Skinniest state park opens in Wisconsin

PONIATOWSKI, Wis. (WSAW) - There’s a new state park where you can walk cross in under an hour -- or maybe less than 10 minutes. 

The skinniest state park in Wisconsin was dedicated this week in the Marathon County town of Poniatowski. It’s just 20 feet wide and a quarter-mile long. What it lacks in size, it makes up in its geographical significance. A marker inside designates the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole.

It’s always halfway between the Greenwich Meridian and the International Date Line. It’s just one of four locations in the world. The only other one that’s not underwater is in the mountains of China.

“Previously, we averaged about 300 to 500 people a year would come out here and try to imagine exactly where it was,” said Richard Barrett of Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Since we built the park, we’re averages 300 to 500 people a month coming out here. In fact, in one day, we had about 250 alone in one given day back in July.”

About $100,000 was raised to build the park.