Wisconsin's Yellowstone Lake State Park
is a year-round destination
with a rich array of natural resources.
I sat down with park manager Mike Watt
to learn about the scenic wonders and adventures
to be found here.
So, we've been spending a lot of time in your park.
So, can you tell us a little bit about
what people that are interested in visiting,
what they could expect?
- Oh, well, there's lots of things to do in the park.
We've got the hiking.
You can mountain bike.
You can swim at the beach.
You can go out pleasure cruising on your boat
or go fishing.
And that's just in the park,
but we also have lots of things around here.
We have a big wildlife area.
Actually, the other side of the lake here
is our wildlife management area, which is quite large.
It's over 4,000 acres or just over 4,000 acres.
Because we didn't have these giant heavy glaciers
moving through here flattening everything out,
you've got really nice ridges and hills and valleys and stuff.
- Which makes for nice hiking.
- Yes, exactly. - Got it, okay.
- Beautiful vistas and lots of great hiking.
- Okay, wonderful.
And I understand there's dams in this park, as well.
- Yes, yes. - Okay.
- So, actually, just over here,
we have a dam that blocks off the lake.
It was put in in the early 1950s.
So, I think in 1955, they put the dam in.
And then, it filled up with water.
And then, it became what you see today.
[soft, gentle music]
- There's something for everyone here, especially campers.
- So we have camping here.
We have 128 campsites. - Wow.
Just in this park alone? - Just in this park alone.
We have group sites,
We have electric sites for those people that have campers,
and then we have the primitive sites for tents.
So, it's a great time to camp out here.
I will say weekends are very busy this time of year.
We feel like we bring a lot to tourism
in terms of bringing people in from other states
as well as from other parts of Wisconsin
to come visit our parks.
And it definitely benefits the local communities
in a lot of ways.
- So you mentioned the wildlife management area
across the lake. - Oh, yes, yes.
- Can you tell us more about, like, that
as well as conservation that exists in this area?
- Oh, sure.
So, the wildlife management area, again,
I told you, is about 4,000 acres.
It's managed by,
we have wildlife biologists that manages that property,
that they're managing it for all kinds of different things--
everything from endangered species to game species,
all those kinds of things.
One other unique thing about the park
is we have a lot of bats in the park.
And so, we have at least on the, in the park side,
we have a lot of bat houses,
which you may have seen around the property.
And it used to be a very big draw,
but, unfortunately, there's a disease called
white-nose syndrome
that's caused a lot of problems for bats in there.
So, the population's reduced,
but we still have quite a few bats around,
and for campers, they're great
'cause they help with the mosquitoes.
So, you don't see a lot of mosquitoes in the campground
because of that.
They're a cool, unique species
that we'd like to do what we can to help.
- Thank you so much for that, Mike.
[soft guitar music]
A wild and gorgeous landscape
that adds to the treasures found in Southwest Wisconsin.