IF WATER IS the new oil, then Wisconsin is looking like the new Dubai.

That's not only because Wisconsin has so much of this precious resource—the state claims 15,000 lakes to Minnesota's measly 10,000—but because it has figured out so many ways to exploit its abundance. Wisconsin's claim to fame as America's Dairyland can obscure how critical a role water plays here, for business (Milwaukee styles itself as a kind of Silicon Valley of H20) and tourists. Those who prefer their water with salt should look elsewhere. But on a recent trip around the state, my family found that it offered something for every one of us.

Our kids (ages 7, 11 and 14) love swimming, and a Wisconsin town has the world's highest concentration of water parks. My wife, however, likes water best when it's flowing through luxe accommodations. Though known as a manufacturer of high-end plumbing fixtures, the Wisconsin-based Kohler Company has an even higher-end hospitality business that runs hotels, golf courses and a spa in the state. Meanwhile, I admire a place so committed to the alchemy that turns water into beer that its Major League Baseball team is called the Brewers.

We got our feet (and everything else) wet in Wisconsin Dells, in the middle of the state. Nearly 16 million gallons of water flows through more than 20 water parks there every day in the summer—and almost as much in the winter, since many parks have vast indoor facilities. As you might expect, the town is full of parking lots and pancake restaurants; the compact main street boasts a Ripley's Believe It or Not! and a number of fudge and T-shirt shops. But all this is counterbalanced by the natural wonder of the Dells of the Wisconsin River themselves—the best thing to visit, though many visitors don't.

Almost 15,000 years ago, a natural dam holding back a lake of glacial meltwater gave way, creating a flood that carved gorges through the area's rich red sandstone. The result: a Midwestern version of the Grand Canyon—one that is much smaller and greener.