Discover Wausau

If you’re considering a stay in Wausau, you can choose where to stay based on cultural attractions, gardens, and events. The city offers a range of options: fine art, homes with historical exhibits, walking trails, and a central square that serves as an event venue. Which ones suit your trip depends on whether you want to focus on museums, time outdoors, or a particular type of event.

Art and Local History

The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum offers visitors accessible ways to engage with fine art. If you choose to focus on art, it gives you a distinct reason to include Wausau in your travel plans. The A.P. and Leigh Yawkey Woodson House adds to the cultural attractions: built in 1914, the house hosts exhibitions.

At the Yawkey House Museum, you can take note of various architectural details. Outside, the building’s Classical Revival architecture, sunken garden, and carriage house define its appearance. Inside, you’ll find Arts and Crafts influences, built-in cabinets, and distinctive stained glass features. These features give the visit a different focus from engaging with fine art at the museum.

Guided tours of the Yawkey House Museum begin at the Woodson History Center and last about an hour. Admission to the Woodson History Center is free. You can also explore Wausau’s historic streets on guided or self-guided tours. This gives you the choice between a guided tour and a self-guided option.

Gardens and Outdoor Activities

The Monk Botanical Gardens covers just under 30 acres. It includes 15 acres of landscaped gardens and two miles of walking trails. If you’d like to spend time outdoors as well as visit exhibitions, you’ll find both landscaped garden areas and walking trails here.

The Monk Botanical Gardens also hosts events and educational programs, as well as a summer camp and a nature preschool. These different options appeal to a range of interests: you can think of the garden as a place for nature and landscaped grounds, or take its events and educational offerings into account. The summer camp and nature preschool are distinct offerings, not simply other names for walking trails.

Events and Different Interests

The 400 Block is a central city square in Wausau and serves as a venue for summer concerts, festivals, sporting events, and farmers markets. In winter, it offers opportunities for ice skating. The activities described span different formats and seasons. If a particular occasion matters to you, you can take it into account when choosing your travel dates, without treating summer and winter offerings as interchangeable.

Whitewater Park in downtown Wausau also has a connection to sports: canoe and kayak competitions are held there. This is a different kind of sporting attraction from the events at the 400 Block.

For a separate look at local areas, you can also explore Rothschild and Schofield.

For the broader travel overview: Marathon.