Breakfast outdoors at Springdale Inn in Verona, and watch the resident Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, and Monarch and Swallowtail Butterflies as they revel in their native prairie gardens. And that’s not all! Prairie enthusiast turned Innkeeper Nancy Hylbert is known for sending you off with your own complementary starter native plant garden, which she'll dig from the extensive prairie nursery surrounding her inn. Experience the Seasons (thanks - we'll take SPRING now) at Cold Spring Inn & Vineyard in Hubertus, located on 80 acres of the Kettle Moraine watershed along the Oconomowoc River. A new boutique vineyard enhances the landscape and guests are invited to sample the wines ... now that's as "locally sourced" as you can get! Try the inn's par-3 golf green - a hole-in-one scores a free night stay! [caption id="attachment_1472" align="alignleft" width="267"] 10SNEI? On the grounds of Cold Spring Inn, guests can play the par-3 golf course, work up an appetite and thirst on the tennis court, bird-watch on the extensive private trail with walking bridges over the Oconomowoc River.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1473" align="alignright" width="300"] Prairie flowers grace the entrance of Springdale Inn ... and 54 acres of native prairie restoration surrounds the solar-powered inn.[/caption]

We sent out a quick little e-mail asking Wisconsin innkeepers to share their insider intel on great hiking trails that guests could access minutes from their inns. Whoa, were we in for a mother lode of hiking finds, so much so that we’ll need to post in a series of blogs! Here’s the first installment covering the Baraboo area. Recommendations from the Inn at Wawanissee Point in Baraboo: Just five minutes from the Inn at Wawanissee Point, a sophisticated estate inn built in 2004, is the state’s most visited park, Devil’s Lake State Park . The trails at Devil’s Lake wind through forests, prairies and steep rocky bluffs, with three miles of those trails crisscrossing the inn’s 42-acres. Plus, the Inn’s southern border adjoins Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area , the state’s first state natural area. This deep sandstone gorge, an anomaly amid the Baraboo quartzite cliffs, harbors rare and threatened species of breeding birds and flora. Tip: Hike into the Glen along the stream which takes you to a waterfall at the beginning of the gorge. For those seeking less-traveled paths and even greater solitude, there’s the 1,800-acre Riverland Conservancy’s Merrimac Preserve of forest, prairie, savanna, wetlands and streams. The Preserve, which the inn overlooks, is laced with trails, including four miles of the Ice Age Scenic Trail.  Also in Baraboo, with the bluffs in the background and a spring-fed lake a few steps from the inn, Pinehaven B&B offers guests quiet country vacation spot within 15 miles of all the great tourist attractions for Baraboo and Wisconsin Dells. [caption id="attachment_1238" align="aligncenter" width="300"] After a day of hiking, guests can relax and take in the panoramic vista from lounge at Inn at Wawanissee Point.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1240" align="aligncenter" width="300"] and here's that view![/caption]   [caption id="attachment_1239" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pinehaven B&B guests just step out onto the balcony for a woods and water view.[/caption]