Alumnus Launches Geologic Tours as New Business Venture

Giving geological tours of the Wisconsin Dells/Baraboo region is something Paul Herr (B.S., 1980, Mining Engineering; M.S., Geology) has been doing as a volunteer for more than 16 years. Just this year, however, Herr decided to turn his enthusiasm for this center of world-class geology into a full-time business.

With the help of Geology students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and elsewhere, Herr's new company, Time Travel Geologic Tours, treats Dells visitors to something different--an educational peek at the amazing natural history and geology of the Dells/Baraboo region through the eyes of professional geologists.

"Most people have no idea what a geological jewel the region is. Geology students and professionals come from all over the world to this area because it is one of the few places on earth you can see such well-preserved examples of rock formations from three distinct time periods ranging from a mere 13,000 years ago to more than 1.7 billion years ago," commented Herr.

Time Travel Geologic Tours offers a tour for each of the three time periods represented. The Ice Age Tour covers a time, 13,000 years ago, during the last great continental glacier. The Cambrian Tour examines the evidence of a shallow tropical sea that once covered the area 500 million to 600 million years ago and the Pre-Cambrian Tour takes visitors back 1.7 million years ago when the earth was an alien place filled with poisonous gases, seas red with iron, and when the only life the planet supported was thick mats of iron-eating bacteria on the sea bottom.

Tours are conducted daily June through August and on weekends in September and October. They range from 1.5 hours to 4 hours in length and include destinations such as Devil's Lake, Parfrey's Glen, Rock Springs and various mines, quarries and geological outcrops in the Dells/Baraboo area. Some light hiking is required. Tickets are available at the main ticket booth, 229 Broadway in downtown Wisconsin Dells.

Before launching Time Travel Geologic Tours, Herr worked for Shell Oil exploring for oil in Alaska and California and spent 8 years in environmental consulting.

With the help of professional geologist tour guides, Herr is counting on what he calls the "WOW" factor--on making at least some of the 2 million visitors that come through the Dells each year see and appreciate what he sees--the history of the earth etched in stone.

So if you're looking for an enlightening change of pace while in the Dells this summer, why not a little geological time travel?

For more information call 1-800-328-0995.