Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area
Driving from Madison to Devil’s Lake State Park | Hiking on the Ice Age Trail | Hiking in Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area | April 2026
After an uneventful night in Madison, we woke with the morning traffic and moved down the road to a coffee shop for breakfast. We don’t think it’s polite to have a normal breakfast while urban camping lest the locals become wise of people sleeping in their vehicles and make a big deal over something.
After breakfast, we found an Aldi to stock up on enough food to make it one more week on the road. And with that we were ready to depart Madison. This year I’ve taken the effort to start keeping track of our National Park cancellation stamps, and with the Semiquincentennial of the United States, the National Park service has issued a special 250 Stamp for all the park units. While I’m sure the stamps will linger around for a long time (there are still ‘Passport Anniversary Stamps’ from 2011 out there) it’s been fun to try and get as many as we can (and help out our like-minded friends). And in reviewing some maps, I noticed that the Ice Age Trail had a 250 Stamp at a trail center just West of Madison!
We left the urban area and soon were driving through the rolling Wisconsin country side. We found our way to the Cross Plains Interpretive Center. After figuring out where to park we followed a trail towards the visitor center, but followed it a bit further to what looked like a hill with a view. We were mistaken, there was no view, and to add insult to injury, the visitor center was also closed (even though the hours suggested otherwise).
Disappointed, we took stock of the rest of the day and decided to find some other activities before we found a place to camp. We headed North towards the Wisconsin River and found our way to Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area. The Ice Age Trail also crosses this area and we followed the trail up and up. Quite a bit of prominence for the Midwest actually. And unlike our bust earlier in the day, the top of Gibraltar was exceptional. Tall bluffs looked out to the North and West over the Wisconsin River valley. The weather was cool and windy and we stayed at the top for quite a while, watching the vultures riding the air currents.
We returned back to the van by making a loop and found the parking lot had filled up while we were out walking. After a short lunch in the parking lot we continued North to Merrimac where we were able to take the only car ferry across the Wisconsin! Even better – it was free. The crossing was very short, so we didn’t get out of the van (nor do I think the DOT wants you to get out of your vehicle) but the valley was still quite scenic.
On the North side of the river (and a new county!) we started West towards our selected campsite for the next two days. Because rural Wisconsin doesn’t have that many boondocking options, we decided to bite the bullet and pay for camping once more at Devil’s Lake State Park. This would allow us to stay in one place for a couple nights and make the most of our time exploring the park. Plus, we had bit the bullet at Kettle Morraine State Park and bought an annual park pass, and were determined to use it as much as we possibly could in a week.
After arriving and claiming a spot, we spent a little time relaxing before setting out on a sunset hike. We’ll share all about our time in the park in our next post!
