Devil's Lake State Park

Great place to recreate! Highly recommend showing up early. The Balanced Rock trail is a fantastic hike for the adventurous. Wear something with good traction, the rock/boulder terrain is slippery at times when its completely dry. Elevation gain is roughly 400-500ft over half mile. Take the time to stop and enjoy the views!

Wisconsin provides a lot of hidden gems that many outsiders wouldn't know of & Devil's Lake State Park is one of them. Devil's Lake is a perfect spot to spend your summer day. You have the options to relax by the water or hike up the mountain that overviews the lake. The trails themselves are well kept & the hike isn't too difficult even for those who are casual hikers. Once you get to the top, there are beautiful panoramic views of the lake in each direction. Devil's Lake is in a remote area so parking & traffic are challenges when visiting so I recommend arriving earlier rather than later. There is a large picnic area to dine which is well kept for the most part. If you're looking for a great way to spend at a park, I highly recommend considering Devil's Lake State Park!

Easily my top favorite of Wisconsin State Parks. Love the length of trails and the elevation. Beautiful place with great views. We travel almost 3 hours here just for day trips. With stops to take in the view and getting ice cream at the North Shore in the summer, it takes us about 3-4 hours to complete a loop on various trails.

10 out of 10! Stopped here during a road trip with my son in 2022. Place was absolutely gorgeous! However, my son and I were not prepared for the climb ahead of us and worse...the climb down! Ok, not trying to spook anyone here! It's not a sheer cliff we were climbing. The trails are very easy to follow and clearly marked. However, we wanted to see the Balancing Rock and Devil's Doorway. Well, that trail is all up hill...literally! Not only is it all uphill but incorporates many, many stairs! The good news is, once you make it to the top, the trail levels out into a nice dirt road. Then, you walk that for a ways and you've made it! Oops, not quite! Now, you must descend the mountain down to the Balancing Rock. My knees were shot by this point but I was determined to make it there. We did and the view was incredible! We took our pictures and on to the Devil's Doorway. Another good distance away and unfortunately, we were running out of time on our schedule and had to turn back. Only way back is the way we came or the treacherous decent down the side of the mountain on make shift stairs created out of the rock shelf itself. The rock shelf was the quickest way down. It took about 35 minutes to the bottom, legs almost gave out dozens of times and we hustled the mile long walk back to the car! I'll say this, its a must for visiting but if you aren't an avid hiker or climber, you WILL be exhausted taking on this mountain! Be sure to pack a jug of water cause you will need it! However, there are other trails that go around the lake that are very easy to venture. A beautiful beach to swim or catch some rays. All kinds of picnic areas. Both public or private. A great big pavilion, if you prefer tables and the indoors. Plenty of bathroom access all over the park and plenty of parking. Keep in mind, this is a state park. So prices are higher if you're out of state. I picked up a WI park pass for the year. So we only had to pay to park. Come to Devil's Lake, its definitely worth it!

Amazing hike! Fall is the perfect time to visit to see the vibrant colors of the turning leafs. We got really lucky with that, considering we visited second half of October.
The climb was a bit steep, but with a few rest breaks I made it up. Took me about 25-30 minutes.
The view was really beautiful, the skies were gray and the lighting for photos was just right.
The lake itself looked too manicured, that is too say, the edges drawn in a smooth line, which took away a bit from experiencing nature, but still a pleasure to look at.
Lots of big rocks at the top, where you could sit and snack, while looking down on the water.
There were many people when we were climbing up at about 11:30 am, and it got even busier when we were making our way back.
Lots of dogs and all seemed very friendly.

Spent the day at Devil's Lake with my boyfriend and our family yesterday, and it was a wonderful trip. We hiked to the top, and the view was absolutely breathtaking!

The park was very clean and well maintained. The restrooms were also clean. We used the picnic area by the south beach to eat and swim. The water was clean and cool but there were a lot of rocks so you have to be careful when getting in the water because it's a bit rough on your feet. Swim shoes recommended.

Love hiking here! Many steps to view Balanced Rock and Devils Doorway from the South beach! You can hike from the North beach to view these but it will take longer! Recommend taking East Bluff trail there and East Bluff Woods trail back from the North beach! Get there early if you don't like crowds! 8am!

My timing for this trip could not have been more perfect. The fall colors were in all their splendor. This is a short drive from Madison and has beautiful views, walking paths and yes a dog park as well. Worth the effort and highly recommend.

There are so many amazing hiking trails! Definitely the place to go for aesthetic camping pictures. The restroom are fairly nice and the beach is great.

Outstanding in fall, over 6 miles we hiked around the lake. The colors were changing and the views were spectacular. Definitely want to visit here winter time also , just to compare my experience.

1st time there and now we know what all the hype is about, what a beautiful park, looking forward to more visits, if you're any where remotely close to the vicinity of this park, it's worth the stop, you won't regret it, breath taking views if you do any of the hiking!!!

Such a fun place to go! The beach is very nice, sandy, not a lot of rocks on the beach or in the water close to the shore. They have plenty of activities for a family to do, paddle boats, other rentals. Water is friendly warm and you can go out a good distance in the lake before you are fairly deep. Would definitely recommend if you want a lake experience!

Lived here for 40 years, first time visiting the park. Can't recommend it enough, just beautiful. We parked in the east lot near the south of the lake and it was a challenging hike/climb up to see balance rock and the doorway. I'm sure there are easier ways to see these fantastic formations. But go, you will enjoy it.

We went in September, 2023. It costed $16 at the north entrance, at the time we went.

Plenty of parking. Bathrooms were nice.

We did the hike around the lake. The total distance for us was just over 5 miles.

Balanced Rock and the Devil's Doorway rock formation on the east side are some of the highlights but honestly the whole hike is beautiful.

The trail is pretty easy to follow for the most part. The only time we weren't exactly sure which direction the trail went was right by the railroad tracks near the Devil's Doorway Loop Trailhead, on the southeast side of the lake.

As for difficulty, we would call it moderate, depending on the person's fitness level. If you're in shape, it shouldn't be much of a problem. To make it shorter, a person could just do the East Bluff Trail.

All in all we definitely recommend spending time here.

The park was very clean and well maintained. Restrooms available at the north and south shores. Free maps at the visitor center. Due to weather, we mostly stuck to the East bluff woods trail. Many great views throughout the park.

The scenery of the park is very beautiful. If you go to the park in the morning, it will be better to go up the mountain from the east, because the sun rises from the east, and it will be better to take pictures like this. There are many parking lots in the park, and parking is very convenient, but the downside is that the parking lot is charged, but I didn't see an obvious notice of the fee, and there is no self-service payment machine in the parking lot. When I came down from the mountain, I found a payment slip posted on my car, but the payment cannot be settled immediately, and I need to go to a specific place to pay the fee. This is a very troublesome thing. It is hoped that the managers of the park can improve the charging problem, and it is best to install self-service payment machines in the parking lot.

One of the best state parks in Wisconsin. It had plenty of trails to choose from, including the popular Devil’s doorway and balanced rock trails. Entry fee was steep at $16 but it was worth the beautiful trails and views.

Breathtaking scenery and well laid out trail system, definitely going back. Camping area was also very nice with clean bathrooms and attentive staff.

Always a fun hike... path was a little slippery this February but beautiful! Hiked halfway around the lake.

I walked 39 flights of stairs and 6 miles. Complete lap around the lake and up on the cliffs. They have many different loops to get to the same locations. Some trails are easier then others.