2010 Campsite Reservations
The Wausau and Marathon County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department operates two separate park systems, and a County Forestry system each with its own facilities, objectives, and budgets. The City of Wausau park system is based on small neighborhood parks and play fields whose purpose is to serve nearby residents. Other park types include: community parks for large gatherings and events; specialized athletic and recreation facilities, such as swimming pools, a snow tubing hill with a 1000 foot run, outdoor ice skating rinks, and ball diamonds; and small urban garden type parks that provide many of the aesthetically pleasing urban green spaces that help define Wausau's character.
In conjunction with its park system, Wausau offers a recreation program that provides swimming and a youth playground program in the summer and a snow tubing hill and outdoor skating rinks in the winter. Indirectly, Wausau’ s recreation program facilitates the operation of numerous sports leagues and recreation activities through the provision of facilities, technical assistance, and other coordinating activities.
The Marathon County park system is based on large parks that typically focus upon a high quality natural feature and provide limited areas of development that support low intensity recreation uses, such as picnicking, hiking, fishing, swimming, and camping. These parks serve large areas of the county. The county park system also provides specialized facilities that serve the entire county or major populations within the county, such as the fairgrounds, shooting range, softball complex, and indoor ice skating.
The Wausau and Marathon County park systems provide distinctly different, yet complementary, facilities and recreation opportunities. The specialized knowledge, skills, and equipment necessary to effectively operate the two systems have been successfully provided by a single workforce and management team since 1924.
The Marathon County Forestry Department and the Wausau/Marathon County Park Department consolidated in February, 2002. Within the newly created Wausau and Marathon County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department is a Forestry Division headed by a County Forest Administrator. The County Forest Administrator is responsible for developing and implementing all policy, planning and management activities, other than developed recreation for county forest/land programs. This includes commercial timber sales, wildlife habitat, recreation and property management. The planning and management of the trails for snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, horseback riding, and ATV’s that crisscross the Marathon County forests are managed by the Recreation and Customer Service Divisions of the consolidated department.
The Wausau and Marathon County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department provides facilities and programs that are accessible to all individuals. For more specific information on facility and program accessibility, you may write or call the Wausau and Marathon County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department, 212 River Drive, Suite 2, Wausau, WI 54403-5476, (715) 261-1550, TDD (715) 261-1453.
