Wonders of wildlife “You can go anywhere you want,” says Dick Thiel, Department of Natural Resources wildlife educator at Sandhill Wildlife Demonstration Area in Babcock. Unlike speedier winter sports, snowshoeing doesn’t require a groomed trail for a good time. “Brush, marshes, and foliage aren’t impediments in snowshoes.”

Snowshoes are easy to use, too – practically no training required. According to John Heusinkveld, assistant director of Tomahawk’s Treehaven, a field campus of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, “There are only two snowshoe criteria: snow on ground and time.”

Both Treehaven and Sandhill are perfect spots to experience joys of snowshoeing in Wisconsin. Treehaven consists of 1,400 acres of rolling terrain, glacial ridges, ponds and streams abutting an additional 800 acres of undeveloped land. UW students use area for summer field training, but DNR training and various public programs take center stage rest of year.

Sandhill’s 9,000 acres got its name from series of low, undulating sandy ridges crossing it. It lies within bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a large and flat marshland covering part of Wood County and six adjacent counties. Workshops at Sandhill aim to develop skills in outdoor activities such as winter camping, wildlife photography and wildlife watching. Snowshoe classes usually start in early December.

Both Sandhill and Treehaven provide great wildlife-watching opportunities, especially on snowshoes. Thiel suggests following animal tracks at Sandhill to get an idea how an animal spends its day. Since snowshoes can go just about anywhere, a novice tracker can follow animal’s eating habits, where it drinks, where it deposits scat, and even where it beds down. Common Sandhill animals include deer and porcupine. Both black bears and fishers call Treehaven home. The quietness of snowshoes has enabled Thiel to catch sight of bedded-down deer and birds perched just above his head.

Fun in water The indoor waterpark at Great Wolf Lodge is actually two large rooms connected by a bar area where hair-braiding and temporary tattoos are available.

The main feature of one room is a four-story treehouse water fort with 60 sprays and geysers that pour and squirt water from 12 levels. The treehouse also includes an 8-foot tall bucket that dumps up to 1,000 gallons of water on heads of all those gathered every five minutes. The other room has a variety of water slides, hot tubs and a lazy river.

Most adults can’t resist fun, and all ages can be seen walking excitedly from one water feature to another. However, if your kids are old enough to get in water without you, relax at a patio table with drink in hand.

Since our visit, Great Wolf has added another waterpark attraction – Howlin’ Tornado. Adventure seekers can climb enclosed stairwell to top of giant funnel, which is covered by a clear “sky dome.” Heading straight into eye of storm on four-person tubes, riders whirl and swirl back and forth across 65-foot funnel, dropping 30 feet every second before shooting down through a dark tunnel and into plunge pool below. Also new in waterpark is a 25-foot climbing wall.

Lots more for kids With lodge-style furnishings in every room and a full-size stuffed moose in lobby, décor is definitely “Great White North.” However, pace is more like a cruise ship, with activities galore.

From morning “Wolf Walk” for kids, which includes craft time and a tour of Great Wolf’s impressive lobby, to bedtime stories by animated clock tower, there is always something to do at Great Wolf.

My kids spent hours at Wiley’s Woods, a four-story interactive video game adventure, complete with slides, bridges, cargo nets and 25,000 foam balls. The main activity is to feed foam “berries” into various machines to earn points. Young children can wander around and play with foam balls, while older kids and their competitive adult companions can rack up points to redeem for prizes in arcade. Our family especially enjoyed shooting foam balls at each other from multiple air “cannons.”

When we redeemed our points at arcade we couldn’t help but notice seventy games there. If you budget your quarters right, you could spend hours there too. The prizes are decent, and black lighting is festive.

Next to arcade you’ll find a 3-D theatre that shows virtual reality movies, with family movies shown each evening. Then there’s a coloring contest every day for kids and a character breakfast à la Disney World each morning with Great Wolf’s mascot, Wiley Wolf.

Lodging in style With so much to do there’s not much time to spend in your room at Great Wolf. But that’s really a shame, as even smallest room at lodge is spacious. Our room, at more modest end, had a fireplace, a living room area, two televisions, a refrigerator and microwave.