Trappers Turn Golf Club

Trappers Turn Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells offers 27 holes of championship golf across three distinct nine-hole layouts—Arbor, Canyon, and Lake—designed by two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North and Roger Packard and opened between 1991 and 2000. The Canyon and Lake nines take full advantage of the dramatic sandstone bluffs and woodland terrain that define the Wisconsin Dells region, while the Arbor nine borders Rocky Arbor State Park.

Trappers Turn Golf Club in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, is a public golf facility with three nine-hole layouts — the Canyon, Lake, and Arbor nines — designed by Andy North and Roger Packard and opened in 1991 as part of the Wisconsin Dells resort corridor. Andy North, the two-time U.S. Open champion (1978 at Cherry Hills in Denver and 1985 at Oakland Hills in Michigan) who developed a design practice alongside his professional playing career, brought his competitive player's perspective to the Wisconsin Dells terrain, creating courses whose strategic challenge reflects the analytical approach that winning two national championships demands. Andy North and Roger Packard's collaboration at Trappers Turn produced three nines with distinct character within the same Wisconsin Dells property. The Canyon nine uses the dramatic terrain elevation changes that the Wisconsin Dells area's sandstone formations and river corridor create, with holes that descend into and climb out of the canyon terrain that makes the Dells area geologically distinctive.

The Lake nine incorporates water features prominently, using lake hazards for both visual drama and strategic challenge. The Arbor nine plays through wooded terrain, with tree corridors creating the definition and strategic framing that inland Wisconsin's natural vegetation offers. That three-nine variety gives Trappers Turn operational flexibility and genuine playing diversity that single-routing 18-hole courses cannot match. The Wisconsin Dells resort market creates an unusual operating environment for Trappers Turn — a tourist area whose primary draws are the waterparks, resort hotels, and family entertainment that bring millions of visitors annually creates a golf market heavily weighted toward vacation golfers. Andy North's design credentials, the three-nine format flexibility, and the varied terrain character of the Dells area give Trappers Turn a competitive position within this market, attracting the golf-specific visitors who make Trappers Turn part of their Wisconsin Dells itinerary.

The combination of Canyon, Lake, and Arbor nine configurations means that multi-day visitors can play three distinctly different 18-hole rounds on the same property — a variety that sustains repeat play from guests staying multiple nights at the Dells. Andy North's personal connection to Wisconsin adds authenticity to his Wisconsin Dells design work. North grew up in Thorp, Wisconsin and attended the University of Wisconsin, giving him roots in the state and a familiarity with the Wisconsin golf market and landscape that an outside designer would not possess. That Wisconsin identity resonates with the in-state golf market, and North's two U.S. Open championship victories make him among the celebrated Wisconsin-born athletes of the modern era.

The Wisconsin Dells corridor's development into one of America's most concentrated family resort destinations has created the infrastructure — restaurants, entertainment, hotels, and recreational activities — that gives Trappers Turn access to a consistent visitor flow throughout the summer season. The course's three-nine format, championship-level Andy North design, and the characteristic Wisconsin Dells scenery that the canyon, lake, and arbor terrain types provide give it a distinctive position within a resort market that generates substantial golf demand. For golfers visiting Wisconsin Dells who want a notable design experience alongside the family resort activities that define the corridor, Trappers Turn provides the championship golf connection to Wisconsin's own U.S. Open champion that the Dells area's broader resort catalog cannot replicate.