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Beaver Dam Attractions and Recreation

Recreational opportunities abound in Beaver Dam. Locals and visitors enjoy golfing, hiking, biking, swimming, water skiing, boating, fishing, waterfowl hunting and other outdoor sports throughout the spring, summer and autumn. Winter is filled with ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice-skating, cross-country skiing and tobogganing. The Beaver Dam Family Center & Ice Arena provides an ice skating facility from autumn through spring, used by local youth hockey organizations, the Beaver Dam High School Hockey Team, Swan City Skaters and for “open” skating sessions for the community.

Charter Raceway Park (located just east of the U.S. Highway 151 and State Highway 33 interchange) provides racing enthusiasts with exciting dirt track racing action that includes sprint cars, midgets, late models and more. The track operates from May through October, hosting special racing events throughout the season. Racing is held every Saturday during the season, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The Beaver Cycle Club Track (located just five miles northeast of Beaver Dam in the unincorporated hamlet of Atwater) offers cycle enthusiasts the opportunity to race a quarter-mile short track or scrambles track. Wisconsin’s oldest sanctioned cycle club, the Beaver Cycle Club Track’s modern amenities include concessions and bathroom facilities. Any race during the summer is only $5.00 per person. Overnight camping for racers is also available.

The Dodge County Fairgrounds, just east of Beaver Dam, is home to the Dodge County Fair, which is held the third week of August. The Dodge County Fair was once known as the largest county fair in the nation.

Another summer pastime is the free entertainment provided by the Beaverland Must-Skis ski team, who perform just off Tahoe Park on Beaver Dam Lake most Sunday evenings and some Friday nights. Shows run from the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend to the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The Must-Skis is an award-winning, family oriented organization that hosts local clinics and regional tournaments and competitions. Both locals as well as visitors are invited to watch the spectacular shows during Beaver Dam’s annual Lake Days celebration each year. Children through adults of all ages are invited to participate in the Learn to Ski clinics.

Beaver Dam’s Community Activities and Services Department provides a wide range of activities for adults and youth, from preschoolers to our active senior citizens. Annual programs include outdoor activities in municipal parks and on school district athletic fields. Indoor activities are held in various facilities with some programs coordinated with the local YMCA. Senior Center programs include a spring Greenhouse, year round Wood Shop programming including the manufacture of bird and bat houses, weekly card games and more.

The YMCA of Dodge County offers year round athletic and recreational opportunities for the whole family. In addition, local membership allows access to the more than 2,400 YMCAs nationwide. The new Y facility, which opened in September of 2007, is a $9 million, 67,000-square-foot recreation masterpiece. It includes an athletic center, basketball gymnasium, racquetball courts, swimming complex with an Olympic style pool and a separate water park and recreational acreage for soccer, baseball and other sports.

Tower Lanes, the area’s only bowling facility, offers year round leagues as well as open bowling. Two quality golf courses provide golf enthusiasts with hours of recreation. The Beaver Dam Country Club is located just north of the city on Highway 33, along Beaver Dam Lake’s eastern shore.

The par 72, 6,000-yard course was designed in the mid 1960s and offers small elevated greens, mature trees and well-placed bunkers. In addition to the beautifully landscaped 18-hole course, the Beaver Dam Country Club has facilities that include a full service banquet hall (total capacity of 350), capable of hosting two events simultaneously. Old Hickory Golf Club is located just east of the city and the interchange of Highways 33 and 151, on Highway 33. Established in 1920, it is one of Wisconsin’s oldest and most memorable golf courses. Old Hickory offers a mature, well-groomed 7,000-yard, 18-hole golf course that also has banquet facilities for events of all types.

Beaver Dam Lake offers year round recreational opportunity. Three of the city’s lakeside parks offer boat ramps to launch watercraft of all sizes for a nominal fee. Fishing, skiing and boating are popular recreation three seasons each year. Each autumn the lake is a popular backdrop for waterfowl hunters. In the winter, Beaver Dam Lake is home to ice shanties for ice fishing weekends and ice skating for youth and adults alike.

Beaver Dam and the surrounding area are home to a number of annual events, including:

Chamber Annual Dinner / Business & Citizen of the Year Recognition – 4th Wednesday in January
Home & Business Expo – 2nd weekend of March (in collaboration with the MCCC)
Midwest Cream Cheese Competition – 2nd Saturday of March (in collaboration with the H&B Expo)
Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast – 1st Sunday in March
Spring Election Candidates Forum – 4th Wednesday in March
Rotary Casino Night – 1st Saturday in April
Staff Appreciation Luncheon – 4th Wednesday in April
Nancy’s Notions Sewing Exposition – 1st weekend in May
Fiesta Beaver Dam – 2nd Saturday of May
Race Into Summer Festival – Sunday of Memorial Day weekend
Memorial Day Parade – Memorial Day
Swan City Classic Car Show – Father’s Day
Lake Days – Thursday through Sunday following Independence Day
A Day in the Park Craft Fair – 2nd Sunday in July
Dodge County Fair – 3rd Wednesday in August through the following Sunday
Corn Roast – 3rd or 4th Tuesday of August (Tuesday following the Dodge County Fair)
Taste of Wisconsin – 2nd Saturday in September
Economic Update Luncheon – 4th Wednesday in November
Holiday Parade – 1st Saturday in December