Welcome to Prairie du Sac

Thirty miles northeast of Madison the mighty Wisconsin River churns below the Prairie du Sac Dam. The violent current creates a boiling action that keeps the river from freezing during the frigid Wisconsin winters. This open water is all the invitation needed to attract numerous Bald Eagles to the area to over winter. Many species of fish are easy prey for the eagle whose keen senses allow it to hunt with speed and agility.

The Baraboo Bluffs dominate the landscape in the central part of Sauk County. Comprised of quartzite, the hardest known rock, these majestic bluffs rise to over five hundred feet at their highest point located in Devils Lake State Park to the north of the Prairie du Sac Dam. Spreading out from the bluffs along the Wisconsin River are rugged hills made of sandstone and limestone. These bluffs and rocky hills provide necessary shelter for roosting and to escape the bitter and sometimes deadly cold.

Eagle watching has become a favorite winter activity for residents and visitors to Sauk County. Early in the morning when eagles are most actively feeding these magnificent birds can be seen soaring high over head and perched along the shore.

Identifying the Bald Eagle is not difficult. The mature bird has a distinctive white head and tail with a wing span in excess of eight feet! The immature Bald Eagle lacks the white head and tail feathers for the first four to five years of its life. Instead they display various amounts of white, intermixed with dark feathers. The "bald" in the name Bald Eagle refers to its white head or "balde" head in Old English.