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| A flashflood from a massive, ancient glacial lake formed Witches Gulch. |
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| H.H. Bennett's famous Stand Rock photo. |
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| Topo map of Witches Gulch and Stand Rock |
Indeed, tourism got its start here because of the fascinating rock formations on the Dells of the Wisconsin River. During the 1850s, entrepreneurs set up the first boat tours of the Dells, and tourism to the scenic area boomed.
The Dells of the Wisconsin River consists of a network of deep and narrow canyons that looks like it belongs out West. You can see the openings of these canyons and many other fascinating rock formations, such as Chimney Rock, Blackhawk’s Profile and Romance Cliff, on the Upper Dells Boat Tour. The two-hour excursion makes a pair of landings at the highlights of the best of those geological wonders – Witches Gulch and Stand Rock.
A half-billion years ago, this part of Wisconsin were a series of beaches at the edge of a vast sea. As wind shaped the beach into dunes and then buried them, over the eons the sand hardened into rock. Once the sandstone was exposed during the Age of Dinosaurs, it slowly began to erode away.
About 14,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, a weak moraine holding back Glacial Lake Wisconsin broke. About 21 trillion gallons of floodwater swept down the Wisconsin River, carving out the formations we see today in the Dells.
Witches Gulch is one of several deep ravines in which creeks today feed the Wisconsin River. A boardwalk allows hikers to step into a fairy forest of fern glens and hidden whirlpool chambers. If visiting on a hot day, you’ll be struck by the gorge’s cooler temperatures as pine-lined clifftops keep out the sun.
Several stories deep, at spots the gulch is only a few feet wide. Green moss lines the moist, curving walls.
Across the river from Witches Gulch is the imposing pillar called Stand Rock. Nineteenth-century photographer H. H. Bennett made the mushroom-shaped formation famous with the dramatic image of his son leaping from a nearby bluff onto the Stand Rock’s summit. Today, a trained dog jumps back and forth for the crowds stopping on the boat tour.
Stand Rock is merely a remnant of that adjacent bluff, which is slowly eroding. Hard rock more resistant to wind and rain sits atop Stand Rock.
Neither hike is particularly long – at best, not more than 0.4 miles total.
The boat tour is wheelchair accessible and allows leashed, well-behaved dogs. A stroller will fit on the boardwalk but will be difficult to maneuver. A fee is charged for the boat ride, and there likely will be crowds.
Though both sites are in a state natural area, they are only accessible by boat tour under the contract the tour operator and state signed.
