Northwoods Wisconsin Winter Wonders

It’s the season of oohs and aahs, and there’s no better place to experience Christmas cheer and marvel at the winter wonders than the great Northwoods of Wisconsin!

This season is full of holiday joy. Small-town businesses have decorated their storefronts with lights and displays. A towering snowman at a chamber office greets visitors along U.S. Highway 51. The kids will be hollering for you to stop! One community goes all out with an outdoor Christmas display second to none in the area. And if the lake ice is nice, another community builds a spectacular ice castle.

There is so much to see and do that we recommend making reservations for a weekend of outdoor fun and indoor relaxation in a whirlpool. Your family will be taking home great memories, and, if we might add, how about a Christmas tree and a wreath or two from one of the Christmas tree lots located here.

So let’s unwrap a few of those travel tips!

Rhinelander’s Lights of the Northwoods

This holiday season, experience a magical display of thousands of twinkling lights on decorated trees and unique lighting features illuminating Hodag Park in Rhinelander. The annual “Lights of the Northwoods” comes about with the help of sponsors and many volunteers.

The lights are on from 5 to 9 p.m. on these dates: December 10–12 and again December 17–19. Admission is by a nonperishable food item for one of the three area food pantries, or by a cash donation.

You can either drive through the park or go for a stroll on the walking path as you take in the 60 displays with a combined total of 150,000 lights! Consider doing both if you have the time, as some displays are better viewed on foot. There are new displays this year, including a salute to the Armed Forces.

You may spot Santa making his way through the park, but there won’t be any concessions available or Santa visits for the children this year. They will leave the lights on through New Year’s Eve if you can’t make those other dates.

Eagle River Ice Castle

Up the road at Eagle River, another civic-minded group anxiously waits for at least 13 inches of ice to form on a local lake. Then they quickly go to work harvesting upwards of three thousand blocks of ice. Once shaved down to 12 inches square, the ice blocks are transported to the downtown where the magic begins.

Layer upon layer of the shimmering blocks are transformed into an ice castle worthy of any Magic Kingdom. Each year, the design changes. While it’s very pretty during the day, come night, they turn on the colored lights to take your breath away. Many a photo has been taken, and daresay we, maybe a few marriage proposals!

The ice castle, a true Northwoods Wisconsin winter wonder, doesn’t go up every year because the ice has to be thick enough for machines and workers to be safely out there harvesting. The ice castle generally goes up between Christmas and New Year’s Day or the following week.

Minocqua’s Giant—and We Mean GIANT—Snowman

What’s 30 feet tall, with an 8-foot wide head, 16-foot wide belly, all sitting on a 23-foot base? It’s none other than Snowmy Kromer—so named for the unique and authentic Stormy Kromer cap perched on the snowman’s head. It’s a size 96 Stormy Kromer specially made by Stormy Kromer Mercantile up the road in Ironwood, Michigan.

You’ll see Snowmy on the front lawn of the Let’s Minocqua (chamber) office just south of the U.S. Highway 51 bridge in Minocqua.

When there’s sufficient snowfall, chamber staff and volunteers begin the build. There’s a bit of “happy dance” involved—stompin’ each tier to compact it. A snow fence holds it all in until it’s sprayed with water and freezes solid. They use a cherry picker to place the large cap on the head, with cutout buttons and an orange traffic cone for a nose. It sports a smile as wide as a trophy musky. Take a picture next to it, but for safety reasons, don’t climb on Snowmy!