Wisconsin is known for its beautiful outdoors and activities, and that word is spreading.
The state is seeing a record-breaking year in outdoor recreation.
"If you look at the rec industry, outdoor has been one of the fastest growing markets," said Darrell Stetzer a salesman with Central Wisconsin Powersports.
It's no secret that Wisconsin has hidden gems to explore.
Evident as the state has broken records in the outdoor recreation industry in back-to-back years.
At Wausau's Shepherd and Schaller, they say even people out-of-state are noticing what the area has to offer.
"Indianapolis area, from Kansas area, Kansas City, certainly Chicago area brings a lot of people here," said Robb Shepherd, Owner of Shepherd and Schaller Sporting Goods.
The state of Wisconsin pulled in $11.2 billion dollars through outdoor rec which is an astonishing 9.4% increase from the previous year.
$1.3 billion coming from multi-use apparel and accessories, $1.1 billion coming from motorcycles and ATV's, and $928 million from boating and fishing.
It's a resurgence of outdoor activities in Wausau, but doesn't come out of nowhere.
"Since the COVID years, we've seen a huge resurgence that people that have taken a different lifestyle on," said Shepherd.
"After COVID hit where you couldn't do things together, you had to be by yourself," said Stetzer. "We saw a lot of people buying UTV's and ATV's to take their families on outings together."
Optimism is even higher at the end of 2024 and heading into 2025 with hopefully more snow ahead.
"I think this year with the forecasted winter, the snow, and the cold we have certainly had, we should be exceeding those numbers," said Shepherd.
Both Shepherd and Stetzer agree that they're expecting the industry to continue to grow with interest increasing to get outside.
