Part of our Wisconsin guide.
2 places and guides from our Dells coverage, gathered into one page.
Related travel guides: Eau Claire Travel Guide, Wauwatosa Travel Guide, 12 Iconic Landmarks To See In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Logging Camps and Lumber History In Wisconsin, and Mysteries Of Wisconsin's Ghost Towns.
Unveil The Magic Of H.H. Bennett Studio In Wisconsin Dells
H.H. Bennett Studio, a historic photography studio in the heart of Wisconsin Dells, preserves the work of the 19th-century landscape photographer who made the region famous. Visitors can see Bennett’s original glass-plate negatives and the camera he used to capture the Dells’ rock formations and geology long before tourism boomed. The studio displays his iconic images of the Wisconsin River and the sandstone cliffs, along with exhibits on wet-plate collodion and albumen printing. A self-guided tour costs $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, and $4 for children ages 6–12 (prices as of 2023). You can also book a guided tour for $12 per person, which includes a demonstration of a 19th-century camera and a chance to handle a reproduction glass plate. The studio is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from May through October, and by appointment from November through April. Allow about 45 minutes to an hour to see the full collection. The building itself dates to 1875 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Dells
Beyond the water parks, steam shovel sites in Wisconsin Dells reveal the area’s industrial past. These are the locations where early 20th-century steam shovels dug canals and foundations for the region’s first resorts and dams. One accessible site is along the Riverwalk near the downtown bridge, where a preserved steam shovel sits on a short stretch of track. A free interpretive panel explains that the machine, a 1919 Bucyrus-Erie, moved more than 200,000 cubic yards of earth during the construction of the Dell Creek Dam in 1925. The site is open year‑round, and the best time to visit is during daylight hours. For a deeper look, the Wisconsin Dells Visitor Center (open daily 9 a.m.–5 p.m.) offers a free pamphlet titled “Steam Shovels of the Dells” that maps five other shovel locations, including the original gravel pit on Highway 13 and the old railroad cut near the Wisconsin River bridge. Allow 30 minutes to walk the Riverwalk site, or two hours to drive to all five mapped spots. No admission fee is charged for any of the shovel sites. The pamphlet also notes that the Dells area was once part of the vast northern forests and waterways, which supplied timber for the shovels’ wooden crane booms.
