Publications Program

The Wisconsin Department of Tourism produces an annual series of publications detailing Wisconsin events, attractions and recreational facilities:

The Wisconsin Travel Guideis a comprehensive, 80-page guide to more than 400 of Wisconsin’s top attractions and destinations. The Guide divides the state into three geographic regions: North, Central and South. Attraction information is arranged alphabetically by city within each region. Color-coding and a pair of indexes make the guide very handy for the traveler.

The Wisconsin Event & Recreation Guide is issued twice each year – a spring/summer edition, followed by a fall/winter edition.

Each of these magazine-format pieces includes nearly 1,000 Wisconsin events, as well as schedules for the performing arts and museum exhibits. The spring/summer calendar lists events for April 1- September 30; while the fall/winter calendar lists events for September 1 - March 30. To be listed, events must be open to the general public and demonstrate a significant regional, statewide or national appeal. The calendars do not list events that are primarily local in nature such as church suppers, July 4th fireworks, community picnics, sidewalk sales, Breakfasts with Santa, Halloween Haunted Houses and the like. If you have a qualifying event, contact Linda Anderson at 608/261-8212.

Each of these guides also includes information about recreational activities appropriate to the season. The summer edition highlights canoeing, lighthouse tours, train and boat excursions, canoe, tube & raft rentals, bird watching, horseback riding, gambling, brewery & winery tours, waterfalls, charter fishing and sailing, farm vacations, cheese factory tours, houseboat rentals, state park and national forest campgrounds, fee fishing locations, and ATV trails. The winter edition lists downhill and cross-country ski areas, sleighride operators, and contact information for snowmobile trail coordinators in all 72 Wisconsin counties. If you have a recreational facility to add to any of these categories, please contact Jim Bach at 608/266-1238.

The Wisconsin Biking Guide is a 72-page, full-color guide presented in a handy “slim-Jim” format measuring 6” x 11”. The Guide includes 30 Wisconsin bike tours and trails: ten each linear trails, on-road routes, and mountain bike trail systems. Detailed maps for each trail/route, nearby tourism attractions, trail amenities, and a difficulty rating make this our most popular biking guide ever. Now in its fifth edition with fifteen new trails and tours, the Biking Guide is an excellent companion to the Wisconsin Bicycle Map distributed by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Snowmobile Map is a large, 23” x 35” full-color map of Wisconsin showing east-west and north-south snowmobiling corridors throughout the state. Half of the state is printed on each side. Produced in conjunction with the Association of Wisconsin Snowmobile Clubs, it’s just the ticket for cross-country snowmobile touring.

The Wisconsin State Parks Visitors Guide helps you explore Wisconsin’s 93 state parks, forests and trails. This digest-sized guide includes a locator map, charted amenities, narrative descriptions and contact phone numbers for each of these Wisconsin natural wonders.

The Wisconsin Heritage Traveler is a 64-page, full-color guide to historic Wisconsin. The guide features state historic sites, heritage tourism corridors and areas, museums, and a directory for the state’s Heritage Tourism Sign Program.

Wisconsin's Rustic Roadsis a guide to Wisconsin’s 91 designated rustic roads. Each road is illustrated with a small map. Each includes a brief narrative detailing the road’s length, surface, and interesting cultural or physical characteristics. A must for those who seek roads less-traveled.

The Great Wisconsin Birding & Nature Trail is a series of five guides set to be produces, one each year, from 2004 to 2008. The series divides Wisconsin into five birding regions based on dominant habitat types. The guides include prominent birding and wildlife waypoints in each county. Listings include a small locator map, driving directions, a description of the habitat, the birds and wildlife one can expect to see and a contact phone number. The first guide in the series – the Lake Superior and Northwood’s edition – will debut in November, 2004.

Wisconsin Fall Sampler is a 16-page, full-color digest that features a mix of event and recreation information specific to this most wonderful of Wisconsin seasons.

Additionally, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism distributes a variety of travel guides and directories produced by other statewide tourism organizations. These guides detail accommodations, attractions, art & craft fairs, Wisconsin’s Native American tribes, travel destinations, and campgrounds. On a project basis, the publications program also produces a range of promotional posters, booklets and brochures.

All of these publications are mailed to your door absolutely free by calling 1-800-432-8747.