Let’s visit the coolest Tech Campus in the Midwest! California may have its Apple Park with its private orchard and food trucks that roll up to Meta’s office. And Seattle has Amazon’s indoor rainforest but in Wisconsin we have the fantastical, whimsical, magical world of…Epic Systems.
Epic Systems, a privately-owned medical records software company, has no ordinary headquarters. Forget cubicles and drab meeting rooms. At Epic, employees spend their workday walking down the yellow brick road to Emerald City, meeting in a treehouse to discuss new ideas or in a monthly company-wide all-hands held in Deep Space. The entire place is littered inside and out with creative art and installations that are all locally sourced and hand-picked by employees. It’s an inspiring, innovative and inviting campus worthy of the title “Coolest Tech Campus in the Midwest,” if not in all of the U.S.
Update: As of January 2025, Epic now requires advanced registration for self-guided tours. Learn more about visiting Epic and schedule a self-guided tour online. Weekends fill up fast and your group needs to be 12 people or less when you schedule for a weekend time slot.
Where is Epic & Why You Should Check it Out
Epic’s “Intergalactic Headquarters” can be found in the small town of Verona, about 10 miles southwest from Wisconsin’s capital city of Madison and 80 miles west of Milwaukee. Amid rolling fields and farmland is not exactly the first place you’d expect to find this 1,670-acre campus that is a sci-fi fanatic’s dream come true. Here employees get around on cow bikes and work in themed buildings akin to carefully curated museum exhibits or movie sets. And it’s not just the lucky 13,000 Epic employees that get to enjoy this unique campus. The campus is open to the public for completely free, self-guided tours most days of the year.
We spent a Saturday afternoon here for our first visit and went on the Wizards Academy campus tour which is the feature of this blog post. Keep reading to learn more about this part of Epic’s campus, what you can expect and how self-tours work here. If you don’t have time to read this post, be sure to check out our Epic’s Wizardry Academy reel on Instagram for a snapshot of what this tour was like.
Start Your Your on the Right Foot
The information in this section is applicable to any campus tour you’re looking to experience.
Start by parking in the Visitors Parking Lot located on 1979 Milky Way Drive. The parking lot is big and free to use. Once you park, take a look up to check out the solar panels and then head over to the registration desk which you’ll find in a building located up a short staircase (by a Humpty Dumpty statue). You’ll need to sign in and wear a visitors’ badge while you’re on campus. The registration desk is where you’ll pick up any information, you’ll need to navigate the campus based on what parts you are looking to explore during your visit. We recommend taking a photo on your phone of the campus map they have at the registration desk to have on hand in case you get lost. You’ll also find comprehensive campus maps framed and hung on the walls in various spots throughout the buildings but if you leave the buildings during the weekend, you won’t be able to re-enter any building. The doors will be locked behind you and you’ll need to navigate the campus outdoors until you make your way back to registration to re-start your tour.
When you look at the campus map, you’ll see six different themed areas that look like loops. You’ll likely be told that each loop takes about one hour to complete so plan accordingly! It’s nearly impossible to see the entire campus on a single visit.
Once you know what parts of campus you want to explore for the day, let the folks working behind the registration desk know you want to head straight to the Wizards Academy, or the Storybook or Deep Space, for example. They will give you a packet of information specific to the campus tour you want to go on. The packet will contain directions for how to access the specific part of campus as well as the way to move quickly through other spaces you must pass through to get to where you want to go as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you’re anything like us, you’ll get distracted and sucked in by things along the way but that’s part of the fun! The packet will also share fun facts and information about the spaces you will visit including what different spaces are used by employees for, the meaning behind different art pieces, and more.
Stop by our registration desk to pick up a map for a self-guided tour. As you explore, you may encounter magic on our Wizards campus, see some familiar faces on our Storybook campus, or even encounter some furry friends on our functioning farm.
Central Park Campus
It took us about 20 minutes to reach King’s Cross, which marks the official start of the Wizards Academy campus. To reach the Wizards Academy we had to pass through the Central Park Campus. Different spaces we passed through in this part of the campus included: Heaven, Isis, Dragon’s Lair, Juno and Kohoutek. In Heaven you’ll pass through a starlite tunnel. Isis is the Dungeons & Dragon’s themed building. Juno is Wild West themed complete with a railroad runway, cacti and dreamcatchers. Right before you enter King’s Cross, you’ll follow a bold and colorful graffiti tunnel. There’s a lot to see and appreciate in Central Park but it isn’t the “main attraction” so to speak. In other words, visitors, especially first-time visitors, don’t visit Epic to see the Central Park campus. It’s a nice way to get your feet wet and will leave you excited to see the main event.
The Wizard’s Academy
Epic’s Wizard Academy makes you feel like you set foot into a real-life Harry Potter movie set. The details are seriously impressive and spellbinding. There are enchanting nods to so many elements of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like the restricted section of the Hogwarts library, references to spells used throughout the movies like “Alohomora” the spell that unlocks doors and windows, a statue of Dobby and movie quotes of which the favorite one we came upon being, “Sometimes we have to choose between what is right and what is easy.” – Albus Dumbledore. Be on the lookout for these easter eggs and so much more during your visit.
In total, this tour route is made up of five separate buildings all connected by tunnels and walkways. The five buildings are: Library, Observatory, Great Hall, Classroom and the Fortress. You can access the entire Wizard’s Academy Campus without having to exit the building but there are several details outdoors that you will not want to miss including a huge Wizard’s chess set like the one in the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It’s a chess set that you can play! Dillyd Alley which is a spinoff of Diagon Alley complete with an apothecary, Atlas & Astoria’s bookshop, broom and wand shop. There is also a large statue of a wizard akin to Albus Dumbledore outside that is a great spot for a photo.
But before you head outside to explore these spots, be sure to fully explore the five buildings inside first. Here’s a sneak peak at what you can expect in each building:
Library
This is the first building you will come upon by way of King’s Cross. This space blew us away – we took most of our photos in the library. This area is made up of a grand staircase that crosses 4 floors. If you cannot walk up the stairs you can take the elevator directly next to the stairs up one floor at a time and enjoy the library from different vantage points. We think it’s worth doing this. While the library shelves look lined with fancy, detailed wallpaper this is not the case. Instead the bookshelf’s are bursting with actual artifacts, books, and gadgets fitting of a library at Hogwarts. Some of the fun details we noticed beyond spell books and atlases included a Hufflepuff tie with the badger mascot on it – the badger is also the state animal of Wisconsin, silver orbital pendulums, framed uniform and course requirements for first years, potion bottles, quills and much more. On the fourth floor on the elevator doors is where you will see the restricted section decal – you will miss this if you don’t make your way to the top of the staircase since you will need to grab the elevator to the second floor to get to the next building on the campus tour.
Observatory
Right before you enter the Observatory you must walk through the Hall of Brooms, which is a bright, fun space. Here you’ll encounter the silver statue of Dobby, the House Elf, and a main staircase decorated with a large, impressive astrological themed painting. At the end of the main hallway in the Observatory you can enter a conference room that has a domed ceiling decorated with constellations drawn by Epic employees. We also found a fun conference room in this building with several large portraits including one of Albus Dumbledore and another of Sirius Black.
Classroom
To arrive at the Classroom by way of the Observatory you will travel down the Dementor tunnel which has a slightly spooky or sinister vibe to it. The Classroom building reminded us of several classroom scenes from the Harry Potter movies. As in the Library, the level of detail in the Classroom is impressive. As in all the other spaces on campus, the artwork you see displayed here is locally sourced and handpicked by Epic employees.
Fortress
Next, step into the Fortress where a sleeping dragon lurks in his lair. You’ll come face to face with his giant orange eye but will escape his fire-breathing wrath as you venture out of this building.
Great Hall
Finally, step into the bright white, skylit Great Hall. If you follow the tour exactly as outlined in the tour packet you picked up at registration, this building is the grand finale on the Wizard’s Academy Campus Tour. Trust us when we say it is a spectacular way to wrap up the tour. In the Harry Potter movies, Hogwarts has many portraits, mostly of witches and wizards, that can talk and move around from picture to picture. There are countless scenes in the Harry Potter movies where you will see portraits in action such as the Fat Lady who guards the Gryffindor Common Room and in the Deathly Hallows Part II movie when everyone including the portraits are preparing for battle. The Great Hall at Epic is adorned with the same, gilt-framed moving portraits! Stand by and watch as a suitor and damsel sidle between three frames and interact with one another in true Wizarding World fashion.
Final Thoughts
To visit Epic’s Headquarters campus is to step into a thoughtfully crafted science-fiction world – a real-life fantasy film. The company is a purveyor of not only medical records software but also of fantastic, otherworldly views. It is incredible to think 13,000+ people get to work here and explore these grounds in between meetings (or while in meetings). It’s even more impressive that it’s completely free for the public to tour the campus grounds and its buildings even while folks are busy at work. And if you plan to visit Epic be sure to set aside some time to check out the town this campus calls home: Verona. It’s big on small town charm with excellent eateries, breweries and small, one-of-a-kind shops. It’s always nice to visit Verona. We’ve visited countless times across all seasons, but we think Verona is extra special in the fall. Learn about other things to do and see in Verona when the temps cool down by checking out our blog, Fall Bucket List: Verona, Wisconsin.
Wishing you a magical trip to the Wizards Academy at Epic!
– Justin, Alyssa & our little one
Disclaimer: Parks and Planes LLC has taken great care to ensure accuracy of this post as much as possible. However, over time, things like hours of operations, admission policies, even names of things may change. We suggest double-checking details when planning a trip. As always, all opinions, photos and content are our own. We only recommend places, products and experiences we love!
