Wingra Park — Attraction in Madison

As a kayak fisherman, I love Lake Wingra! It has the benefits of being in the chain of lakes (nice quality, abundance, and diversity of fish) but without the boat traffic. It's easy to paddle to various locations throughout the lake throughout a day of fishing, which isn't true of most of the lakes around here. It's also much deeper than other kayak friendly areas, like the upper Yahara River, which improves the quality and size of the fish.

The only problem from a fishing standpoint is the sheer number of weeds that are present. While the lake gets deep towards the middle, the weeds are very thick around most of the lake. It's a frog fishing paradise, but don't expect to throw many crankbaits or traditional hook/worm combos. The good news is, even on an unsuccessful day of fishing, it's almost impossible not to have a good time paddling around this beautiful and...

This reviewer enjoyed the peaceful ambience of the park's many trails and nice facilities. However, I was perhaps slightly (to say the least!) disturbed by the abhorring amount of inebriated, angst-ridden youths gathered round a makeshift bonfire. Now, I am all for having a "good time", but a few of them even had blood inexplicably smeared on their hateful, vapid faces. Sufficed to say, I got myself and Constance (Golden Doodle, pure bred naturally) the heck out of there! So while I'm conflicted, I'm also undeniably intrigued by this new tribal youngster fad. My ruling: a cautiously optimistic...

Beautiful park. Just watch out for the overzealous, nasty "park rangers." My dog was rolling in snow a few years back, leash was under my foot, and attached to my dog's harness. No one else was around and there was at least six inches of snow on the ground. Dudley Doright came running up to try to give me a citation for not having a leashed dog. Really?? She wasn't loose, and was on her back. Madison could spend taxpayer dollars more efficiently than this, no? Other notes: watch out for the green algae on the lake. It's gross and very toxic to dogs. I would not recommend swimming here but...