Baraboo

City and administrative headquarters of Sauk County in southern central Wisconsin, 45 km/28 mi northwest of Madison, on the Baraboo River; population (2000) 10,700. It is an agricultural centre with some light industry and a branch of the University of Wisconsin. It is noted as the birthplace (1882) and longtime winter headquarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus.

The city is situated in the Baraboo Range, low, forested hills named, like the city, after Jean Baribault, an early French trader. The Badger Army Ammunition Plant, established in World War II, is 13 km/8 mi to the south.