Things to do in the Horicon Marsh area
THINGS TO DO: Canoe or kayak Horicon Marsh. Bring your own boat and launch from the Greenhead Landing on the east side of the marsh, west of Mayville. Follow the east branch of the Rock River into the marsh to Fourmile Island, a nesting site for great blue heron. Bring binoculars to view the birds from afar so as not to disturb them.
Horicon Marsh Boat Tours offers sightseeing and birding tours in the marsh, launching from Blue Heron Landing in Horicon. Birding tours ($22/adults, $11.50/kids 5-13) depart on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings in May and June and Sunday mornings in July, August and September. Sightseeing tours ($14/adults, $7/ kids) are offered at 12:30 p.m. daily, May 1-Sept. 21. The company also offers canoe and kayak rentals. See horiconmarsh.com.
The Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center, N7725 Highway 28, Horicon, is home to the Explorium, with interactive, kid-friendly exhibits. The visitor center also provides access to hiking trails that loop around impoundments in the marsh.
Ledge Park in Dodge County protects an exposed segment of the Niagara Escarpment, a rock ledge that stretches from New York to Wisconsin. Hiking trails wind along “the ledge,” as the escarpment is known, with views of the surrounding farmland and Horicon Marsh to the west. The park also has a campground.
A collection of historical buildings at 1 N. German St., Mayville, includes an old cigar factory, a wagon and carriage factory and the home of the Swiss immigrant who owned the factory. Today it houses collections from the Mayville Historical Society and is open Monday through Saturday by appointment, and from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. the second and fourth Sunday of the month.
If one person’s junk is another person’s treasure, then the Columbus Antique Mall & Museum, 239 Whitney St., Columbus, is full of treasures. It would be easy to spend an entire day perusing the more than 78,000 square feet of collectibles in the state’s largest antique mall.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK: Hubbleton Brewing Co., W10445 Hubbleton Road, Waterloo, serves up a handful of its brews in a small taproom up a gravel driveway lined by hop and grapevines. It’s open 4-9 p.m. Friday, 1-9 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Cowbells, 205 Columbus St., Lowell, is a friendly diner serving up breakfast and lunch in the middle of Dodge County. Saturday is Chicago-style pizza day. It’s open 6 a.m.-2 p.m. MondayFriday and 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday.
The Natural Way, 35 S. Main St., Mayville, has an ever-changing menu with everything from salads to burgers.
NOLA North Grille, 45 N. Main St., Mayville, is a touch of New Orleans in the 1896 Audubon Inn.
WHERE TO STAY: Ledge Park, N7403 Park Road, Horicon, has electric and nonelectric campsites.
The Audubon Inn, 45 N. Main St., Mayville, is on the National Register of Historic Places and has 18 elegant guest rooms.
River’s Bend Inn, 257 N. German St., Mayville, is a bed and breakfast along the Rock River.