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From the north end of Main Street you can see Friendship Mound, the castle-shaped hill that sits just above the village. About two miles farther up WIS-13 is its bigger neighbor, Roche-A-Cri, with a wooden stairway up one side and centuries-old rock carvings at its foot. Most things to do in Friendship come back to those two mounds, the lakes the Wisconsin River and two small creeks have made around them, and a Main Street you can walk end to end before your coffee cools.
Friendship is the Adams County seat, a village of 648 people at the 2020 census, and it runs straight into its twin, Adams, a mile to the south. It is small, and it doesn't pretend otherwise. What it has is a lot of public land and water within a few miles of the courthouse, and a handful of places to eat that the people who live here actually use.
Climb Roche-A-Cri and see the rock art
Roche-A-Cri State Park is the first stop for most visitors: a 300-foot sandstone mound about two miles north of the village, with a stairway to the top and the only publicly accessible rock art site in Wisconsin at its base.
From the platform at the top you look out over the flat Central Sands country that was the bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, when this mound was an island in it. On a clear day Friendship Mound is in view to the south, along with several of the area's lakes.
Below the mound, the park has more than five miles of trail through big oaks and pines, with names like Acorn, Eagle Ridge, Chickadee Rock and Turkey Vulture, the last for the vultures that roost on the mound in summer. Carter Creek runs through the park and holds brook and brown trout if you bring a Wisconsin fishing license. In winter the main entrance closes, so park on the north side of Czech Avenue, west of WIS-13.
Friendship Mound, the hill you see from town
Friendship Mound is the castellated hill that sits just north of the village, shaped by the last glaciers to cover this part of Wisconsin. It isn't a state park the way Roche-A-Cri is, so for most visitors it is something you look at rather than somewhere you go.
The best way to see it is from the water. Friendship Lake sits right below it, and a local land office that maps the county's lakes sums the lake up as swimming, fishing and paddling "all with a view of Friendship Mound."
Friendship Lake and the beach by the dam
Friendship Lake is the small flowage on the north edge of the village, fed by Little Roche-A-Cri Creek and Fordham Creek and held back by a dam on WIS-13. The public beach and the boat launch are right beside the dam, which makes it the nearest swim to Main Street.
The lake holds largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye, bluegills and rock bass, and it freezes well enough for ice fishing in winter. If you want to stay on the water, Friendship Island Resort rents furnished cabins half a mile northeast of the village with a private sand beach, a fishing pier, pedal boats and kayaks.
Castle Rock Lake's east shore
Castle Rock Lake, the fourth-largest lake in Wisconsin, starts about seven miles southwest of the village, and the Adams County side of it is Friendship's side. It is an impoundment of the Wisconsin River, created when the Castle Rock Dam was finished in 1951.
Most published itineraries for the lake stay on the Juneau County side, around Buckhorn State Park and the west-shore bars. Castle Rock Lake from the east shore is a different trip, and it is the side with Friendship addresses.
The base on this side is Adams County Castle Rock Park on County Road Z, with 141 acres, a boat launch and a swimming area, and a couple of waterfront places to eat a short way north of it.
The pick of those is Crazy Taco, a Mexican place with outdoor seating on the water that serves tacos, margaritas and palomas until 9 on weeknights and later at the weekend.
Golf and a Friday fish fry at MoundView
MoundView Golf Course, 1.4 miles west of the village, is a 9-hole course with a driving range and a clubhouse kitchen that does breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Drive Rustic Road 50
Rustic Road 50 is 4.6 miles of unpaved Cottonville Avenue, which locals call Old State Road, running from 8th Avenue east to 4th Avenue in the Friendship ZIP code. It is one of two Rustic Roads in Adams County.
Wisconsin set up its Rustic Roads program in 1973 to protect lightly traveled scenic roads, and each one is marked with brown and yellow signs. This one was laid out by the state, probably in the 1800s, which is where the nickname comes from. The drive passes lowland and upland woods and open marsh, and WisDOT notes deer, grouse and other wild birds along the way.
Take it slowly, especially after rain, and go early in the day if you want the best chance of seeing the deer and grouse WisDOT mentions.
Main Street: books, coffee and a bar from 1935
Friendship's Main Street is short and practical, and the three places worth stopping at are a used bookstore, a coffee bar inside a mercantile, and a corner bar that has been open since 1935.
Down the street, The Friendly Brew runs out of Main Street Mercantile and opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays, with espresso, loaded lemonades and mini donuts, plus a pay-it-forward board on the wall. Fridays are Bakery Fridays.
The Corner Bar and Grill at 300 Main Street has been here since 1935, and its kitchen does birria tacos, burgers, wings and a fish fry until 8 p.m., while the bar runs until 2 a.m.
Friendship has more Friday fish fry kitchens than you would guess for a village of 648, from the golf course clubhouse to the bars along WIS-13.
If you like to browse, two more shops round out the village. Glassic Dee-Sign, at the same 301 Main Street address as the bookstore, sells repurposed home decor and gifts, and Kathy's Barn Cottage, out on 13th Lane, deals in antiques and collectibles.
Next door in Adams
Adams starts a mile south of Friendship, and the two villages blur together along Main Street. The Adams end of the street has two places to eat that are worth the extra mile, wherever you are staying.
Becky’s Sugar Shack, at 158 South Main Street, is a family restaurant and bakery that cooks from breakfast through dinner, with omelets, burgers and pizza on the same menu as the baked goods.
A few doors down at 154 South Main, Rank’s Tavern is known for its ham sandwiches and keeps pool tables and darts going, with local and regional bands on the bill.
Fair week and the summer calendar
The Adams County Fair runs every August at the fairground on West Lake Street, on the village's west side, with tractor pulls, carnival rides, live music and grandstand shows.
Where to stay
Places to sleep in and around Friendship come down to an inn on WIS-13, a cabin resort on Friendship Lake, two public campgrounds and a scattering of lake-house rentals.
For camping, Roche-A-Cri has 41 rustic sites in the woods below the mound, and Adams County Castle Rock Park has a larger campground on the lake with heated showers. Book both early for summer weekends.
A day south to Wisconsin Dells
Wisconsin Dells starts about 17 miles south of the village in a straight line, close enough to make a day of waterparks and wineries and still be back for dinner. The Dells calls itself the waterpark capital of the world, with three outdoor and 18 indoor parks.
On the north edge of the Dells, Fawn Creek Winery makes its wine on site and has disc golf and cornhole on the grounds, 16.7 miles south of Friendship.
If you are still working out where Friendship sits on the map of central Wisconsin, the short version is that WIS-13 runs straight through the village.
When to come
Summer is the high season, with average July highs around 82°F and the most rain of the year, and fall is the best time for the stairway and the trails. Winter brings about 52 inches of snow. Friendship has four real seasons, and what each month brings changes which half of this list makes sense.
Frequently asked questions
Published August 31, 2026
