2 Wisconsin Spots Are Now Ranked In The Top 150 State Parks In US

Big scenery without the big price tag is the sweet spot a new national ranking set out to map.

The 2026 State Park Index scored 150 U.S. state parks on both their value for travelers and their all-around allure, separating the country’s most spectacular outdoor getaways from the rest.

Wisconsin put two state parks on that list. It’s a shorter roster than some neighbors landed, but with only 150 parks earning a spot nationwide, cracking the ranking at all means standing among the best outdoor escapes in the country.

Wisconsin State Parks

Wisconsin’s state park system spans 50 state parks, backed by a wider network of state forests, trails and recreation areas that cover more than 300,000 acres.

It’s a landscape built for exploring — sandy Lake Michigan beaches, ancient quartzite bluffs, glacier-carved lakes and long stretches of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.

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Those parks pull in millions of visitors a year and remain a cornerstone of summer travel across Wisconsin. The ranking looked well past pretty pictures. Every park was measured across nine categories:

Affordability
Visitor satisfaction
Scenic appeal
Hidden gem appeal
Wildlife diversity
Trail count
Park size
Travel draw
Year-over-year momentum

Each factor was scored between 5 and 10 using data from sources like Google, Tripadvisor, AllTrails, and iNaturalist.

Median lodging price per person carried real weight, tipping the scales toward parks that surround natural beauty with an affordable place to stay nearby.

The Two Wisconsin Parks That Made The List

Here are the two Wisconsin parks that earned a national nod, ranked highest to lowest:

Devil’s Lake State Park (No. 47) — Wisconsin’s largest and most-visited state park sits near Baraboo, where 500-foot quartzite bluffs rise over a spring-fed, 360-acre lake. Hikers can trace the Ice Age National Scenic Trail straight through the park, which finished as Wisconsin’s top-ranked entry on the index.

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Kohler-Andrae State Park (No. 106) — Along the Lake Michigan shore near Sheboygan, Kohler-Andrae trades bluffs for rolling sand dunes, a wide golden beach and quiet stands of pine. As one of the last natural preserves on the lakefront, it earned a strong “hidden gem” score for its uncrowded, off-the-beaten-path feel.

Landing two parks on a national top-150 list speaks to the range packed into Wisconsin’s outdoors — from inland rock walls to the edge of a Great Lake. Whether you’re scrambling up the bluffs at Devil’s Lake or watching the sun rise over the dunes, the state’s best-value parks are worth the drive.

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