lake State Park
Wisconsin's most-visited state park, where 500-foot quartzite bluffs drop dramatically to a glacial lake ringed with forest. The combination of geology, swimming beaches, rock climbing and extensive trail networks makes it genuinely hard to spend a bad day here. Plan to arrive early on weekends; the south shore lot fills by midmorning.
Circus World Museum
Set on the original Ringling Brothers winter quarters along the Baraboo River, this 64-acre museum holds the world's largest collection of restored circus wagons alongside vivid exhibit halls on circus history. A summer big-top show keeps the living tradition going. It is a genuinely unusual place that earns its visit.