Attractions Near Sparta, Wisconsin

Boat Rentals:
There’s no better feeling than riding the waves of our outstanding lakes and river waters! If you are cruising for the day or just a few hours, these top rentals have all the accommodations you need for the perfect boating experience.

Paddlewheel boat cruises:
La Crosse Queen Step back in time when you come aboard their replica paddlewheel riverboat. See the historical sites and local wildlife of the beautiful Upper Mississippi River. Choose from their tasty brunch, lunch, pizza, and dinner buffet-style cruises.

Swimming:
The City of Sparta Family Aquatic Center features a 6-lane, 50-meter competitive pool that is used for a variety of activities including classes and competitive swim meets. The water park features a 290-foot inner tube slide that enters into a 57,000-gallon lazy river. The children’s area has a zero-level entry, with other water features including a waterwheel-like tipping bucket and walking pads with ropes to swing from above.

Wisconsin Water Sports:
Some of the best ways to explore our waterways up-close are by canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding. You can also go rafting or tubing along our rivers and streams. Bring or rent a tube and float down rivers and streams like the La Crosse River near Sparta or the Kickapoo River in Ontario.

Folks fly in from all over the world to fish the Driftless Area’s thousands of miles of spring creek trout streams. During the last ice age, glaciers surrounded the Driftless Area but never plowed up and deposited materials (known as drift).

Water percolates through limestone and sandstone into the ground and is filtered, cooled, and given an excellent PH level. The water then comes out as springs and gives us the incredible and abundant trout fishing here.

Much of our water is public either through public access via bridge, or through conservation easement partnerships between private landowners and the Wisconsin DNR. Take a look at the Wisconsin DNR Trout Maps for more information on specific streams. We have more water than you can fish in a lifetime! Check out the DNR Website for more fishing information. The Wisconsin season runs from the first Saturday in January to October 15th. Catch and release season is the first Saturday in January to the first Saturday in May. The first Saturday in May through October 15th is regular season.

Driftless Angler located on the historic main street in Viroqua is a full-service fly shop and guide service. Whether you are a beginner, seasoned veteran, casual angler, or even have limited mobility, their guide staff will work with you to improve your skills and give you tools that you can use on future trips to the area. Their guide staff don’t do this as a hobby, they are full-time and dedicated guides who live and work in the Driftless! 608-637-8779

Near La Crosse, the Upper Mississippi sprawls well beyond its main channel, creating hundreds of tiny islands, channels, and deep pools that harbor more species of fish than any other temperate-climate river in the world.

Walleye are king in these waters, but you can catch just about anything here: sauger, northern pike, shovelhead sturgeon, large and smallmouth bass, perch, sunfish, bluegill, crappie, gar, channel and blue catfish.

The La Crosse and Black Rivers, which join the Mississippi in the area, are home to many of the same species. A few miles north of La Crosse, the Mississippi opens into the 8,000+ acre Lake Onalaska, which features seven boat landings and is chock-full of panfish, northern, and bass, and the area also offers myriad cold-water streams rife with brown, rainbow, and brook trout.

Another popular lake fishery is Lake Neshonoc located in West Salem. It has a maximum depth of 11 feet. Visitors have access to the lake from public boat landings, a public beach. Fish include panfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, and catfish.

The area features several boat landings, marinas, and beaches, as well as fishing floats and piers, guides, and numerous outfitters. The US Fish & Wildlife Service has put together some fantastic maps of the Mississippi River, with boat landings, walk-in access points, and more. You can find information regarding licensing, rules, and regulations at Wisconsin fishing regulations at the Department of Natural Resources website.

In spring, La Crosse County anglers focus on walleye as they start running after ice-out, with many heading to the dams on the Mississippi River where walleye gather in large numbers. However, excellent fishing can also be found downriver. As the waters warm, panfish action picks up in the flats and backwaters of the Black River, Mississippi River, and Lake Onalaska, which warm faster than the main river channel. The warming waters also boost northern pike fishing.

Largemouth bass thrive in shallow backwaters, while smallmouth bass are found in the main river channels around spots that offer protection from strong currents, such as rocks and wing dams. Catfishing for both channel cats and flatheads is especially exciting during the warm months, offering some of the best catfishing in the Midwest.

Fish are aggressive as they heavily feed in preparation for the cold winter months ahead. Cooler water temperatures congregate the fish and dissipate recreational boat traffic, leaving more water for you to enjoy without dealing with the crowds. Walleye begin to move again in the fall, and while the fall walleye run tends to be less lively than in the spring, the fall run tends to be more predictable and can provide steady action right up until the lakes, pools, and waterways freeze over.

The first areas to catch the attention of ice anglers are the area’s many backwaters. As ice creeps out from the shores of Lake Onalaska, so do intrepid ice anglers looking for some of the best panfishing of the year. As ice covers a wider area, ice anglers begin moving further out to deeper water in search of walleye, yellow perch, and northern pike.