New Glarus Woods State Park has long been one of the quieter corners of Wisconsin’s state park system. Lately, however, the 435-acre park just south of New Glarus seems to be showing up in more conversations, more recreation plans and more travel coverage.

The latest example came Tuesday, when Islands, a national travel website, published a feature presenting New Glarus Woods as a relaxing getaway just over half an hour from Madison. Rather than trying to compare the park with Wisconsin destinations known for waterfalls, lakes or dramatic rock formations, the article leaned into what New Glarus Woods does differently: it is small, wooded, accessible and peaceful.

That description fits a park that has never depended on one signature attraction. New Glarus Woods has eight miles of hiking trails crossing mature forest, restored prairie and rolling terrain. It also sits on the edge of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, where the landscape begins transitioning toward the prairie and savanna country to the east and south.

History is layered into the landscape as well. The route now followed by County Highway NN traces the Old Lead Road, an early transportation corridor later used by Swiss settlers traveling to New Glarus. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says some trees in the park are more than 250 years old, remnants of woods that escaped heavy logging because of the hilly terrain.