Situated in Central Wisconsin, Columbia County offers magnificent scenic beauty with the highest quality of life. Residents and businesses located in the county can have the best of both worlds – easy access to several large communities while living in the quiet and neighborly confines of Columbia County. Winter: activities include ; downhill skiing at Cascade Mountain, one of Wisconsin’s top ski resorts, snowmobiling, ice fishing, curling, sledding and ice skating. During the summer months, water enthusiasts enjoy the many lakes and rivers for fishing, boating, and swimming.

The Merrimac Ferry, which crosses the Wisconsin River between Sauk and Columbia counties, is Wisconsin’s only free ferry. It shuttles State Highway 113 traffic between Okee on the east bank and Merrimac on the west. Ferry service has been provided in this area for more than a century. In 1844, four years before Wisconsin became a state, Chester Mattson, the second settler on the site of the village of Merrimac, obtained charters to provide ferry service at this location. The ferry was operated long before the development of a regular roadway.