Wisconsin: Images of the Badger State

Alan Taylor
May 17, 2020
35 Photos
In Focus

The terrain of Wisconsin was heavily shaped by glaciation during the last Ice Age, and today, much of its population lives in the lowlands along the shoreline of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin is the 20th-most-populated state, with more than 5.8 million residents, and the 23rd-largest state at 65,500 square miles. Here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Wisconsin and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.

This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.

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A winding stretch of Wisconsin Highway 42, photographed near the community of Northport, in Door County #

Nejdet Duzen / Shutterstock

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Ice racing on Kettle Moraine Lake, photographed on January 20, 2019 #

Aaron of L.A. Photography / Shutterstock

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A barge enters the Manitowoc River, from Lake Michigan, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. #

MJH Photography10 / Shutterstock

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Cows graze in the Coulee Region of southwest Wisconsin. #

Joel Trick / Shutterstock

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The Milwaukee Art Museum’s signature Quadracci Pavilion, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, photographed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 22, 2016 #

Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress

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Buildings line the Milwaukee River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 26, 2019. #

Nejdet Duzen / Shutterstock

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A photo taken during the Fall Colors Tour of the Milwaukee Road 261 steam engine, as the train crosses the Nemadji River trestle on September 27, 2014, near Superior, Wisconsin #

Geoffrey Kuchera / Shutterstock

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Ice caves, photographed in Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, near Meyers Beach #

Bryan Neuswanger / Shutterstock

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Mark Kleinow, background, ice-fishes with his friend Rick Trudo, foreground, on a frozen portion of the Mississippi River in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on January 18, 2017. #

David Goldman / AP

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An aerial view of Cana Island in Door County #

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Participants compete in a springboard-chop event at the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin, on July 19, 2018. Men and women from around the world compete in events that showcase traditional lumberjack skills such as sawing, chopping, speed climbing, log rolling, and boom running. #

Scott Olson / Getty

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A blue-sky view of downtown Madison, Wisconsin, with the state capitol at center, seen from across Lake Monona #

MarynaG / Shutterstock

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A view of downtown Madison from the top floor of the Madison Public Library on November 19, 2015 #

Nagel Photography / Shutterstock

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Students and visitors enjoy the sunset on the campus of University of Wisconsin–Madison, along Lake Mendota, in July 2018. #

Raymond Deleon / Shutterstock

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An athlete competes during the bike portion of the Ironman Wisconsin on September 8, 2019, in Madison, Wisconsin. #

Patrick McDermott / Getty for Ironman

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A snowy owl perches on an ice-covered sign on the shore of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. #

Karel Bock / Shutterstock

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Kayakers come around a bend during the fourth annual Paddle Pub Crawl, in Wausau, Wisconsin, on July 28, 2018. #

Michael Tatman / Shutterstock

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Ty Montgomery of the Green Bay Packers does the “Lambeau Leap” after running in a 31-yard touchdown against the St. Louis Rams at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 11, 2015. #

Jonathan Daniel / Getty

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Members of the Mauston High School Cheesehead Band march in the Warrens Cranberry Festival Parade in Warrens, Wisconsin, on September 29, 2019. #

Aaron of L.A. Photography / Shutterstock

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Members of the Kwahamot Water Ski Team hold American flags as they pass the audience during the team’s Independence Day water-ski show in Tomahawk, Wisconsin, on July 4, 2017. #

Gabriela Bhaskar / Reuters

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A World War II–era aircraft flies in front of a wall of fire as it takes part in a reenactment of the attack on Pearl Harbor during an afternoon air show at the EAA AirVenture at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on August 3, 2013. #

Darren Hauck / Reuters

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Holy Hill Basilica in the town of Erin, Wisconsin #

James Meyer / Shutterstock

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A historic electric streetcar negotiates a curve in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In June 2000, Kenosha opened a new two-mile loop of tracks, running PCC streetcars with designs that date back to the 1930s. #

Bruce Leighty / Getty

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A view of bottomland forest in the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, looking toward the city of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, from Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa #

Brandon Jones / USFWS

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Harley-Davidson riders attend the Brady Street Festival in Milwaukee on August 31, 2013. Tens of thousands of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts from all corners of the globe made the pilgrimage to Milwaukee for the motorcycle maker’s 110th anniversary celebration. #

Sara Stathas / Reuters

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A horse-drawn wagon tour through Lost Canyon in the Wisconsin Dells #

Jacob Boomsma / Shutterstock

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A Canada goose walks among resting ducks on a cold Wisconsin day. #

Randy Kostichka / Shutterstock

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The waterfront and downtown of Bayfield, a tourist destination and gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, seen from Lake Superior on September 29, 2016 #

Ken Schulze / Shutterstock

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The Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light, a lighthouse standing at the southern entrance of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal in Door County #

Matt Anderson Photography / Getty

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The city of Port Washington, Wisconsin, slows to a crawl in the sub-freezing temperatures of a frigid winter day. #

James Meyer / Shutterstock

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Brian Schmitt and his daughters Elise, 10 (left), Julia, 6, and their cousin Willa Treichel, 6, check out their newly made snow fort on December 21, 2012 in Madison, Wisconsin. #

Andy Manis / Getty

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The Amnicon River passes under a bridge in Amnicon Falls State Park, South Range, Wisconsin. #

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An aerial view of downtown Cedarburg, in Ozaukee County, about 17 miles north of Milwaukee #

James Meyer / Shutterstock

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Huge waves crash ashore during a winter storm on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. #

AMCImagery / Shutterstock

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A view of Camels Bluff and Bee Bluff in Wisconsin’s Mill Bluff State Park. The unusual sandstone buttes were partly shaped by wave action, when they stood as islands in Glacial Lake Wisconsin for thousands of years, during the last Ice Age. #

Sam Wagner / Shutterstock

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