United States Canyon

Dells of the Wisconsin River

35 m of rock, cut by the Wisconsin River.

atramos · CC BY 2.0

The cut

35 metres, to scale.

A slice through Dells of the Wisconsin River where it is deepest and narrowest, measured on the Copernicus relief model every 30 m. Same scale as the landmark standing on the floor.

Standing on the floor, to scale: a person · 1.8 m · a two-storey house · 9.0 m

Depth is measured to the lower rim; the width is from rim to rim. A 30 m relief model smooths the narrowest walls, so a slot canyon reads shallower than it is.

35m

Depth

measured on the 30 m relief model

390m

Rim to rim

measured on the 30 m relief model

248m

Floor altitude

Rim to floor

Afternoons, up top and down below.

In July the afternoon reaches 28 °C. The best months to hike are in May and in September. The rim freezes at night from November to March. The wettest months are from May to June and in August: in a narrow canyon a flash flood arrives without warning, even from rain upstream.

rim · 290 mfloor · 248 m

-4°-4°Jan
-2°-2°Feb
6°6°Mar
13°13°Apr
20°20°May
25°25°Jun
28°28°Jul
27°27°Aug
23°23°Sep
14°14°Oct
6°6°Nov
-1°-1°Dec

Hike: May, SepFrost on the rim: Nov–MarWettest: May–Jun, Aug

Afternoon highs, 1991–2020 averages (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the rim and of the floor with the standard lapse rate (6.5 °C per 1 000 m). Shade, wind and rock change this on the day. Not a forecast.

Gorge of the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin, United States

Dells of the Wisconsin River is a canyon in United States, cut by the Wisconsin River. The relief model measures 35 m from the floor to the lower rim, and 42 m to the higher one. Rim to rim it is 390 m wide where the cut was taken.

Getting there.

Wisconsin Dellsnearest town · 2.2 km in a straight line
Parking 510 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 3.4 km from the floor
Dane County Regional Truax Field (MSN)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 67 km in a straight lineCar hire at MSN airport (Madison)Discover Cars · sponsored link
In May and in Septemberbest months to hike (estimate)

Plan the visit

Guided hikes, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at MSN airport (Madison)Discover CarsSee prices

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The river

The Wisconsin River runs highest from May to July.

The Wisconsin River carries about 207 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from May to July.

153 m³/sJan
156 m³/sFeb
191 m³/sMar
246 m³/sApr
286 m³/sMay
300 m³/sJun
262 m³/sJul
246 m³/sAug
229 m³/sSep
228 m³/sOct
199 m³/sNov
168 m³/sDec

From about 153 m³/s in the lowest month to 300 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 20,880 km².

Follow the Wisconsin River from source to mouth on Riveryas

Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.

From the sky.

The canyon from above, with the relief shaded, the line of the cut, the river and what people have mapped around it.

Dells of the Wisconsin River seen from above (Sentinel-2)

N 1.2 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 5.0 × 5.0 km, north up. The line is the cut above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the canyon.

2viewpoints within 5 km
3marked hiking routes within 4 kmDells Scenic River Walk, CTH A Trail, IAT - Baraboo-Chaffee Creek connection
17footbridges and suspension bridges within 3 km
3rafting, canoe, kayak or canyoning spots within 4 km
130car parks within 3 km
6information boards and visitor centres within 4 km
25campsites within 8 kmCliffwood Campground, American Resort and Campground, Camp Chi and Perlstein Retreat Center and 22 more
131hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmMeadowbrook Resort, Polynesian Hotel and Waterpark, Bowman's Oak Hill Bed & Breakfast and 128 more
43restaurants and cafés within 4 km

via ferrata routes within 4 km
climbing crags within 3 km
swimming spots within 3 km
named waterfalls within 4 km
caves within 3 km
bus stops within 2 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the floor of the canyon. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

Wisconsin Dells2.2 km in a straight line
Lake Delton4.7 km in a straight line
West Baraboo19 km in a straight line
Baraboo19 km in a straight line
Reedsburg21 km in a straight line
Easton22 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Dells of the Wisconsin River.

The river that carved it, the waterfalls inside it, the mountains on the rim, the lakes, beaches and island nearby — from our six sister atlases, each with its own figures.

Riveryas2 rivers in the canyon

Wisconsin River692 km · 340 m³/sKickapoo River

Peakyas3 mountains within 15 km

Elephants Back · 6.2 kmRattlesnake Knob · 8.1 kmGrubb Hill · 13 km

Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 kmComing soon

Lake Delton0.9 km² · 2.0 kmAmey Pond0.3 km² · 13 kmMason Lake3.4 km² · 14 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather, at the floor and at the rim.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Afternoon · floor	-4	-2	6	13	20	25	28	27	23	14	6	-1
Afternoon · rim	-4	-2	6	13	20	25	28	27	23	14	6	-1
Night · rim	-13	-12	-5	1	8	14	17	16	11	4	-3	-9
Rain (mm)	33	37	56	98	116	138	102	116	93	77	52	48
Rainy days	7	6	8	12	13	14	14	12	10	9	7	7
Sun hours/day	4.1	5.9	6.4	6.3	7.4	8.3	9.1	7.9	6.9	4.8	3.8	2.8
Snow on the ground (cm)	17	17	12	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	9	17

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	-4	-4	-13	33	4.1
Feb	-2	-2	-12	37	5.9
Mar	6	6	-5	56	6.4
Apr	13	13	1	98	6.3
May	20	20	8	116	7.4
Jun	25	25	14	138	8.3
Jul	28	28	17	102	9.1
Aug	27	27	16	116	7.9
Sep	23	23	11	93	6.9
Oct	14	14	4	77	4.8
Nov	6	6	-3	52	3.8
Dec	-1	-1	-9	48	2.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the floor (248 m) and the rim (290 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Photographs

Seen from the trail.

Wisconsin Dells boat tour — Sergey Subbotin · CC0

Cliffs of the Wisconsin Dells — Bigmacthealmanac · CC BY-SA 4.0

High Rock WIS Dells NicDon — Nicole Donatantonio · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2020	99%	70%	167%	49%	97%	102%	165%	97%	109%	138%	128%	40%
2021	88%	55%	73%	39%	74%	83%	86%	115%	45%	62%	33%	79%
2022	29%	30%	183%	80%	69%	85%	99%	112%	86%	36%	161%	135%
2023	135%	183%	173%	79%	28%	22%	104%	50%	80%	105%	22%	73%
2024	145%	36%	111%	124%	146%	126%	154%	73%	68%	71%	195%	72%
2025	6%	57%	150%	82%	74%	132%	122%	101%	62%	42%	65%	63%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length	Wikidata (Q3569443) · CC0
The cut: depth, width, wall and 3D model	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
River flow and basin	HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020
Viewpoints, trails, bridges and the river line	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, mountains, lakes, beaches and islands nearby	Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.You are here

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	-4	-4	-13	33	4.1
Feb	-2	-2	-12	37	5.9
Mar	6	6	-5	56	6.4
Apr	13	13	1	98	6.3
May	20	20	8	116	7.4
Jun	25	25	14	138	8.3
Jul	28	28	17	102	9.1
Aug	27	27	16	116	7.9
Sep	23	23	11	93	6.9
Oct	14	14	4	77	4.8
Nov	6	6	-3	52	3.8
Dec	-1	-1	-9	48	2.8

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	-4	-4	-13	33	4.1
Feb	-2	-2	-12	37	5.9
Mar	6	6	-5	56	6.4
Apr	13	13	1	98	6.3
May	20	20	8	116	7.4
Jun	25	25	14	138	8.3
Jul	28	28	17	102	9.1
Aug	27	27	16	116	7.9
Sep	23	23	11	93	6.9
Oct	14	14	4	77	4.8
Nov	6	6	-3	52	3.8
Dec	-1	-1	-9	48	2.8

	Afternoon · floor	Afternoon · rim	Night · rim	Rain (mm)	Sun hours/day
Jan	-4	-4	-13	33	4.1
Feb	-2	-2	-12	37	5.9
Mar	6	6	-5	56	6.4
Apr	13	13	1	98	6.3
May	20	20	8	116	7.4
Jun	25	25	14	138	8.3
Jul	28	28	17	102	9.1
Aug	27	27	16	116	7.9
Sep	23	23	11	93	6.9
Oct	14	14	4	77	4.8
Nov	6	6	-3	52	3.8
Dec	-1	-1	-9	48	2.8