Wisconsin
Sauna culture is expanding in Wisconsin. Here are locations to try.
Saunas aren’t new to Wisconsin, especially the northern parts of the state where Finnish immigrants first brought the tradition generations ago.
Nowadays, Wisconsin saunas are no longer just enjoyed Up North, at the gym, and in spas.
Sauna fanatics and newbies around the state are spending time in community saunas at local parks, on Great Lakes shorelines and by rivers, in parking lots and neighbors’ backyards.
The growing number of public sauna businesses is proof Wisconsin has hopped on the bus that neighboring Minnesota, known as the nation’s unofficial sauna capital, has been driving for years.
Here’s a list in alphabetical order of where to find sauna businesses around the state.
Heat Haven Sauna Park – Wauwatosa
Located in Wauwatosa’s Hart Park, Heat Haven Sauna Park offers daily, 75-minute sessions in barrel saunas. Select sessions are accompanied by fitness classes taught by local instructors. The sauna park plans events throughout the season and private sauna sessions are also available.
Heat Haven is open daily Nov. 21, 2025 through April 12, 2026.
Where: 7300 W. Chestnut Street, Wauwatosa, WI
Cost: $31.77 gets visitors a 75-minute public session in barrel saunas. Prices vary for sauna events accompanied by fitness classes.
For more information: https://heathaven.co/
Heat Retreat – Eau Claire
Heat Retreat offers sauna rentals nearby Eau Claure as well as community sauna sessions in their wood-fired saunas.
Where: Currently offers community sauna sessions at River Prairie Park, Altoona, WI near 44 North and the Helix. Saunas available for rental.
Cost: An hour-long community session costs $23. Check the website for varying costs on private bookings and rentals.
For more information: www.homesteadsaunas.com/
Homestead Saunas – Sharon
Homestead Sauna runs wood-fired sauna sessions at its homebase “The Homestead” as well mobile sauna sessions elsewhere. Saunas are available for rent for public and private events. The business also advertises the Sauna Synergy Festival, a collaborative sauna gathering, planned for April 10 and 11 at Kettle Moraine Ranch, according to Instagram.
Where: The Homestead, 133 Martin St. Sharon, WI 53585
Cost: A general, 90-minute-long community session costs $22, according to the website. Costs vary for women’s and men’s sauna sessions, private sessions, and other events.
For more information: www.homesteadsaunas.com
Hot Island Sauna – Madeline Island
Hot Island Sauna rents saunas out to folks on Madeline Island any time of year. The business also offers custom sauna builds for both in-home and mobile units.
Where: Madeline Island
For more information: www.hotislandsauna.com
Hot Spell Sauna – McKinley Marina
From sunup to sundown all winter, employees of Hot Spell Sauna keep a pair of boxy wood-fired saunas warm at McKinley Marina as visitors trickle in to spend 75 minutes moving from time in the sauna to the chilly air, and the cold plunge in the marina if they’re bold.
Where: 1750 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr. Milwaukee, WI
Cost: A 75-minute session costs $39.92 including tax. Memberships and other services vary in price, check the website.
For more information: www.hotspellsauna.com/
Kiln (Chicago for the winter, Baileys Harbor for the summer)
Floating in Navy Pier Marina this winter, Kiln is owned and operated by Wisconsin-born Zoë Lake. The business is among the few floating saunas in the United States.
Where: Through the winter, Kiln is located at Navy Pier Marina in Chicago, IL at 797 E. Grand Ave. In the summer, Kiln is located at Gordon Lodge, 1420 Pine Dr., Baileys Harbor
Cost: Prices may vary, check on the business website. At the Chicago location, a 75-minute public session costs $90, and a 45-minute public session costs $50 for the winter 2025 to 2026 season.
For more information: www.kilnfloatingsauna.com
Kindled Community Sauna – Spring Green and Madison
Kindled Community Sauna is a mobile, wood-fired sauna and cold plunge experience in southwest of Madison, Wisconsin. The business offers community sauna sessions, private sessions, and sauna rentals around the area, often partnering with local businesses.
Where: Sessions occur around Southwestern Wisconsin.
Cost: Costs may vary, check the website for specific event costs. For example, a public session scheduled Feb. 20 through 22 at Working Draft Beer in Madison costs $30.
For more information: www.kindledcommunitysauna.com/
Nordic Night Community Sauna – Stevens Point
Nordic Night offers public and private community sauna sessions in Stevens Point.
Nicole Terrill and Abbey Laufenberg co-own the sauna business, which operates year-round and opened in June 2023.
“The purpose is deeper than it appears, it’s not a gym and it’s not a spa,” Terrill said. “The heat and the atmosphere provide for a grounding and attunement that people aren’t used to meeting each other at, they’re connecting at a different level.”
The business also offers special events and gender-specific sauna sessions. The “Iceberg Sessions” are facilitated for men, the “Queer Sauna” session is open to LGBTQ+ folks and allies, and the Sweaty Betty Sauna Sessions for women, trans women and non-binary or genderqueer people. All sessions are 18+.
Where: 1027 Union Street, Stevens Point, WI
Cost: One hour-long community sessions cost $23 Monday through Thursday, and $30 Friday through Sunday. Discount packages are available. Check online for the private session costs.
For more information: www.nordicnightsauna.com or call (715) 489 5361
Northern Lights Sauna – Wausau
Northern Lights Sauna is located outside at Newfound Power Gym in Wausau. The business announced it will close at the end of its season March 15, 2026, but there’s still time to try out a session until then.
“What began as a shared vision grew into a space rooted in wellness, restoration, and community,” according to the website. “We invite you to join us before we say goodbye.”
Where: 227307 Rib Mountain Drive, Wausau, WI 54401
Cost: For an hour-long public session, weekday rates cost $25 per person, weekends cost $30 per person. Check online for private session pricing.
For more information: www.northernlightswausau.com
Saunaday – Madison
Saunaday owners drew inspiration from the many cultures that have relied on bathhouses and saunas for thousands of years to bring Madison its own brick-and-mortar bathhouse. Among many offerings, Saunaday features cedar salt scrub showers, a Finnish sauna and a drop-in cold plunge pool.
Where: 315 S. Blount St. Madison, WI 53703
Cost: $55 for the 2-hour communal bathhouse experience. Check online for a cost break down per service, as prices vary.
For more information: www.sauna.day
Smokin’ Barrel – Madison
This mobile sauna business in Madison offers wood-fired saunas for rent. Public pop-up sauna sessions are also advertised online.
“We built this barrel to keep the Madison sauna community growing, whether it’s for backyard hangs, winter plunges, or milestone celebrations,” according to the website. Every booking includes delivery, setup, and a walkthrough of the service.
For more information: www.smokinbarrelsauna.com
The Hive Wellness & Social – Milwaukee area
The Hive Wellness & Social organizes guided communal sauna and cold plunge sessions around Milwaukee. The group joins contrast therapy, yoga, breathwork and personalized coaching to help people reach their full potential with the support of a group.
Where: Event locations vary, mostly around Milwaukee.
Cost: Costs vary, check the website
For more information: www.hivemke.com/
Tuli Sauna and Plunge – Paoli
Located on the banks of the Sugar River at Seven Acre Dairy Co., Tuli Sauna and Plunge is operational year-round. Riverside social sauna sessions are rooted in Nordic sauna traditions.
Where: 6858 Paoli Rd. Belleville, WI
Cost: A 1 hour and 20 minute-long social sauna session costs $39.00. Check online for membership packs and the costs of other offerings.
For more information: www.tulisaunaandplunge.com/
Are we missing a public sauna in Wisconsin that would be a good fit for this list? Email Bridget Fogarty at bfogarty@usatodayco.com.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
MILWAUKEE – Friday’s severe storms have passed. And with that, the threat of any severe weather has also passed for the immediate future as no storms or rain are expected for several days.
However, plenty of damage remains across southeastern Wisconsin as of Saturday morning, in addition to the ongoing flooding threat.
Several area rivers are at flood stage, and there are multiple river flood warnings in effect.
FOX6 Weekend WakeUp on Saturday begins at 6 a.m.
On the scene in the morning
What we know:
Farmstead damage in Franklin
FOX6’s Hayley Spitler is in Franklin on Saturday morning, April 18, getting a daylight look at the damage from last night’s storms.
Storm damage in Caledonia
Friday’s storms left quite the mark across southern and southeastern Wisconsin, including at L and L Farms and Greenhouse in Caledonia.
FOX6 Weather Extras
Local perspective:
Meanwhile, FOX6Now.com offers a variety of extremely useful weather tools to help you navigate the stormy season. They include the following:
FOX6 Storm Center app
FOX LOCAL Mobile app
FOX Weather app
Maps and radar
We have a host of maps and radars on the FOX6 Weather page that are updating regularly — to provide you the most accurate assessment of the weather. From a county-by-county view to the Midwest regional radar and a national view — it’s all there.
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School and business closings
When the weather gets a little dicey, schools and businesses may shut down. Monitor the latest list of closings, cancellations, and delays reported in southeast Wisconsin.
FOX6 Weather Experts in social media
The Source: Information in this post was compiled by the FOX6 Weather Experts.
How Aleksas Bieliauskas has grown in first season with Wisconsin Badgers
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MADISON – One of Wisconsin men’s basketball’s departing transfers is headed to an SEC program with some connections to the Badgers.
Ex-UW forward Aleksas Bieliauskas has committed to South Carolina, he announced on April 17.
Bieliauskas left the Badgers after appearing in all 35 games as a freshman and making 28 starts. He averaged 4.9 points and 4.4 points in 20.2 minutes, and highlights of his freshman year included his five 3-pointers in UW’s upset over eventual national champion Michigan.
He’ll join a program with plenty of Wisconsin ties. South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2010-17 on Bo Ryan and Greg Gard’s staffs. South Carolina assistant coach Tanner Bronson and director of video services Roman DiPasquale also are UW alumni.
Bieliauskas is the second of UW’s four departing transfers to commit to a new school. Reserve forward Jack Robison committed to North Dakota State on April 15. Starting guard John Blackwell and reserve forward Riccardo Greppi have not announced their next schools yet.
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