Wisconsin State Parks celebrate 125 years

SUPERIOR, Wis. — The Wisconsin State Park System is celebrating 125 years of state parks.

State Parks are holding special programs to mark the occasion such as candlelight hikes and other activities to be announced.

The first state park, Interstate State Park, down by St. Croix Falls, was first dedicated in 1900.

Since then, the state park system has grown to over 50 state parks.

 “In Wisconsin, we annually have around 20 million visitors a year visiting all of these properties in the entire state. So, it’s a big, big draw for outdoor recreation. So, I think what we want to try to try to do this year, celebrating our 125th anniversary of the state park system is really to encourage visitors, more visitors, to come to our state parks and maybe visit some other state parks they haven’t.” said Gervase Thompson, Natural Resources Property Superintendent at Pattison Park and Amnicon Falls State Park.

State parks are open every day, year-round.

For finding the parks, programming, or other information please visit the State Parks page of the Wisconsin DNR Website