Wisconsin
The Best Small Towns In Wisconsin To Chill Out
Wisconsin is more than just cheese and football. Both are a fair starting point. The towns across this midwestern state are friendly and easygoing, with distinct local character. Spring Green has riverbanks and the Frank Lloyd Wright estate. Mount Horeb still carries Norwegian roots and troll statues on Main Street. The nine towns below capture different sides of the Wisconsin experience, each with its own way of taking the pace down a notch.
Spring Green
Set along the Wisconsin River, Spring Green is a small town surrounded by deep green fields and forest. The American Players Theatre is the main draw for many visitors, an outdoor classical theater that runs Shakespeare and other plays through the summer. Architecture enthusiasts make the trip for Taliesin, the home and studio of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Built to sit in harmony with the surrounding landscape, the roughly 800-acre estate offers guided tours that walk through Wright’s life and work. A trip to Spring Green isn’t really complete without a visit to House on the Rock, the idiosyncratic complex begun by Alex Jordan Jr. in the 1940s and famous for its elaborate themed rooms, gardens, and exhibits, including the 269-horse carousel often cited as the world’s largest indoor carousel. Out in the middle of the midwestern expanse, Spring Green captures a distinctly Wisconsin kind of curiosity.
Ephraim
A small town set in Door County, Ephraim was founded in 1853 as a sanctuary for practitioners of the Moravian Church. Those values held for a long time, and it remained the only dry municipality in Wisconsin until 2016. The shift since has helped open up the local scene, and many outdoor visitors head straight for Peninsula State Park. Hiking, biking, camping, and the open views of Green Bay are the usual reasons to go. Art lovers tend to head for Anderson Dock, the historic waterfront warehouse complex (famous for the graffiti-tradition signatures of visiting boats) that houses the Hardy Gallery. For a classic Door County stop, Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor has been serving ice cream and other treats since 1906.
Cedarburg
Cedarburg sits about 20 miles north of downtown Milwaukee and was first incorporated as a village in 1885. It has since grown into a hub for the local art community. The Cedarburg Art Museum spotlights regional artists and gives a good sense of the creative side of town. Wine fans will want to visit Cedar Creek Winery, housed in an 1860s limestone mill, with tastings and a walk-through of the winemaking process. For an outdoor day, the Ozaukee Interurban Trail runs 30 miles of paved trail that connects Cedarburg with neighboring communities, with easy access for biking, walking, and birdwatching.
Bayfield
Bayfield is the gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, with maritime history and natural draw packed into a short visit. The Lakeshore covers 12 miles of mainland coast and 21 Lake Superior islands of sandstone cliffs, old lighthouses, and sea caves. Kayaking is the locally preferred way to see them, and outfitters like Makwa Den arrange guided tours. The Bayfield Heritage Association covers the area’s past through exhibits on Native American history, maritime artifacts, and local lore. Every October, the town hosts the Bayfield Apple Festival, with a wide variety of apple-based foods, a parade, and a full slate of autumn activities.
Mineral Point
Often called a “living museum,” Mineral Point carries deep mining history that dates back to its 1827 settlement and the era of figures like Henry Dodge, later the first territorial governor of Wisconsin. The Pendarvis Historic Site preserves the lives of early Cornish miners with stone cottages and mine shafts you can walk through. The Mineral Point Railroad Museum picks up the same thread, with exhibits on the role of the railroads in 19th-century mining operations. Art lovers should add Brewery Pottery to the list, a gallery housed in a renovated brewery that displays work by local artists across multiple disciplines.
New Glarus
Known as “America’s Little Switzerland,” New Glarus celebrates its Swiss heritage with pride. The New Glarus Brewing Company, famous for its Wisconsin-only distribution and a deep lineup of Belgian-, German-, and American-style craft beers (including the flagship Spotted Cow), runs tours and tastings that pull beer fans in from across the country. The Swiss Historical Village walks visitors through how Swiss settlers lived in the 19th century, with 14 reconstructed buildings on the grounds. For an outdoor afternoon, the Sugar River State Trail covers 24 miles of hiking and biking through woods, meadows, and rolling hills.
Stockholm
Set along the banks of the Mississippi, Stockholm is a tiny Pepin County village where tradition meets creativity. The population sits at fewer than 75, which means you can expect to be treated like a long-lost family member. The Stockholm Pie and General Store is a beloved stop, with pies that have drawn national attention. Nearby Lake Pepin, the largest lake on the Mississippi, is good for boating and fishing. It is widely considered the birthplace of water skiing, after Ralph Samuelson made the first run there in July 1922. Many folks add a tour around Maiden Rock Bluff or the Little House Wayside, a reconstructed mid-1800s cabin marking the birthplace of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Elkhart Lake
Elkhart Lake works for motor enthusiasts and nature lovers in equal measure. Road America, the four-mile road course just outside town, runs as one of the fastest permanent racing tracks in the country. The lake itself is good for boating, swimming, and fishing. Kayaking is common too, and you will often see a group of small boats drifting across the water. The nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest opens up hiking, biking, and camping. The Throttlestop Motorcycle Museum keeps a rotating collection of more than 200 antique bikes alongside cars and vintage engines.
Mount Horeb
Rooted in Norwegian heritage, Mount Horeb pairs history and outdoor access in a single short visit. The region was originally home to the Ho-Chunk nation, and European settlers later named the site after a biblical mountain. The Cave of the Mounds, a National Natural Landmark since 1988, opens up tunnels of limestone formations on guided tours. Mount Horeb’s main street, known as the “Trollway,” is lined with troll statues that give the town its quirky calling card. The Grumpy Troll Brew Pub, a beloved local brewery, serves a variety of craft beers, the consumption of which is arguably the official state sport of Wisconsin.
A State Worth Slowing Down For
These towns are more than dots on the map. They are living, working places that carry old traditions forward while making room for what comes next. Whether the draw is the Swiss heritage of New Glarus, the mining history of Mineral Point, the maritime feel of Bayfield, or the racing weekends at Elkhart Lake, each town shows a different side of Wisconsin life. Taken together, the nine sketch out a state as varied as it is welcoming.
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
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Copyright 2026 WSAW. All rights reserved.
A Wisconsin man has been arrested in Colorado in connection with a fatal north suburban hit-and-run earlier this year that left a 50-year-old woman killed.
According to the Winthrop Harbor Police Department, Travis Kern, 35, of Pleasant Prairie, turned himself into police in Lakewood Colorado on an arrest warrant. Kern was charged with two felonies, police said, and remains in custody in Colorado pending extradition proceedings.
About 11:10 p.m. on February 26, a pedestrian was struck in the 1400 block of Sheridan Road in Winthrop Harbor by a driver of a vehicle heading northbound. The vehicle then fled the scene, police said.
The pedestrian, later identified as Shanna White, 50, of Waukegan, was transported to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
According to court documents, Kern’s next scheduled court date is set for July 22.
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