Day Hiking Trails: Array of day hiking trails crisscross Washburn, Wis., region

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Array of day hiking trails crisscross Washburn, Wis., region

Washburn Marina. Photo courtesy City of Washburn.

Imagine a place where you can hike sandy beaches and enjoy fantastic vistas of the world’s largest freshwater lake, a place of towering pines that bald eagles fly over and black bears scamper beneath, a place where you can explore sea caves or hike across billion-year-old red rock. The place is real – it’s called Bayfield County, Wisconsin.

If Wisconsin were a mitten, Bayfield County would be the peak of the four fingers. With much of it a peninsula, it boasts more shoreline on Lake Superior than any other Wisconsin county. It also offers dozens of miles of trails for those who love hiking.

Bayfield County’s largest city, Washburn, offers hikers access to Chequamegon Bay and is a short distance from a number of other public lands. Among them is the Chequamegon National Forest and its Mt. Valhalla trails, the recently created Houghton Falls Nature Preserve, and Bog Rock County Park. Trails can be found in each of these areas.

Popular day hiking trails in the Washburn area include:
g Houghton Falls
g Mt. Valhalla trails
g Roundup of Washburn area trails

Read more about day hiking Bayfield County in my Hittin’ the Trail: Day Bayfield County, Wisconsin guidebook.

Meet the Author

My name is Rob Bignell. I'm a long-time hiker, journalist and editor. My son Kieran and I have been hiking together for the past decade. Before Kieran, I taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin, served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard, and worked in newspapers. I've won several journalism awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott Journal, which I served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. Currently I own and operate an online editing business, Inventing Reality Editing Service. After spending several years in Southern California, my son and I now live in Wisconsin on the scenic Red Cedar River.