photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Greg Harp | profile | all galleries >> Places >> Wisconsin Dells tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Minnesota | Indiana | South Dakota | Northwest Oregon | Oregon 2005 | Wisconsin Dells | Wyoming

Wisconsin Dells



The Dells of the Wisconsin River is a 5 mi (8 km) gorge on the Wisconsin River in southern Wisconsin in the United States noted for its particular scenic beauty, in particular for its unique sandstone rock formations and tributary canyons.


The unique cliffs, some over 100 ft. (30 m) high, and side canyons are closed to the public to protect sensitive ecological features. The viewing of the rock formations by water is a popular tourist attraction in the area. The nearby city of Wisconsin Dells is the center of summer tourist activity, much of it in the form of the theme parks unrelated to the river features.

The Dells was formed during the last ice age approximately 15,000 years ago, although the rock itself is much older, dating from the Cambrian approximately 510-520 million years ago when the area of Wisconsin was at the bottom of a shallow sea.


Approximately 19,000 years ago, the Dells was at the extreme eastern margin of the continental glacier. However, the Dells itself was never covered by glacial ice sheets - it was part of the large Driftless Zone that was by-passed by the ice. The melting of the glacier formed Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a lake about the size of Great Salt Lake in Utah and as deep as 150 ft (45 m). The lake was held back by an ice dam of the remaining glacier. The evenutal bursting of the ice dam unleashed a catastrophic flood, dropping the lake's depth to 50 ft (15 m) and cutting deep, narrow gorges and unusual rock formations into the sandstone seen today. The Dells was probably formed in a matter of days or weeks.


--From Wikipedia.com





Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Dells		 Wisconsin Dells 02
Wisconsin Dells 02		 Wisconsin Dells 03
Wisconsin Dells 03		 Jet Boat
Jet Boat
Kayaks
Kayaks		 Kayaks
Kayaks		 Sandstone Cliffs
Sandstone Cliffs		 Tour Boat
Tour Boat
Tour Boat 2
Tour Boat 2		 Wisconsin Dells 04
Wisconsin Dells 04		 Wisconsin Dells 05
Wisconsin Dells 05		 Wisconsin Dells 06
Wisconsin Dells 06
Wisconsin Dells 07
Wisconsin Dells 07		 Wisconsin Dells 08
Wisconsin Dells 08		 Wisconsin Dells 09
Wisconsin Dells 09		 Wisconsin Dells 10
Wisconsin Dells 10
Wisconsin Dells 11
Wisconsin Dells 11		 Gift Shop
Gift Shop		 Gift Shop 02
Gift Shop 02		 Wisconsin Dells 12
Wisconsin Dells 12
Slime
Slime		 Slime 2
Slime 2		 Tour Boat 3
Tour Boat 3		 Cliff
Cliff
Grafiti
Grafiti		 Sandstone Cliff Passage
Sandstone Cliff Passage		 Standstone Cliffs
Standstone Cliffs

comment | share
Fuzzbugz1 17-Jan-2008 17:34
Awsome pictures! What a photographer!
PAUL V QUINN 03-Aug-2006 09:49
THE DELLS OF THE WISCONSIN RIVER IS STEEPRD IN HISTORY AND LORE. EVERYONE SHOULD VISIT. YOUR PICTURES ARE RIGHT ON. A RIVER GUIDE 1969-1972
c.m. 13-Apr-2006 20:02
I love your photos! I am a tour guide on the upper dells and it is great to see that other people enjoy the trip as much as I do. Thanks for sharing your trip with others. I hope it brings more people to the tours as they have been declining in numbers dramatically over the past years.
fotabug 22-Sep-2005 22:33
Wow, what a great place to visit. I scanned through the gallery and all your photos look fine. Hope to have a chance to look in more detail another time.
Steve Thuman 22-Sep-2005 05:23
What a beautiful place and you showed off it's beauty so well in these photos!
click on thumbnails for full image