Things to Do in Sun Prairie: Marsh, Ice and Dirt Track

Nearly all of the things to do in Sun Prairie sit within about a third of a mile of one shady park on Park Street. That circle holds a dirt racetrack, a volunteer-built playground, an ice arena with two rinks and a rooftop bar. The main exceptions are a marsh loop about 2 miles to the northeast and a cinema about 3.3 miles to the west.

The name is older than the town. In June 1837 a party of travelers bound from Milwaukee to Madison, after days of rain, carved the words Sun Prairie into a tree at the edge of the prairie. The city counted 35,967 residents at the 2020 census and is a suburb of Madison, yet its downtown is a National Register historic district. Take the sections below in whatever order suits the day: the park, the marsh for quiet, downtown for the evening.

Angell Park, the center of town

Angell Park at 200 Park Street is the place to start, because the playground, the racetrack and the festival grounds all sit inside or beside it.

The dirt track beside the park has run midget cars since 1936, and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame sits on the same grounds. The land came to the city fire department in 1903, when Colonel William Angell donated it, and night racing began in 1948. The World of Outlaws held its first sprint car races at the track in August 2016. A visitor writing in August 2026 calls a Sunday evening there good for kids too, and advises bringing ear protection and expecting a spray of dirt.

From the playground, the ice arena is about 0.2 mile south and The Loft at 132 about a quarter mile north-northwest, so one parking spot covers a good share of this list.

Race nights, festival weekends and an ordinary morning at the playground are three different visits to Angell Park, and it helps to pick one before you arrive.

Sweet Corn Festival weekend

The Sweet Corn Festival fills Angell Park on the third full weekend of August, and the corn is the reason to go. Steamed corn is sold only on Saturday and Sunday, until supplies last, served with butter and salt. The festival's own site puts the corn at 80 tons, all of it grown in Wisconsin.

Around the corn there is live music, food and beer, a carnival and a parade down Main Street. Onsite parking is paid and includes a small admission fee, and off-site parking still requires the fee. Only service animals are allowed, so leave pets at home. Plan around the corn line and the parking before anything else, and read up on the Sweet Corn Festival before you choose between Saturday and Sunday.

Dream Park and other places for kids

Sun Prairie Dream Park, inside Angell Park, is the playground that the community built and keeps up, and it is made for children of all ages.

Public restrooms are listed as open seasonally, from May 15 through October 15, and several reviewers say they found them locked even in season. Plan a backup before you bring a toddler. Explore Children's Museum at 1433 W Main Street is the indoor alternative, a nonprofit hands-on museum. Its site shows conflicting weekday hours, so call 608-478-5456 before you drive over. Visit Sun Prairie lists a free-admission Day of Play there on November 19.

Patrick Marsh Wildlife Area

Patrick Marsh Wildlife Area is the town's wetland walk, a loop of about 1.5 miles stitched from trail segments of roughly a third of a mile each.

One reviewer notes that some side paths are one person wide while the main path takes two or three people abreast. Another visitor barely noticed how close the highway was on the path by the water.

The parking is the hard part. One visitor warns that the two lots are easy to miss coming off Highway 151, with the north lot reached from Stone Quarry Road and the south lot along the north side of Shuster Road, west of Town Hall Drive. Check a map before you leave. The conservation group behind the marsh records further land protected there in 2018. Visit Sun Prairie lists the same place as Patrick Marsh Nature Preserve, so search both names.

Sun Prairie Ice Arena

Sun Prairie Ice Arena at 838 Grove Street has two rinks, Cardinal and Tubbs, and runs public skating, hockey and a learn-to-skate program.

One parent describes the building as clean, with lots of bathrooms and a good variety of concessions, though winter parking is tight. A visitor who has been to well over 150 rinks says it is among the coldest and advises dressing warm. Public session times change through the season, so check the arena's schedule page before you lace up.

Downtown Sun Prairie and Cannery Square

Cannery Square is the heart of downtown Sun Prairie, a redevelopment that Visit Sun Prairie says was named one of Wisconsin's most successful. The farmers' market is listed as year-round at Cannery Square and Market Street, with a Saturday market on the calendar. Historic buildings around it hold clothing and jewelry stores, salons, vintage shops and locally owned home decor shops.

The Sun Prairie Historical Library and Museum collects the settlement story of the town and highlights the birthplace of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Visit Sun Prairie also points to downtown murals and an art tour. The visitor office at 109 E Main Street takes questions at 608-837-4547. Each winter, Frozen Fest ends with a groundhog forecast at sunrise in Cannery Square, and the city bills itself as the Groundhog Capital of the World. In July 2018 a gas explosion destroyed a downtown block, and the city's response gave it the tagline Sun Prairie Strong.

For eating, Sun Prairie restaurants run from a diner to Mexican grills to several pizza kitchens.

Evenings at The Loft at 132

The Loft at 132, at 132 Market Street, is a rooftop bar and event space about a quarter mile north-northwest of Angell Park.

It also hosts weddings, corporate events and private parties, and its site lists public evenings late in the week. The events page on its site is the place to confirm before you go. Recent reviewers praise the owners for coordinating with vendors at weddings, and some say they want to come back for a drink on the rooftop.

Movies at Marcus Palace Cinema

Marcus Palace Cinema at 2830 Hoepker Road is a Marcus Theatres cinema for mainstream films, about 3.3 miles west of Angell Park.

Like the marsh, the cinema is a drive rather than a walk, so pair it with dinner on the way back toward downtown.

Where to eat and where to stay

Pizza deserves a plan of its own, and you can start from the pizza places in Sun Prairie before you order.

Four hotels are covered in our hotel guide for a longer stay, and they are worth comparing before you book.

A year of reasons to come back

The calendar gives the town its rhythm: scarecrows downtown in October, a groundhog forecast in winter and the corn in August. Mike Cunningham's Annual Scarecrow Contest ran from October 3 to 31 this year. Start with the marsh loop, since it is one of two stops that need a car, then spend the afternoon in the circle around the park and the evening on the Loft's roof. Whatever you pick, the town keeps pulling you back to that shady park on Park Street, which is where the day began and where it is easiest to end it.