According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.7 km sq (5.3 square miles), all land. Baraboo is home to the Baraboo Syncline, a doubly-plunging, asymmetric syncline in Proterozoic-aged Baraboo Quartzite. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, most notably Charles R. Van Hise used the syncline to prove that small-scale deformational structures in isolated outcrops reflect larger regional structures and established top-facing to occur inside elaborately deformed stratumstrata. These two principles sparked a global revolution in structural geology during the 1920s. The nearby Baraboo Hills are designated one of the "Last Great Places" by the Nature Conservancy because of unique rocks, plants and animals. Devil's Lake State Park contains large areas of the Baraboo Hills. The hills near Baraboo were created by glacial action, and in some points poke up from the flat terrain nearby to from a stark contrast. Apparently some of these features were created when a glacial pocket was formed eons ago, or in other words were the advance of the glaciar halted, creating some of the unique features of the Baraboo hills. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baraboo%2C_Wisconsin