Wauwatosa's Winter Sauna Moved to Hoyt Park, and the Cold Season Now Runs Weekly

On an unusually warm April afternoon this year, Jesse Hieb added more wood to the furnace behind one of three barrel-shaped saunas parked outside the Hart Park Senior Center. Only four people were booked that day. Tosa Forward News reported that the slow day came at the end of a winter the business still counted as a success.

That winter was Heat Haven Sauna Park's first. Its second starts October 24, 2026, and it starts somewhere else. The saunas are moving to Hoyt Park at 1800 N. Swan Blvd., where they'll sit beside The Landing, the park's year-round beer garden. Most of Tosa's cold-season events land on a handful of fixed dates. The sauna park runs every week, so for anyone in Wauwatosa looking for something to do between Halloween and spring, Hoyt Park is now the place that's open on an ordinary Tuesday in February.

What the first winter at Hart Park showed

The idea started as a proposal to the city in fall 2025. According to Tosa Forward News, Heat Haven's written pitch described running saunas through the coldest six months of the year to help Tosa "brand itself as a winter wellness destination." Co-owners Jesse Hieb and Ryan Bingham started the business after looking around the region and not finding the kind of public sauna they'd used elsewhere.

The Hart Park installation opened November 21, 2025, and took bookings through May 2. Tosa Forward News reported that Hieb estimated about 2,400 people tried it over that season, some more than once. He put Wauwatosa residents at roughly a quarter of patrons. The rest came from around the Milwaukee area, from Chicago and from other places outside Wisconsin, and everyone shared six-person saunas. "We always thought Tosa would be a great place for it, that the community would be welcoming of different people," Hieb told the outlet.

If three-quarters of the visitors came from outside the city, the sauna park pulled people into Wauwatosa during the coldest months of the year. The move to Hoyt keeps that draw in town and puts it next to an operator that already sells food and drinks.

What changes at Hoyt Park

Hoyt Park is home to TOSA Pool, which closed for the year after September 7. The Friends of Hoyt Park & Pool calls the new setup "a match made in heaven": a session in a custom wood-fired barrel sauna, then time around the firepits with local drinks and food from The Landing.

Discover Wauwatosa lays out the setup:

• Three handcrafted, wood-fired cedar-barrel saunas
• Check-in with a staff member, a short tour and a place to change
• A 75-minute session, usually three rounds of 10 to 15 minutes in the heat, with breaks by the fire or at a cooling station
• Hoyt's pool amenities for a rinse afterward
• Snacks, coffee, tea, mocktails and alcoholic drinks from The Landing, which also sells sauna gear and hydration supplies

The Landing's regular menu includes Cranky's pizzas, Milwaukee Pretzel Company pretzels, beer brats or Angus beef hot dogs, popcorn and cheesecorn. At Hart Park, a session ended at the senior center lot. At Hoyt, it can end with dinner.

Prices, as listed on Heat Haven's booking site and event pages in October 2026:

The Sunday Sauna Social runs 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Sunday. It starts October 25, the day after opening, and is listed through April 25, 2027. Heat Haven's FAQ recommends booking ahead, especially on weekends. The operator has also scheduled a Halloween-night event at Hoyt called Heat Haven After Dark on Saturday, October 31. Neither the Friends of Hoyt Park announcement nor Heat Haven's pages say why the business left Hart Park, and Heat Haven hasn't posted regular weekly hours for Hoyt yet.

How long the season runs depends on which page you read

Discover Wauwatosa's page says Heat Haven is open "late October through early February." Heat Haven's own bookings go further. Private sauna reservations at Hoyt are listed on its Toast page from October 24, 2026 through April 30, 2027, and the Sunday Social calendar ends April 25. Last winter's Hart Park season ran from late November into early May. As of mid-October, the booking pages show the Hoyt season running into April.

Hoyt also won't be the only Heat Haven site in the area this winter. A second one is running at Blüm Coffee Garden, 4930 W. Loomis Rd. in Greenfield. A meeting summary on Citizen Portal reports that Greenfield's Plan Commission approved a temporary seasonal permit there on September 8, 2026, for three barrel saunas and a cold shower. The first Blüm event on Heat Haven's calendar is October 4, and the Greenfield site hosts Music Bingo on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. for $1 a player. Last winter, people from across the metro came to Hart Park. This winter, some of them will have a closer option on the south side.

The dated events that fit around a weekly routine

With a sauna park running every week, Wauwatosa's fixed-date events now fall around a standing option. Here's what's on the calendar from now through early December:

Two trick-or-treat dates, a week apart

The City of Wauwatosa set citywide trick-or-treat hours for Sunday, October 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. The city's notice also says many neighborhoods set their own hours and events and suggests checking with your neighborhood association. Tosa East Towne Neighborhood Association is holding its Nighttime Trick or Treat on Halloween itself, Saturday, October 31, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Its "Clarke After Dark" route on Clarke Street links Center Street Park and Roosevelt. Earlier that day, the association runs a Fall Food Drive and membership renewal with Hunger Task Force at 69th Street Plaza from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., during Boo on the Avenue. Heat Haven After Dark at Hoyt falls on the same evening.

The Tour of Homes is the one fall event with a single date

The Wauwatosa Historical Society holds its 37th annual Wandering Wauwatosa Tour of Homes on October 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It opens five private historic houses along Milwaukee Avenue and surrounding streets, with headquarters at the Woman's Club and Pioneer Museum. It's one day only and doesn't repeat until next fall.

The zoo's lights run on a split calendar

The Milwaukee County Zoo's Wild Lights runs November 20–28 and December 3–31, from 5:30 to 9 p.m., with admission gates closing at 8:15. It's dark on November 23–26, November 29–30, December 1–2, December 7–8, December 14–15 and December 24–25. The zoo's events calendar also lists drive-through nights on November 22 and December 6 and 13, an adults-only Cheers! Wild Lights on December 10, Dogs After Dark on December 16 and Zoo Year's Eve on December 31. Daytime admission is free during Frosty Free Week, December 26–30, but parking and attraction fees still apply, and Wild Lights at night still requires regular admission.

The Village's December week

The Village's big holiday events all fall within one stretch of Harwood Avenue in early December. The Tree Lighting on Wednesday, December 2, starts with the market opening at 4 p.m. and the ceremony at 5. The countdown and Santa's arrival are at 5:20, and festivities continue until 9. The Village Christmas Market then runs through Sunday, December 6, with daily Santa visits, vendors and live music. Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. on December 2 and 3, noon to 10 p.m. on December 4, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on December 5, and noon to 8 p.m. on December 6. The Tosa Cookie Trail runs during the market on Thursday, December 3, from 4 to 8 p.m. When the market closes on December 6, Heat Haven's calendar still has Sunday Socials listed at Hoyt every week through late April.

A Wauwatosa home on the market this winter sits a short drive from the Hoyt Park saunas and the Harwood Avenue market, and the Shar Borg Team builds that kind of local detail into every listing presentation and buyer tour. If you're thinking about a move this cold season, request a complimentary concierge consultation and we'll walk you through how a winter sale or search in Tosa works.