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Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
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If it matters? I live in central Pennsylvania. A local bus company offered a few day bus vacation trip to Wisconsin Dells. But I don't think most people outside of the Midwest, are that familiar with the Dells.? I was because I lived in Chicago.
I am from West TX , and the first time I heard about it was when my parents vacationed up in that area and showed us the pics. That was about 15 years ago. Went to Minne-St. Paul in 08 and enjoyed ourselves and would have liked to explore Wisc. more but we didn't have the time. About the only thing we knew about Wisc. was the Packers and "Sewing with Nancy". LOL
I wish that Wisconsin as a whole would advertise their tourist attractions more. I live in Michigan and we never hear much of anything about Wisconsin over here, but I have heard from a family member who visited the Dells that they are beautiful. Honestly, even though we live in the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest region, I don't know if I would even know about the Dells if that family member had not gone there years ago.
Wisconsin seems like such a pretty, unspoiled state, and you have the western coast of Lake Michigan. Is there anything for Wisconsin tourism akin to the Pure Michigan brand? Whoever thought that up was a genius. Tourism here is absolutely booming!
you're right about wisconsin and its attractions. a beautiful state. unfortunately the lake michigan shoreline can't compete with what michigan offers across the lake. unlike michigan, the shoreline areas are much flatter and much more boring, particularly once you get north of milwaukee (which has a very scenic lakefront, backed up by bluffs).
the vast majority of the tourism, the resorts, the summer homes in Door County are not on the Lake Michigan shore of the peninsula but along the far more scenic Green Bay shore. contrast that with areas across the lake in michigan like the Mackinac area one down to petosky, cherveloix and traverse bay which are beautiful along lake michigan.
Wisconsin sits wedged between the 10 million Chicagolanders and some 4 million residents of the Twin Cities...they don't really have to advertise to reach those two markets. From Lake Geneva in the south to the North Woods, the state is loaded with Chicago visitors without any need to advertise.
Lake Geneva in particular. it is virtually a part of Chicagoland. Chicago dominates the place and it was Chicago $$$ that built the estates of this Newport-of-the-West. Lake Geneva comes across far more Chicago than it does Wisconsin.
I first heard about it on The Weather Channel and wondered "dells, like The Farmer and the Dell?" since I assumed WI was just farmland and was known for its cheese (which still stands alone!). That said, most of the awarness comes from the Midwest, but also parts of central Canada (Manitoba/Western Ontario) based on where the posters on the Wisconsin Dells Forum at Trip Advisor are. As an East Coaster, I find it appealing for places in the Midwest due to the lack of big mountains nearby along with the indoor attractions for the non-summer months, but I'd only use it as a stopping point on a long trip to the Northwest.
Even worse, most people in Michigan have never heard of the Great America amusement park north of Chicago.
6 Flags is where it is for one reason: to serve the Chicago/Milwaukee market. In that respect, it isn't even regional as its market is basically the urbanized southwest shore of Lake Michigan.
you're right about wisconsin and its attractions. a beautiful state. unfortunately the lake michigan shoreline can't compete with what michigan offers across the lake. unlike michigan, the shoreline areas are much flatter and much more boring, particularly once you get north of milwaukee (which has a very scenic lakefront, backed up by bluffs).
the vast majority of the tourism, the resorts, the summer homes in Door County are not on the Lake Michigan shore of the peninsula but along the far more scenic Green Bay shore. contrast that with areas across the lake in michigan like the Mackinac area one down to petosky, cherveloix and traverse bay which are beautiful along lake michigan.
There are summer homes throughout both sides of the Door Peninsula - I grew up there and visit all the time. The Green Bay side has more towns due to more natural harbors. There is actually more sand on the Lake Michigan side. And on the Lake Michigan side of Door County it's very scenic, with both cliffs and beaches...
Cave Point:
Whitefish Dunes:
There are much more scenic bluffs north of Milwaukee - Grafton, Port Washington, etc., not to mention Door County - than in Milwaukee proper.
And it's totally untrue that there are not scenic spots along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. This is strangely perpetrated by Michiganders and people who've only been on the Michigan side (which is certainly beautiful and contains some very high dunes over by Sleepy Bear). Here are beaches in different WI counties along Lake Michigan...
Kohler-Andrae State Park (Sheboygan County):
There's a reason Sheboygan County is one of the top golf destinations in the country:
Point Beach State Park (Manitowoc County):
Ozaukee County Park (Ozaukee County):
Etc. I hate belaboring this, and I'm sure NOLA (who admitted he's never been on the West side of the Lake) will come in with his blather, but the WI side of Lake Michigan is also very scenic.
There are summer homes throughout both sides of the Door Peninsula - I grew up there and visit all the time. The Green Bay side has more towns due to more natural harbors. There is actually more sand on the Lake Michigan side. And on the Lake Michigan side of Door County it's very scenic, with both cliffs and beaches...
Cave Point:
Whitefish Dunes:
There are much more scenic bluffs north of Milwaukee - Grafton, Port Washington, etc., not to mention Door County - than in Milwaukee proper.
And it's totally untrue that there are not scenic spots along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. This is strangely perpetrated by Michiganders and people who've only been on the Michigan side (which is certainly beautiful and contains some very high dunes over by Sleepy Bear). Here are beaches in different WI counties along Lake Michigan...
Kohler-Andrae State Park (Sheboygan County):
There's a reason Sheboygan County is one of the top golf destinations in the country:
Point Beach State Park (Manitowoc County):
Ozaukee County Park (Ozaukee County):
Etc. I hate belaboring this, and I'm sure NOLA (who admitted he's never been on the West side of the Lake) will come in with his blather, but the WI side of Lake Michigan is also very scenic.
Beautiful pictures, AND NOLA's blather is taken with a grain of salt. That much bias can never be taken seriously.
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