City Parks    Neighborhood Parks         Golf Course     Perch Lake    
Bicycle/Hiking/Roller Skating Trails     Beaver Creek Parkway     Cross Country Skiing

All Sparta parks are open to the public, resident and non-resident alike, but some properties, because of their smaller size and more limited facilities, are more likely to attract visitors from the immediate surrounding neighborhood.

Golf Course

Golf Course - 150 acres - This 18 hole, 6,187 yard, par 72 course is built on part of the grounds of the former Wisconsin Children's Center, owned by the City for many years, and called Memorial Park.  The course nearly surrounds Perch Lake.  The course is owned and operated by the City and the philosophy is to keep the greens fees as low as practical to encourage use and play by the general public.  There are electric carts available for rent, or personal carts may be kept and used at the course.  A private contractor operates a club house with restaurant, bar, and a small pro shop in a city owned building.  There is also a driving range.  For more information on the golf course, you may visit the golf course's website.

Perch Lake

Perch Lake - Although Perch Lake is one of the principal features of the Golf Course, Memorial Park, and Fisherman's Park, it also is a unique feature in its own right.  It has 32 surface acres with a maximum depth of ten feet and a mean depth of five feet.  It was created by damming the La Crosse River.  Most of the land around the lake is City owned except for one private home and a VFW clubhouse.  The Lake has a native fishery of warm water pan fish, largemouth bass, northern pike, and some brown and rainbow trout, all of which is supplemented by stocking as recommended by fishery management professionals.  The Lake was last dredged in 2000.

Bicycling/Hiking/
Roller Skating

The City's existing bike trail system is approximately 6,000 feet long.  The bicycle facilities begin at Howard Huff Park with a bicycle lane being marked on Water Street, extending north across the bridge over the La Crosse River.  At this point the bicycle way leaves the street and enters the Information Center on a paved trail.  It crosses under the Wisconsin Street bridge, remaining on the west side of the La Crosse River, and enters into Evans-Bosshard Park.  It travels through this park to the west side of Beaver Creek, with a spur crossing the creek to the east, through the par, to East Avenue.  Another spur from this spur extends south through the park and across the La Crosse River on a bicycle/pedestrian/snowmobile bridge to the Highway 16 Wayside portion of Evans-Bosshard Park.  The main trail continues north through Evans-Bosshard Park, to the north boundary of the park at Main Street.  The trail crosses Main Street and runs between the Rural Fire Department Building and Beaver Creek, through the parking lot behind the fire station to a ramp, constructed in 1998, to gain access to Water Street.  A crossing of Water Street is made at this point, in the heart of the central business district.  A proposal is to extend the trail west, with an at-grade crossing of Court Street, thus providing access to the public library and the museum.  Within Evans-Bosshard Park the trail system is most developed, and includes bridges over both the La Crosse River and Beaver Creek.

Beaver Creek Parkway - This greenway has essentially been discussed as being an extension of Evans-Bosshard Park and is part of the trail system.  It has traditionally been identified as a distinct feature in the City's park system.  The Farmers Market convenes here during the growing season.