Sunday, September 4, 2016

Maps of four great Rusk County day hikes

Visitors to Wisconsin’s Rusk County can enjoy a number of major recreational areas, many of which contain great day hiking trails.

Four great county day hikes and maps for them include:


Blue Hills Nature Trail
The 1.5-mile lollipop trail in the Audie Flowage-Perch Lake Recreation Area skirts scenic Perch Lake and circles an old beaver meadow. Park in the lot at the Perch Lake boat ramp off of Perch Lake Road.


Blue Hills West Trail
Across northwest Barron County and northwest Rusk County, a hazy blue stretch of hills appearing vaguely like distant mountains offers a scenic backdrop. The site is the ancient Blue Hills, a range that runs for about 20 miles, primarily in Rusk County. The Blue Hills West Trail includes two stacked loops and a lollipop trail. Its first stacked loop at 2.3 miles total is particularly good for day hiking.


Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Blue Hills segments
Trailheads to various segments are located on Old 14/Bass Lake Road, Bolgers Road and Bucks Lake Road. The trail runs 1200 miles, generally marking the southern edge of an ice age glacier that covered much of Wisconsin about 10,000 years ago.


Sobieski Flowage Scenic Area Trail
An old cranberry bog awaits day hikers at the Sobieski Flowage Scenic Area in northern Rusk County. Tucked away in the southeastern corner of Flambeau River State Forest, the Sobieski Flowage Scenic Area Trail runs about 0.4-miles one-way (0.8-miles total). The majority of it is in Rusk County with the flowage itself in Sawyer County.

Read more about Wisconsin’s many family friendly day hiking trails in Headin' to the Cabin.