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Slide Show |
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Trail Conditions |
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Chequamegon Chapter |
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Heritage Chapter |
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Brule-St. Croix Chapter |
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Full Text of: Following the North Country Trail |
The following text is excerpted from the book Following the North Country Trail written by the North
Country Trail Association's former magazine editor Wes Boyd. The book is now out of print, but you may read the entire text on our web site.
Wisconsin has the smallest distance
of any of the seven states the North Country Trail crosses, and the second smallest amount of trail developed to
date. It's pretty good trail, including the trail that gave its name to the whole concept. Trail activity in Wisconsin
has recently taken a major upturn; at this writing, the NCT activists in the state are battling it out with Pennsylvania
for the second spot in percentage of trail completed, and both are racing to be the first to have certified trail
clear across the state.
The trail crosses from Michigan on the US-2 bridge from Ironwood into Hurley, a town reknowned in lumbering days for its wild reputation on Saturday nights; indeed, some of the cause for the reputation still remains. Hikers needing to cross the gap to Copper Falls State Park will need to consult road maps of Iron and Ashland Counties. A few miles west of Hurley, the Uller Trail, a 7-mile trail on Iron County Forest lands was recently certified.
The next usable trail in Wisconsin is Copper Falls State Park, about 20 miles west of Hurley. The NCT meanders through this park for 7.8 miles, taking the hiker through peaceful forests to a series of spectacular waterfalls: Copper Falls, Brownstone Falls, and Tyler's Fork Cascades. The park contains a wide variety of recreational facilities, including two developed campgrounds, a group campground, and two backpack campsites in the north end of the park on a side trail off of the NCT. Advance reservations are recommended for the backpack campsites. The trail through the park is marked with routed wooden signs and diamond shaped blue metal markers. For information on the park and its segment of the NCT, contact the Park Superintendent, Copper Falls State Park, Mellen, WI 54546.
The east trailhead for the NCT in the Chequamegon National Forest is not far away, and a trail project, sponsored by the village of Mellin, Wisconsin, was recently built and certified to connect the two.
The 60-mile trail in the Chequamegon National Forest was designed for backpackers, and was built and named the
North Country Trail years before the concept of the seven-state trail arose. The trail begins on Forest Road 390
about two miles west of Mellen. The trail is open to hiking and backpacking and horseback riding in the summer,
and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Four developed campgrounds with water, tables, fireplaces,
etc., are located along or very near the trail. Three Adirondack shelters, a rarity along the NCT, are located
along the trail. Trailside camping is permitted, but campsites must be kept 50 feet away from the trail or any
water.
The trail heads
northwest through the forest. The eastern half of the trail is the most rugged; this portion of the trail travels
through the Penokee Hills, an area of rock outcroppings and scenic overlooks. The western half of the trail is
gentle in nature, being a rolling combination of upland and swamps. The trail passes by several small, beautiful
lakes and crosses a number of rivers and streams, the Brunsweiler and Marengo being the largest. The trail crosses
several forest development roads, each providing an access point to the trail. The trail comes to an end at the
National Forest border, on County Highway "A" near Lake Ruth, about five miles south of Iron River. For
more information, contact Forest Supervisor, Chequamegon National Forest, 147 N. Fifth Ave., Park Falls, WI 54552.
"Certified Segments of the North Country Trail," has a segment on the Chequamegon National Forest, available from the North Country Trail Store for $3.50.
In 1995, the National Park Service began a project to identify and plan a trail route from the Chequamegon on to Minnesota, a route that had long been studded with possibilities but little completed trail. Even before the completion of the plan, it turned western Wisconsin into a hotbed of trail development. Recent construction, totalling about 10 miles of trail, has been concentrated east of Solon Springs, and developers are concentrating on a connection with the Chequemagon over County Forest Lands. The National Park Service office in Madison, Wisconsin, is probably the best source for information on this segment, as NPS NCNST Manager Bill Menke has been using this segment for a test of a model of trail development.
Originally, the general route of the NCNST was to have followed the St. Croix Scenic Waterway out of the state, but private land crossing and other problems there made it a daunting task. The new route, on which there has been some work already, only uses a short segment of the St. Croix before turning northwest along the Moose River, heading for Minnesota's Jay Cooke State Park. One of the sights along this segment will be some existing trail in Pattison Falls State Park, south of Superior, the largest waterfall in Wisconsin. However, for probably some time to come, the long-distance hiker will have to consult Bayfield and Douglas County road maps to find a route west from the Chequamegon to the border crossing south and east from Jay Cooke State Park.
For more on the Trail in Wisconsin, try these choices:
| Slide Show | A visual tour of the trail in Wisconsin |
| Trail Condition Reports | Up-to-date news on any trail problems in the state |
| Brule-St. Croix Chapter | A local club of the NCTA working to build, protect and promote the Trail in northwest Wisconsin |
| Chequamegon Chapter | A local club of the NCTA working to build, protect and promote the Trail in northcentral Wisconsin |
| Heritage Chapter | A local club of the NCTA working to build, protect and promote the Trail in northeast Wisconsin |
For information on a different state, click on the map below:
