Fall trails abound in central Wisconsin, Part I

Roche-A-Cri State Park

There’s no better way to experience autumn colors around central

Wisconsin than a hike.

The brilliant yellows, oranges and red

of maples to the scarlet and russets of oaks...the crisp, fresh autumn air and

the last warm rays of sunlight before winter arrives...the crunch of fallen leaves and acorns beneath your boots...stopping to enjoy a warm

mug of apple cider or a caramel apple pulled from your backpack – it all calls for an afternoon on the trail.

Fortunately, there are plenty of great autumn trails around central Wisconsin to hike. Some are right out your back door, while some are a day trip that

you can do in an afternoon.

Adams County
Day hikers can head to to the top of a 300-foot-high half-billion-year-old rock formation at Roche-A-Cri State Park. The 0.12-mile round trip stairway goes up the side of the prominent Roche-A-Cri formation. While short in length, the first-half is all uphill. It’s a beautiful hike in autumn when scarlet, amber and orange leaves line the forest canopy and float upon the stairs. From Adams-Friendship, take Wis. Hwy. 13 north. Turn left/west at the park entrance. Follow the park road to the opposite side of the formation, where there is a lot. A short trail leads to informative kiosks about the formation and the stairs.

Clark County
Day hikers can enjoy impressive views of the surrounding woodlands from atop a high mound on the Self-guided Interpretive Trail. The 1.94-mile trail at the Levis Mound and Trow Mound Recreational Area runs through an oak savanna, a grove of mature aspen, and historic white pine. A side trail heads up to Porky Point, a great vista for seeing autumn colors below. Fifteen stations on the nature trail point out interesting facts about local wildlife, trees and geology. From Neillsville, take Wis. Hwy. 95 south. After crossing the Black River, turn right/north onto Fisher Avenue/Columbia Road. Take the first left/west into the Levis Mound Trail Center.

Juneau County
The trail to Mill Bluff’s summit delivers a fantastic vista for viewing fall colors. Jutting 120 feet above the terrain, the blufftop allows view of forests and farmland for several miles around. The dark red leaves of northern red oak and russet of white oak nicely balance the green of jack pine, red pine, eastern white pine that dominates the bluff. The trail is short but steep – just 223 stone steps. From Interstate 94, take either Exit 48 for Oakdale and travel south on U.S. Hwy. 12 or Exit 55 at Camp Douglas and travel north to Mill Bluff State Park.

Marquette County
Day hikers can stand on extremely ancient rock 300 feet above the surrounding terrain at Observatory Hill State Natural Area. The 1.2-mile round trip Observatory Hill Trail crosses an oak savanna, where in autumn the burr oaks turn yellow-brown. The hill’s slopes are lit up with the orange-red leaves of red oak, the russet of white oak, the chartreuse of basswood, and the rich yellow of shagbark hickory. At the summit, the 1.76 billion-year-old volcanic rock offers a grand view. From Montello, take County Road F south. Turn straight-left/south on 14th Road then left/south on 13th Road and lastly straight-left/east on Gillette Avenue. The parking lot is on the road’s left/north side.

Wood County
Leaves aren’t the only things of beauty descending from the sky in autumn. Migratory birds make their way south through Wisconsin, and one of the best places to see them is at the Sandhill State Wildlife Area. The 7-mile round trip Swamp Buck Hiking Trail heads past a few of their rest stops and then to the summit of North Bluff. An observation tower there offers a sweeping view of the pine and russet-leaved oaks common to the central sandy plain. You’ll also see in flight, flocks of sandhill cranes, herons, geese, teal and wood ducks. From Babcock, take Wis. Hwy. 80/173 southwest. Turn right/north on County Road X then left/west into the wildlife area. The gravel Trumpeter Trail heads north from it. Park in a pullout about a mile from the entry when the road bends west to north. The trail heads southwest from the pullout.

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Orange-gold to yellow oaks and crimson red maples await day hikers at Hamus Nature Preserve and Recreation Area in Marshfield. Some of the trees on the 32-acre site are 150-plus years old. A 0.9-mile trail – a combination of the Swamp White Oak and the Whitetail trails – passes a pond and circles the heavily wooded property. Along the way you’ll pass a large swamp white oak tree. Other paths – the Fox Run and Boardwalk trails – head to a large red maple tree in the forest’s interior. From Wis. Hwy. 97 in Marshfield, go west onto Northridge Street then right/north onto Hamus Drive. When the street curves east, it becomes Wilderness View Drive. Turn left/north into the nature preserve. Parking is at the road’s end.

Great trails surround Wis.'s Adams County

Outcropping at Rocky Arbor Nature Park

Adams County sits at the center of outdoors activity in the Wisconsin’s Central Sands region.

Portage County, home to the Buena Vista Grasslands, sits to the northeast. The Ice Age National Scenic Trail runs through Waushara and Marquette counties to the east. Columbia County with the Wisconsin Dells tourist area is directly south. Sauk County to the southwest is home to Rocky Arbor State Park. Juneau County, on the other side of the Wisconsin River, boasts Buckhorn State Park. Wood County and the Wisconsin Rapids metro area is to the northwest.

Each of these counties offer a number of exceptional day hiking opportunities that easily can be reached from Adams County. Among them are:
• Chapel Gorge Trail (Columbia County)
• Buena Vista Grasslands Trail (Portage County)
• Castle Rock Trail (Juneau County)
• Ice Age Trail: Greenwood State Wildlife Refuge segment (Waushara County)
• Ice Age Trail: John Muir County Park segment (Marquette County)
• Rocky Arbor Nature Trail (Sauk County)
• First and Second Loops (Wood County)

Great hikes abound in Adams County, Wis.

Stand Rock at Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area.

Imagine a place where half-billion-year-old buttes offer grand vistas, of beautiful, verdant canyons formed by massive ice age flashfloods, where ancient petroglyphs etched onto sandstone walls hide their meaning, of oak and pine barrens spread across what centuries ago was a glacial lake, where raptors circle high overhead, seeking a meal in the water below. The place is real: It’s called Adams County, Wisconsin.

Located near the state’s center, Adams County is an outdoor recreational mecca. During summers, bicyclists and off-road vehicle enthusiasts ply a number of forested trails while fishermen and canoeists play on waterways. Come autumn, the roads turn busy with drivers out to enjoy the colorful blaze of autumn leaves. Throughout winter, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilists sail across white paths while ice fishing shacks pop up on frozen lakes. And, of course, day and backcountry hikers alike enjoy the county’s dozens of miles of trails rambling through verdant scenery.

Communities
All of Adams County sits in an oak and pine barrens, a flat prairie-like landscape, from which rise numerous ancient sandstone buttes. The Wisconsin River, much of it impounded in massive flowages, forms the county borders. These and many other natural features can be hiked at Roche-A-Cri State Park in the county’s center, Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area in the county’s west-central section, and the Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area in the southern tip.

While there are built-up areas in Adams County, there really are only two cities, and both are quite small in population – Adams and Friendship (the county seat) – which sit adjacent to one another near the county’s center. Their combined population is fewer than 3000.

Wisconsin Dells sits just outside the county’s southern edge. Combined with Lake Delton, the resort area has a population of about 6000 and boasts many of the restuarants and retail stores not found in the primarily rural Adams County.

When to Visit
The best months to day hike Adams County are May through September. Depending on the year, April and October also can be pleasant.

As with the rest of Wisconsin, summers are humid, especially July and August. Rain can occur during the afternoon even when the morning is sunny, so always check the weather forecast before heading out.

November through March usually is too cold for day hiking. Once snow falls, trails typically are used for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling or snowshoeing. Early spring often means muddy trails thanks to snowmelt and rainfall.

How to Get There
Two freeways sit just outside two of Adams County’s three sides. Interstates 90/94 run nourthwest-southeast along near county’s western edge while Interstate 39 goes north-south paralleling the county’s eastern side.

From northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin, take I-90/94 north from Madison and access the county either by heading north on I-39 or through Wisconsin Dells.

For Minnesota, Iowa, or western Wisconsin residents, take I-90 or I-94 east. Exit on Wis. Hwy. 21 at Tomah to reach the county’s center. Wis. Hwy. 82 at Mauston or Wis. Hwy. 13 at Wisconsin Dells head to its southern section.

Northern Wisconsin or Upper Peninsula travelers should aim for I-39 in Wausau and drive south to one of four exits. Wis. Hwy. 73 goes to the county’s northern part, Wis. 21 to its center, Wis. 82 to its southern section, and Wis. Hwy. 23 to to the Wisconsin Dells area.

From east-central Wisconsin (Fox Valley, Green Bay, Door County), at Oshkosh take Wis. 21 to the county’s center or Wis. Hwy. 44 to Wis. 23 to its southern portion. At Fond Du Lac take Wis. 23.

Best Day Hiking Trails
Among Adams County’s best day hiking trails are:
• Quincy Bluff
• Witches Gulch
• Roche-A-Cri vista
• Rocky Arbor
• Oak/pine barrens

Ice Age Trail segment passes ancient mound

Top of Rattlesnake Mound in winter.

Topo map of Ice Age National Scenic Trail - Rattlesnake
Mound segment. Click for larger version.

Day hikers can head through the remnants of several ice age features on a segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail near Wisconsin’s Rattlesnake Mound.

The 2.6-miles round trip hike crosses along the bottom of what used to be a glacial lake and between two sandstone buttes that were islands in the vast waterbody. This segment sits on the western bifurcation of the roughly 1200-mile Ice Age Trail.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship drive south on Wis. Hwy. 13. Turn right/west onto Edgewood Drive. At 14th Court, turn left/south. In about 0.15 miles is a parking lot on the road’s right/west side. Once parked, head east on the lot’s entrance lane back to the road.

This section of the Ice Age Trail is 14th Court. While a road may not seem like an ideal trail, there’s plenty of shoulder to walk on, and this stretch of the county is fairly peaceful and quiet, so traffic won’t be a concern. Head left/north on the road.

Upon passing Edgewood Drive, Rattlesnake Mound will loom to the northeast. The mound actually is two hills with a saddle. The southern hill – the one closest to Edgewood Drive – tops out at 1191 feet, a full 270 feet above the road. The northern hill on the other side of the saddle is slightly higher at 1198 feet.

While some of Rattlesnake Mound sits in the Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area, most of it is on private land. The top of the southern hill sits in the state natural area, but there are no formally marked paths leading to it.

During the last ice age, the advancing Green Bay lobe glacier cut off the Wisconsin River’s outlet to the sea, and water backed up to form Glacial Lake Wisconsin. For 4000 years, sediment deposited at the lake’s bottom until a weak moraine broke, allowing the lake to drain in a torrent of floodwater.

Rattlesnake Mound and Quincy Bluff, to the west, stood out as islands in this cold lake. Both are made of sandstone set down a half-billion years ago when meandering rivers created a braided pattern here as flowing to the sea.

At about 0.6 miles, the trail curves northeast as it parallels the southern hill. Then at 1 mile, an intersecting road heads east over the saddle. While the road is public, the adjacent land on the mound isn’t, so continue straight north on 14th Court.

About 1.3 miles in, the trail crosses the base of the northern mound and gains some minor elevation.

The intersection with Dyke Drive marks a good place to turn back.

Hike heads into magical gulch, past pillar

A flashflood from a massive, ancient glacial lake formed Witches Gulch.

H.H. Bennett's famous Stand Rock photo.

Topo map of Witches Gulch and Stand Rock

In the southern tip of Adams County, bucolic farmland and oak savannas give way to the waterparks and carnival-like attractions of Wisconsin Dells. A variety of great natural features can be enjoyed amid the commercialization, though.

Indeed, tourism got its start here because of the fascinating rock formations on the Dells of the Wisconsin River. During the 1850s, entrepreneurs set up the first boat tours of the Dells, and tourism to the scenic area boomed.

The Dells of the Wisconsin River consists of a network of deep and narrow canyons that looks like it belongs out West. You can see the openings of these canyons and many other fascinating rock formations, such as Chimney Rock, Blackhawk’s Profile and Romance Cliff, on the Upper Dells Boat Tour. The two-hour excursion makes a pair of landings at the highlights of the best of those geological wonders – Witches Gulch and Stand Rock.

A half-billion years ago, this part of Wisconsin were a series of beaches at the edge of a vast sea. As wind shaped the beach into dunes and then buried them, over the eons the sand hardened into rock. Once the sandstone was exposed during the Age of Dinosaurs, it slowly began to erode away.

About 14,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, a weak moraine holding back Glacial Lake Wisconsin broke. About 21 trillion gallons of floodwater swept down the Wisconsin River, carving out the formations we see today in the Dells.

Witches Gulch is one of several deep ravines in which creeks today feed the Wisconsin River. A boardwalk allows hikers to step into a fairy forest of fern glens and hidden whirlpool chambers. If visiting on a hot day, you’ll be struck by the gorge’s cooler temperatures as pine-lined clifftops keep out the sun.

Several stories deep, at spots the gulch is only a few feet wide. Green moss lines the moist, curving walls.

Across the river from Witches Gulch is the imposing pillar called Stand Rock. Nineteenth-century photographer H. H. Bennett made the mushroom-shaped formation famous with the dramatic image of his son leaping from a nearby bluff onto the Stand Rock’s summit. Today, a trained dog jumps back and forth for the crowds stopping on the boat tour.

Stand Rock is merely a remnant of that adjacent bluff, which is slowly eroding. Hard rock more resistant to wind and rain sits atop Stand Rock.

Neither hike is particularly long – at best, not more than 0.4 miles total.

The boat tour is wheelchair accessible and allows leashed, well-behaved dogs. A stroller will fit on the boardwalk but will be difficult to maneuver. A fee is charged for the boat ride, and there likely will be crowds.

Though both sites are in a state natural area, they are only accessible by boat tour under the contract the tour operator and state signed.

Great trails crisscross Roche-A-Cri park

Roche-A-Cri rises 300 feet above the surrounding plain.

A 300-foot rock formation, ancient petroglyphs, a wooded creek, and more await at Wisconsin’s Roche-A-Cri State Park.

The state park sits off of Wis. Hwy. 13 north of Adams-Friendship in the Central Sands region. During the last ice age, the region was under Glacial Lake Wisconsin, which when it drained away created the Wisconsin Dells’ fascinating sandstone features to the south.

Roche-A-Cri’s six day hiking trails include:
• Acorn Trail – The park’s longest trail at a meandering 3.5-miles, the mowed trail circles the Roche-A-Cri formation. A segment of it crosses a restored oak and pine barrens at the park’s southern entrance off Czech Avenue.
• Chickadee Rock Nature Trail – The 0.34-mile wheelchair-accessible trail runs past oaks, jack pines and blueberry and huckleberry bushes to Chickadee Rock, a 30-foot high formation. You can extend the hike via the connecting Acorn Trail. A parking lot for the trail sits off the park road.
• Eagle Ridge Trail – From the historical marker off the park road (with a parking lot at the trailhead), the trail heads 0.35 miles to the Acorn Trail. The marker notes Roche-A-Cri’s place on the National Register of Historic Places because of the formation’s petroglyphs and pictographs.
• Mound Trail (and Stairway) – At 0.3-miles, the route connects to the Acorn Trail while the Stairway on its heads to the top of the 300-foot Roche-A-Cri formation. It can be accessed via the park road with a parking lot at the Stairway.
• Spring Peeper Trail – Day hikers can enjoy a 0.25-mile walk through a maple and oak woods along Carter Creek; among the seasonal sights are cardinal flowers, dragonflies, marsh marigolds, nesting birds, spring peeper frogs, swallowtail butterflies, and turk’s-cap lilies. The trail starts next to the park office and links with the Acorn Trail.
• Turkey Vulture Trail – The 0.9-mile loop heads through both creekside forest and a restored prairie as turkey vultures and raptors fly overhead. Reaching it requires taking the Acron Trail; the shortest way is via the park’s southern entrance.

Short walk leads to rare ancient rock art

The Roche-A-Cri petroglyphs and pictographs, as well as some vandalism...

Roche-A-Cri rock art map

Day hikers can see thousand-year-old rock art at Wisconsin’s Roche-A-Cri State Park.

The short trail – just a few feet from the parking lot – shows both rock carvings, known as petroglyphs, and rock paintings, called pictographs, etched and brushed onto the base of the Roche-A-Cri rock formation.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship take Wis. Hwy. 13 north. Turn left/west at the park entrance. Follow the park road to the south side of the Roche-A-Cri formation, where there is a lot. Head north across the road from the lot to the rock art.

Symbolic meaning
The Oneota people, ancestors of the modern day Ho-Chunk, created the rock art. The petroglyphs are at least 1100 years old while the pictographs are about 400-500 years old.

Those ancient artists used a sharp tool, probably a stone knife, to carve the petroglyphs. A bold red or orange paint was applied with either a reed or an animal-hair brush to create the pictographs.

Archeologists and historians can only speculate about the symbols’ meaning.

For example, the most prominent symbol – a crescent – could show the lunar cycle or a solar eclipse. On the other hand, it might simply represent canoes, which historical evidence shows were sometimes stored on nearby Carter Creek.

The birds might be the mythical thunderbird, which later was important in the legends of Wisconsin’s historical Ojibwe, Menomonee and Winnebago Indians. Then again, they may simply represent the hawks, eagles and turkey vultures that circle Roche-A-Cri.

The most common of the petroglyphs are three lines that look like a fork. They resemble bird tracks but if turned upside down look like a stick figure man.

Disappearing art
Unfortunately, settlers and soldiers vandalized some of the petroglyphs during the mid 1800s. Among the culprits was Company D of the Wisconsin 1st Cavalry Sharpshooters in 1861. In addition, round indentations suggest they also used the rock face for marksmanship trials.

Weathering likely will erase the petroglyphs from the soft sandstone within a half-century. A railing aims to protect the rock art, which can be damaged by a mere touch. Please stay behind the railing to preserve this cultural artifact for as long as possible.

If looking to get in a walk, a couple of trails head out from the rock art. The Acorn Trail heads north around Roche-A-Cri with connectors to the campground and to the stairway leading to the rock formation’s top. Alternately, the Acorn Trail can be taken south from the parking lot to Carter Creek, where it links to the Spring Peeper Trail, which goes to the park office.

Tip: A great time to view the rock art is in autumn when the fallen leaves provides a less obscured view of the petroglyphs.

Trail goes to top of Wisconsin’s Lone Rock

The vista from Lone Rock's northern side.

Lone Rock Trail topo map, Plate 1.

Lone Rock Trail topo map, Plate 2.

Day hikers can head to the top of what once was an island in a vast glacial lake.

The 6.2-miles round trip Lone Rock Trail heads to its namesake in Wisconsin’s Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area. Surprisingly quiet, the trail offers that strong feel of isolation so many nature lovers seek.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship, take Wis. Hwy. 13 south. Turn right/west onto Dyke Road (County Road E goes the opposite direction at the same intersection). In just under two miles, Dyke Road curves north and becomes 14th Drive. About a third of a mile from the curve is a small sand parking area on the road’s left/west side.

A wide two-track logging trail heads southwest from the lot. To the road’s west is a pine-oak barrens, a sandy terrain that mainly sports grass and sparse growths of trees while to the east is a woodlands. Once past a gate, go left/southwest when the trail splits.

The trail heads along narrow stretches of dry land amid wetlands. During warmer months, sandhill cranes often can be spotted and heard bugling there.

Glacial Lake Wisconsin
The barrens and wetlands sit on what during the last ice age was the bottom of Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Stretching from modern-day Wisconsin Rapids in the north to Wisconsin Dells in the south, the lake formed when an advancing glacier reached the Baraboo Hills to the south, damming the Wisconsin River. The water backed up until reaching a gap so that it could drain out to the Black River to the northeast.

When the glacier melted away from the Baraboo Hills, the ice dam holding the glacial lake thinned until only a sandy moraine and weak, ancient sandstone held the the water in place. Eventually that barrier broke, and the floodwaters swept southward, carving out the Wisconsin Dells’ deep gorges.

At 1.6 miles from the trailhead, the route follows a snowmobile trail south. The quality of the trail changes from an old road to more of a winding lane. In 0.2 miles is a wood bridge over a creek, and then the trail goes under a powerline.

Thanks to the glacial lake, most of the terrain along the trail and across Adams County is flat and sandy. At spots, the lake left up to 300 feet of sediment. The region’s many bluffs were islands in the glacial lake, and without its sediment, one might imagine the bluffs rising even higher out of the plain than they do today.

About 2.5 miles in, the northern tip of Lone Rock becomes visible over the tree line. Lone Rock rises 100 feet above the plain, and large raptors often can be seen riding the thermals around it. On the ground, the barrens gives away to woods as the trees thicken near Lone Rock’s base.

The trail splits in another 0.3 miles. Go right/south so that you are walking along Lone Rock’s western slope. A pine plantation is on the trail’s right side.

At 3 miles in, you’ll reach a T-intersection with a dirt road that is southwest of Lone Rock’s south side. Follow the lane running left/northeast up a slope through an oak forest to Lone Rock. Once at the base, go right/southeast for 200 feet to a 30-foot-wide break in the wall, which despite its size is easy-to-miss.

This canyon leads to Lone Rock’s top. While steep with a couple of high steps, during dry weather it’s the best and easiest route to the top, as pine needles cushion your steps. Be aware that in wet weather the pine needles can be slick.

Great vistas
The top of Lone Rock is more like a mesa of the American West, flat and round. A worn footpath circles the top. Be careful; the drop is straight down, and in some spots, such as the north end’s narrow point where sandstone juts out, are unsafe to walk upon.

Cooler than the barrens and breezy, the top offers great views. Rattlesnake Mound dominates the east while Quincy Bluff is to the west. From the north side, Roche a Cri and Friendship Mound are on the horizon.

Once taking in the view, descend the bluff’s canyon and retrace your steps back to the trailhead.

The trail is best hiked in spring and early summer on dry days. By mid- to late-summer, the trail can be overgrown, and in winter snow and ice often makes the route to the bluff’s saddle impassable. Autumn marks another great time to hike the bluff, as the bugs are gone and the grass a golden hue.

Much of the barrens lacks shade, so be sure to don sunscreen, sunhat and sunglasses on the trail. Insect repellent also is a must given the trail’s proximity to the wetlands. Pets are allowed if on a leash, however. Rock climbing is prohibited. As a state natural area, there are no public facilities.

Stairway scales 30-story Wisconsin rock

Roche-A-Cri rises 300 feet above the Adams County plains.

Roche-A-Cri Stairway map.
Click for larger version

Day hikers can head to to the top of a 300-foot-high half-billion-year-old rock formation at Wisconsin’s Roche-A-Cri State Park.

The 0.12-mile round trip Stairway trail heads up the side of the prominent Roche-A-Cri formation. While short in length, the first-half is all uphill. It’s a beautiful hike in autumn when scarlet, amber and orange leaves line the forest canopy and float upon the stairs.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship take Wis. Hwy. 13 north. Turn left/west at the park entrance. Follow the park road to the opposite side of the formation, where there is a lot. A short trail leads to informative kiosks about the formation and the stairs.

Ancient river sediment
The 303-step stairway and observation deck, both built in 1992-94 by Wisconsin Conservation Corps with the deck redone in 2011, are wide enough to walk up hand-in-hand. The stairs is shaded most of the way.

Roche-A-Cri formed when meandering ancient rivers during the Cambrian, creating a braided pattern as heading out to sea, deposited sediment across a vast area. The buried sediment then hardened into sandstone. Over the eons, erosion of that continuous sheet of sandstone have left only several butte-like formations such as Quincy Bluff, Lone Rock and Roche-A-Cri in the region.

About 18,000 years ago during the last Ice Age, trapped water formed Glacial Lake Wisconsin on the Adams County plains. Its waves helped shaped the sides of these sandstone islands so that they appear castle-like today. Roche-A-Chi would have sat near the center of the lake, which could be seen from space, as it was about the size of today’s Great Salt Lake.

Early French explorers gave the formation the name we use today, which literally translates to “rock scream.” (Some books and websites often wrongly claim the name means “crevice in the rock,” for the formation’s large cleft that can be seen a distance.) The name probably refers to the shrieking hawks that nest on the formation’s rocky prominences.

Roche-A-Cri's top
The observation deck at Roche-A-Chi’s top offers spectacular views of other late Cambrian sandstone bluffs and towers rising from the green plain. To the south is Rattlesnake Mound and to the east is Pilot Knob Bluff.

A forest of red, black and white oak with red, white and jack pine sits atop Roche-A-Chi. Plants common in the sand barrens and prairie below also grow here, their seeds blown high by the wind. Turkey vultures roost atop the the high mound.

Because of the top’s sensitive environment, always stay on the stairs and observation deck. No pets, food or beverages (other than water) are allowed at the top. If there’s ice or snow on the stairs, stay off them; it’s a long way down should you slip.

If afraid of heights or unable to take 30 stories of stairs, instead opt for the flat 0.3-mile Mound Trail heading west from the rock formation’s base. The Mound Trail offers great ground views of Roche-A-Chi. The walk can be extended, as it connects to the Acorn and the Eastern Ridge trails.

Trail crosses re-created Wisconsin prairie

Restored prairie in autumn at Wisconsin's Roche-A-Cri State Park.

Acorn Trail segment and Turkey Vulture
Trail map. Click for larger version.

Day hikers can explore a restored oak savannah at Wisconsin’s Roche-A-Cri State Park.

Segments of the Acorn Trail and the entire Turkey Vulture Trail can be combined into a pleasant 1.2-mile walk. Both trails sit on the park’s south side.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship, drive north on Wis. Hwy. 13. Turn left/west onto Czech Avenue. In 0.2 miles is a parking lot on the road’s right/north side. The mowed Acorn Trail heads into the savannah from the lot’s north side.

The oak savannah – grasslands with the occasional oak tree – at one time was common in this part of Adams County. Many savannahs were converted to farm fields or became forests when settlers, to protect their homesteads, extinguished the prairie fires necessary to sustain the grasslands.

Oak savannah
This section of the park is just one of two in the vicinity being stored to prairie; another is in a state natural area east of Roche-A-Cri. In both cases, native prairie seeds obtained from the Bureau of Endangered Resource sites and a nursery as well as collected from nearby existing savannahs were planted.

A little more than 200 feet into the hike, take the spur heading left/west to a tree and clump of bushes. Along the way, common prairie grasses – including big bluestem, Indian grass, June grass, and little bluestem – will be easy to spot.

Quite a few forbs also can be spotted amid the grasses. Among them are bergamot, black-eyed Susans, blazing star, butterfly weed, dotted mint, goldenrods, lupine, sky blue asters, round-headed bush clover, spiderworts, thimbleweed and yellow coneflower.

Such plants make a great habitat for grassland songbirds, various insects and reptiles, and game birds such as grouse and ring-necked pheasants.

Follow the spur back to the main trail and go left/north on it. Immediately after intersecting with the looping Turkey Vulture Trail, the Acorn Trail enters the pine, oak and maple woods surrounding Carter Creek. The contrast with the prairie aptly demonstrates the differences between the two, as almost entirely different plants reside in each ecosystem.

Turkey Vulture Trail
Once in the woodline, turn right/east onto the northern trailhead for the Turkey Vulture Trail. If you don’t make the turn and continue north, you’ll cross the meandering Carter Creek and junction with the Spring Peeper Trail.

The Turkey Vulture Trail is a great place to watch the vultures soaring between Roche-A-Cri to the north and Friendship Mound, a mere half-mile to the south. The large birds – which boast a wingspan of 63-72 inches and grow 24-32 inches long – summer in Wisconsin, where they feed on carrion. The best time to spot the vultures is between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when they are most active.

After paralleling Carter Creek, the Turkey Vulture Trail curls away from it and re-enters the prairie before rejoining the Acorn Trail. Once at the Acorn, turn left/south and return to the parking lot.

Overall, the Turkey Vulture Trail runs 0.9 miles while the Acorn Trail segment with the spur runs a total of 0.3 miles.

A hazard of this trail is that it’s not always open. During spring, prescribed burns remove brush, dead grasses and leaves, which helps the savannah grasses and plants re-establish themselves. They’re able to grow back because their root systems and seeds are protected in the soils.

Trail offers encounter with Wisconsin lake

Scenery along Van Kuren Trail.
Photo by Amy Bayer/flickr.comphotosamy_bayer

Van Kuren Trail map. Click for larger version.

Day hikers can explore the shoreline of a massive lake along the Wisconsin River via the Van Kuren Trail.

Running 2.1 miles total, the trail consists of two loops with a connector between them and a spur leading to an observation tower. The Wisconsin River Power Company recently constructed the hiking/ski trails adjacent to the Petenwell Flowage in Adams County.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship take Wis. Hwy. 13 north. Turn left/west onto Wis. Hwy. 21 then right/north onto County Road Z. At Buttercup Avenue, go left/west. After going under the power lines is a very small parking area.

From the parking lot, head northwest on the stem trail. When it splits, go left/northwest.

The trail crosses a rolling landscape through oak and pine stands then curls north around a pavilion and fire pit at about 0.36 miles from the trailhead. Hikers will enjoy shade almost the entire way.

Petenwell Flowage
Views of Petenwell Flowage should be visible through the woodline in this portion of the trail. Sometimes referred to on maps as Petenwell Lake, the flowage was created in 1949 by damming the Wisconsin River and erecting a protective dike. The flowage inundated Lake Van Kuren, a backwater of the main Wisconsin River.

The trail next parallels the flowage’s shoreline as heading roughly north. Along the way, it heads through several ecosystems, so a wide variety of wildlife – whitetail deer, raccoons, squirrels, and chipmunks among them – potentially can be seen.

At a mile in, the trail junctions another path. Turning right/southeast heads back to the stem trail. Instead, go left/northwest onto a connector trail.

The connector is short, and after 300 feet you’ll reach the trail’s second loop. Go left/west onto it.

Observation tower and second loop
Upon reaching gravel Brown Deer Drive, head left/west rather than straight/north. The spur heads for 0.13 miles to an observation tower overlooking the 23,000-acre flowage.

After enjoying the sites from the tower, go back on the spur trail. At Brown Deer Drive, should you have you some extra energy, you can go left/north and do the full second loop. It runs 1.75 miles before coming back to the connector trail you previously hiked. In the future should you wish to do just the second loop, there is a small parking area here off of Brown Deer Drive.

As the scenery on the second loop is much like that on the first, it can be dispensed with on this hike, so head right/southeast back to the connector. Once the connector reaches the first loop, finish it by going straight/southeast. The stem trail is in 0.45 miles. At the stem, go left/southeast back to your parked vehicle.

The trail is named for Gilbert Van Kuren, one of the area’s earliest settlers.

Trail goes to top of half-billion-year-old rock

Quincy Bluff rises more than 200 feet above a sand plain in Wisconsin.

The Quincy Bluff Trail follows an old logging road.

Day hikers can walk to the top of a bluff that a half-billion years ago sat at the bottom of an ancient river.

The unmarked Quincy Bluff Trail heads to its namesake at Wisconsin’s Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area. Reaching the other side of a saddle in the bluff comes to about 1.9 miles round trip, but the hike easily can be extended given the unmarked dirt trails at the top.

To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship, take Wis. Hwy. 13 south. Turn right/west onto County Road H. After crossing White Creek, go right/north onto 16th Avenue then left/west onto Evergreen Avenue. Next, turn right/north onto 16th Drive. About a third of a mile north of Elk Avenue is a parking lot on the road’s right/east side.

Look east. Quincy Bluff rises 200 feet high and extends for approximately two miles north-south. From the parking lot’s northeast corner, follow the dirt trail east for about 400 feet. Once you reach an old logging trail, go right/south.

Located in Wisconsin’s Central Sands region – made famous by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac – the state natural area is quite unique. This is the northernmost range of the state’s oak barrens and the southernmost range of its pine barrens, so the two mix here.

Making their home in this unusual amalgam are coyotes, bear, wolf, white-tailed deer, fisher, otter, bobcat, jumping mouse, and even slender glass lizards, which look like a snake but is a legless lizard. Frogs and muskrats can be found in the wetlands near the bluff.

Passenger pigeon paradise
The state natural area is a well-recognized birding area. Golden eagles, sandhill cranes and ducks live here from spring through autumn while pileated woodpeckers, blue jay, chickadees stay year-round. Each fall, sandhill cranes roost in large numbers across the natural area’s fields.

Unfortunately, the one bird that once nested here by the millions is gone. In 1871, more than 100,000 people descended upon Quincy Bluff, killing millions of passenger pigeons in what is among the worse slaughters ever recorded of the now extinct species.

About 0.4 miles from the parking lot, the logging trail climbs Quincy Bluff and then heads straight south along a cliffside. The bluff is made of Cambrian sandstone, laid down a little more than 500 million years ago when rivers wandered across a plain. The sandstone once covered all of what we now call the Central Sands region but over the eons has eroded away except for isolated rock formations such as Quincy Bluff.

Waves from an ice age-era lake and since then wind have weathered the bluffs into the steep, castellated formations seen today.

Bluff top views
Around 0.75 miles in, the logging road crosses a saddle in the bluff. Northern dry forest and open cliff ecosystems cover the bluff, allowing for pretty views framed by woodlands. From the saddle and all along the bluff, great views abound; a vast wetlands stretches to the east, while the Wisconsin River flowing through Castle Rock Lake can be seen to the west.

The trail is best hiked in spring and early summer on dry days. By mid- to late-summer, the trail can be overgrown, and in winter snow and ice often makes the route to the bluff’s saddle impassable. Autumn marks another great time to hike the bluff, as the bugs are gone and the grass a golden hue.

Be forewarned: As a state natural area, there are no public facilities. Pets are allowed if on a leash, however. Rock climbing is prohibited.

Trail heads to quiet beach at Wisconsin Dells

Birchcliff Beach, courtesy Amy Bayer, Flickr.

Topo map of Chapel Gorge Trail.

Chapel Gorge Trail
loops to river
near Upper Dells

Day hikers can head to a quiet beach in the gorge that makes up the Wisconsin Dells.

The Chapel Gorge Trail runs 2 miles through what may be Wisconsin’s most visited state natural area. Neighboring Wisconsin Dells is a major tourist destination, and the popular boat rides into the Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area always generate pictures of the river gorge and its fantastical slot canyons, particularly Witches Gulch. The 1300-acre area is an oasis of Mother Nature in a region that is more akin to Disneyland meets P.T. Barnum.

The natural area’s cliffs are closed to rock climbing and the side canyons closed to hikers. The best way to see them is via one of the commercial boat tours. Still, one official trail does cut through the natural area, offering access to portions of the dells that most visitors don’t know even exist.

Ice Age flashfloods
To reach the hiking loop, from Wis. Hwys. 13/16/23 in downtown Wisconsin Dells, go north on River Road. After passing the Birchcliff Resort entrance road, turn left/west into a parking lot. The trail leaves from the lot’s west side.

The loop’s stem first crosses a hardwood forest then goes under a power line and back into a woods. After veering south then west, the trail splits. Go left/southwest, following a former service road.

Eventually the shaded path descends steeply down the cliff side and reaches the south side of small secluded Birchcliff Beach on the Wisconsin River. The beach marks a sandbar on a river bend.

From the beach, you can can see the sandstone cliffs to the north where the river enters The Narrows. The beautiful rock formations were formed when glacial meltwater at the end of the last ice age roared through the sandstone, which originally was sediment at the bottom of a shallow 500-million-year-old sea that hardened into rock over the eons.

Rare plants
Thanks to the range of exposure to sunlight and moisture availability, the gorge provides for a number of unique micro-ecosystems. Indeed, the cliff cudweed – a tiny aster – is found only in two places on Earth, and one of them is the gorge. Among the other rare plants are the fragrant fern, Lapland azalea, maidenhair spleenwort, round-stemmed false foxglove.

The sandy uplands above the gorge ecologically are a bit more like the rest of Wisconsin in the plant species it supports, but even here a range of forests can be found. Among them are dry oak/pine forests, an oak savanna, and a northern mesic woods that boasts hemlock, red oak and white pine.

After taking in the views, walk to the beach’s northern side and head northeast back into the woods. The trail climbs to the cliff top and at the Upper Dells swerves east.

Upon reaching the junction with the stem trail, go left/east onto it toward back to the parking lot.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.