Eastern Douglas County offers hiking ops

Brule Boardwalk Trail. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

The eastern side of Wisconsin’s Douglas County offers a diverse array of day hiking trails, most of them centered on the famous Bois Brule River.

The River of Presidents – so named because five U.S. commander-in-chiefs have stayed on or fished it – flows 44 miles through eastern Douglas County on its way to Lake Superior. Most of the river is protected by the Brule River State Forest.

The 4600-mile multistate North Country National Scenic Trail also enters Douglas County at the state forest.

Among the great day hiking trails of eastern Douglas County are:
• Bear Beach Trail
• Stoney Hill Nature Trail
• North Country National Scenic Trail
• Bois-Brule-St. Croix River Historic Portage Trail
• Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail

Read more about more Douglas County day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of Douglas County guidebook.

North Country Trail passes waterfalls, historic portages in Douglas County, Wis.

The North Country Trail offers hikers several
delights in Douglas County, Wis. 
Photo courtesy of douglascountywi.org.

National route crosses
Wisconsin's northwest corner

Day hikers can walk several segments of what is considered one of the nation’s premier long-distance trails when visiting Douglas County, Wis.

Running 4600 miles from New York state to North Dakota, when completed the North Country Trail will be twice the length of the Appalachian Trail and the longest hiking trail in the United States. Though the National Park Service studied the concept of a North Country Trail during the late 1960s, not until 1980 did Congress approve the route’s creation.

New segments are added almost every year; at one time, the parking lot on County Road A in neighboring Bayfield County marked the trail’s western terminus.

Brule River State Forest
The trail enters Douglas County from neighboring Bayfield County at S. County Line Road, which is the Brule River State Forest's eastern boundary. In the forest, the trail follows high bluffs overlooking the Little Bois Brule River. A spur trail heads down the cliffside to the waterway just east of Winneboujou.

A peaceful segment to walk in the state forest is from Wis. Hwy. 27 (north of Radio Station Road) south to County Road S for a 6-mile round trip, taking the trail north for about two miles to Rush River Road. Another option is from the same parking lot off of Hwy. 27; turn left onto Rush Road River, crossing Hwy. 27, for views of Big Lake.

Perhaps the best day hiking segments in the county can be found after the trail shifts south through the state forest and veers west, utilizing a famous historic portage connecting the Brule River (which flows north into Lake Superior) to the St. Croix River (which flows south into the Mississippi River). This section is known as the Bois-Brule-St. Croix River Historic Portage Trail. It then jogs north through a rare unique, cedar bog ecosystem that can be crossed via almost 4000 feet of wooden planks on the Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail.

Next, the North Country heads through the town of Solon Springs. The trail generally is in good condition here with easy access from village streets.

Remote forest, waterfalls
Southwest of Solon Springs, the trail runs for six-miles through the Douglas County Wildlife Area, a managed pine barrens. At the St. Croix Flowage, it briefly enters the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

The trail then heads into some remote country as it crosses a long stretch of the Douglas County Forest. Much of this section is swampy or makes use of roads as it runs in a generally northwestern direction.

In Pattison State Park, the trail offers a double treat of first Little Manitou Falls then Big Manitou Falls, the latter of which is the Wisconsin's highest waterfall.

From the state park, the trail sticks to road routes as it exits Douglas County, entering Minnesota just south of Jay Cooke State Park.

Read about nearby trails in Day Hiking Trails of Douglas County.

Day hiking trail heads along edge of ancient Glacial Lake Duluth

Brule River Outlet Trail

Ice Age lake
once covered
northern
Wisconsin

Day hikers can wander among the remains of an ancient glacial lake that significantly shaped the Upper Midwest.

The Brule River Outlet Trail runs about 3-miles round trip in Wisconsin’s Brule River State Forest. An unnamed trail, it has been christened here for the major geological event that occurred in the region about 9000-8500 BC.

To reach the trailhead, from Brule, head west on U.S. Hwy 2. Turn left/west onto Afterhours Road. In about 2000 feet, as the road curves southwest, watch for unmarked trailheads on the left/southeast. Should the road curve straight west, you’ve gone too far. Park off the side of the road and take the trail southeast into the woodlands.

Lake bottom
Upon hitting the trail, you’re walking at the edge of ancient Glacial Lake Duluth near its outlet to the Bois-Brule River. About 11,000 years ago during the last ice age as the Superior Lobe glacier advanced westward, it blocked the outlets of rivers flowing eastward. The water collected between the ice wall and the basin, resulting in several lakes.

When the lobe retreated, those lakes coalesced to form a larger one called Glacial Lake Duluth. Located in modern Lake Superior’s southwestern corner, it stretched as far east as Marquette, Mich., and as far north as Grand Portage, Minn. It also covered what is now dry land in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, as the waterbody was 500 feet higher than modern Lake Superior.

After walking about 400 feet, the trail comes to its first major intersection; go right/west. The trail then zig zags for the next 1400 feet until cutting a straight line that heads southeast toward the Brule River.

In its day, Glacial Lake Duluth drained through the Bois-Brule River south to the St. Croix River on its way to the Mississippi River. The hills to the trail’s west – which reach 1100 feet elevation – marked the lake’s shoreline. The trail itself would have been about a hundred feet below the lake’s surface.

A major flashflood when an ice dam broke on Glacial Lake Duluth carved out the St. Croix River Valley to the southwest; many of the impressive geological features of Wisconsin and Minnesota Interstate Parks occurred during that flood. The lake also left a flat plain of red clay and sediment that sits on the modern Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

New river course
After about 500 years, the glacial lake disappeared. As the Superior Lobe retreated, it left a gouge in the landscape that became Lake Superior and freed the local rivers’ outlet to the other Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Since then, with the heavy glaciers’ disappearance, the land has rebounded upward. The Bois Brule now flows northward into Lake Superior with the space between the Bois Brule and the St. Croix becoming a wetlands that sits at a higher elevation than either river.

Back on the trail, upon reaching the ridge overlooking the Brule, the route curves southwest and descends the bluffs to the river valley. In this area, the basin narrowed enough that the only place for the glacial lake to flow was an outlet into the Bois-Brule about where modern Hoodoo Lake is.

The trail next reaches a jeep road just north of Little Joe Rapids. This marks a good spot to turn back.

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

Lake Superior beach walk offers true get back to nature experience

Bear Beach. Photo courtesy
of Wisconsin DNR.

Bear Creek Trail rambles for 3.4 miles

A walk along a pristine sand beach awaits day hikers of the Lake Superior shoreline in Wisconsin’s Bear Beach State Natural Area.

The unmarked trail runs for up to 3.4-miles round trip along narrow Bear Beach. While the Brule River State Forest begins with the woodline bordering the sand, the beach itself is set aside as a state natural area.

Wading creeks
June through September mark the best time to hike the trail, but be sure to bring a sweatshirt or windbreaker. In addition, always check the weather and tide schedule; storm surges and high tide will inundate most of the beach with water.

To reach the trailhead, from Brule take U.S. Hwy. 2 west. In Maple, turn north onto County Road F. Next, go left/west onto Wis. Hwy. 13 then right/north onto Beck’s Road. Park in the dirt lot at the end of Beck’s Road near the Lake Superior shore.

From the lot, head northeast to the mouth of Pearson Creek. You’ll need to wade the creek, which can reach about knee high, so always wear sandals and shorts, or be prepared to take off and put back on your hiking boots and socks.

Shorebirds and driftwood
Hiking the beach, you’ll get a good sense of what this area of the world looked like before Euro-Americans settled it. A thick woods of paper birch, balsam fir, speckled alder, trembling aspen, white pine and white spruce hugs the beach’s southern side while the lake stretches wide beyond to the north. Cobblestone and driftwood gardens also can be found.

Don’t be surprised to see paw prints for bears in the sand and osprey flying overhead. Sometimes otters will play a game of hide and seek as they follow you from the safety of the lake’s waters.

During migration season, the beach is a favorite of several bird species, especially gulls, shorebirds, snow buntings, terns and water pipits. They particularly congregate around the estuarine lagoons where the creeks flow into Lake Superior.

A number of small streams flow into Lake Superior, and as each needs to be waded, any one of them mark a good spot to turn back based on your energy levels. Haukkala Creek is a half-mile from the trailhead, and Nelson Creek is in 1.7 miles. Several smaller streams can be found between Pearson and Nelson creeks. You also can double the length of the hike by walking another three miles until the beach runs out near the Bois Brule River mouth.

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

Great vista awaits day hikers on Wisconsin’s Stoney Hill Nature Trail

Rapids on Bois Brule River. Photo courtesy of TravelWisconsin.com.

Route leads
to overlook of
scenic river valley

This short loop trail offers fantastic views of northern Wisconsin’s Brule River Valley.

The Stoney Hill Nature Trail runs 1.7-miles in the Brule River State Forest. If staying overnight at the Bois Brule Campground, the sunrise seen from atop Stoney Hill definitely is worth getting up early for.

River of Presidents
To reach the trailhead, from Iron River take U.S. Hwy. 2 west about six miles past Brule. Turn left/south onto Ranger Road, following it for a little more than a mile to the ranger station on the banks of the Bois Brule River. Parking is available at the station. From there, take the connector heading south to the nature trail.

As the river sits at about 950 feet elevation near the station, you’ll have some climbing to do to reach the top of Stoney Hill. Parts of the trail will be steep.

One of the country’s best coldwater trout streams, the Bois Brule also is a favorite of paddlers. Salmon can be found in the river, which from wetlands near Upper St. Croix Lake meanders for 44 miles to Lake Superior and drops 328 feet along the way.

The Bois Brule for many years was popular with outdoors-minded U.S. presidents. Privately-owned Cedar Island Lodge hosted five U.S. presidents – Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Dwight Eisenhower – with Coolidge spending the summer of 1928 there. Because of this, the Bois Brule has been nicknamed the “River of Presidents.”

Stoney Hill overlook
Interpretive signs along the nature trail describe the various trees found in the state forest. A variety of hardwoods, including oak, can be seen, and part of the trailheads through a pine plantation.

The top of Stoney Hill is at 1181 feet elevation and today hosts a radio tower and overlook. From the summit are good views of the Bois Brule River with its Little Joe Rapids to the west and Doodlebug Rapids to the north, Hoodoo Lake to the south, and the Little Bois Brule River to the east.

Though pets are allowed in the state forest, they cannot be taken on this trail.

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

Day hike one of Wisconsin’s oldest trails

Jonathan Carver's map of the Upper Midwest Region,
published in 1778. Carver is among the explorers with
a historic stone on the Bois Brule-St. Croix River Historic
Portage Trail. Photo courtesy of National Park Service.

French explorers used
route as early as 1680 

Day hikers can walk upon what ranks among Wisconsin’s oldest hiking trails – dating to 1680 but probably used as far back as prehistoric times – at the St. Croix River’s headwaters.

The Bois-Brule-St. Croix River Historic Portage Trail runs 4.4-miles round trip from Upper St. Croix Lake to the Brule River. It is part of Wisconsin’s Brule River State Forest.

The trail can be a difficult hike through swampy territory so is best done by only adults or families with older teens. May through October mark the best time to hit the trail, but you’ll need to bring bug spray for mosquitoes in spring and summer.

Quick link
To reach the trailhead, from downtown Solon Springs, Wis., take County Road A north for about three miles, rounding the northern side of Upper St. Croix Lake. Watch for signs saying the North Country Trail is “1000 Feet Ahead”, then turn into the boat landing where you can park. Across the road from the parking lot, take the trail heading right/northeast. The Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail heads left or directly north.

The historic portage trail is the same route crossed centuries ago by Daniel Greysolon Sieur duLhut (a French explorer who opened the way for fur traders in the 1680s), Pierre Lesueur (who established French stockades across this region in the 1690s), and Henry Schoolcraft (who found the source of the Mississippi River in the 1830s). Historical markers on moss-lined boulders along the trail tell their stories as well as other significant white explorers.

They selected this portage because it was a quick link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Upper St. Croix Lake is the St. Croix River’s headwaters while the spring-generated Brule River flows north into Lake Superior. It was the easiest way to traverse the continent from the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico…though for the marshy 2.2 miles between the Brule and Upper St. Croix, they would have to portage – or carry on foot – their boats and supplies.

As with so many of the early white explorers, Native Americans showed them the route. Local tribes had used the portage for millennia. Today, the Portage Trail is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.

Glacial river valley
The portage was possible only because at the end of the last ice age some 10,000 years ago, a river flowed here from Glacial Lake Duluth, carving out a gorge and then the steep-sided valley. As the heavy glaciers retreated, the land rose in elevation, causing the river to dry up between the Brule and Upper St. Croix. The section that became the Brule reversed its course and now drops 420 feet over 44 miles from the portage to Lake Superior.

The trail is fairly narrow and at spots only shoulder-wide. It's heavily forested with leaves covering much of the path. Wild blueberries grow alongside the trail.

There are some up and down climbs during the first mile as the trail parallels St. Croix Creek, which is on the left. Where the creek pools marks the St. Croix River’s northernmost reach.

The out-and-back trail remains fairly flat to the Brule. After passing the Lesueur Stone, look on your left for the spring-fed creek that flows into the Brule. Upon reaching the river, turn back. The route is part of the North Country National Scenic Trail and continues north along the river.

Read more about day hiking the scenic riverway in my guidebook Hittin’ the Trail: Day Hiking the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway.

Day hike ‘forest primeval’ on Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail in northern Wisconsin

Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Route leads through wetlands between rivers

Visitors to the Solon Springs, Wis., area can day hike what feels like the forest primeval on the Brule Bog Boardwalk Trail.

Located in southern Douglas County’s Brule River State Forest, the 2.3-mile boardwalk cuts through a wooded bog. Part of the North Country National Scenic Trail, it is entirely handicapped accessible.

To reach the trail, from downtown Solon Springs take County Road A north for about three miles, rounding the northern side of Upper St. Croix Lake. Watch for signs saying the North Country Trail is “1000 Feet Ahead”, then turn into the boat landing where you can park.

Across the road from the parking lot, the trail heading right/northeast is the Bois-Brule-St. Croix Historic Portage Trail. The boardwalk trail heads left or directly north.

Continental divide
An elevated boardwalk takes hikers through a conifer swamp at the bottom of a narrow valley. The valley is part of a continental divide – all rivers to the south ultimately feed the Mississippi River while those to the north flow into the Lake Superior, which is part of the St. Lawrence watershed.

In short order, the boardwalk crosses St. Croix Creek. You’ve now entered the heart of Brule Bog. Ferns and moss, as well as several varieties of orchids, cover the ground while white cedar, balsam fir, and spruce crowd out the sunlight.

Several rare plants and animals can be found in the bog. Among the insects you’ll quickly notice is the zebra clubtail dragonfly. Songbirds include the black-backed woodpecker, golden-crowned kinglet, Lincoln’s sparrow, olive-sided flycatcher, and saw-whet owl. Plants include the sheathed and sparse-flowered sedges and the endangered Lapland buttercup.

The sense of having traveled back in time to the ancient Carboniferous Period is temporarily interrupted as the trail crosses County Road P, which runs smack down the middle of the bog.

Rebounding land creates bog
After County Road P, the boardwalk trail veers northwest. You’ll come to the edge of the bog against a hillside, where the trail begins to meander. The uplands above the bog consist of sandy pine barrens.

Some 9,000 years ago as the Ice Age ended, a river flowing from the much higher Glacial Lake Duluth carved out the valley where the Brule River, this bog, and Upper St. Croix Lake now exist. Released from the retreating glacier’s weight, the land rose, causing water to flow in the opposite direction. As Lake Superior’s depth gradually dropped and the flow of the prehistoric river declined, we were left with the terrain that exists today.

The boardwalk ends at a spur off of Croshaw Road. This is the turnaround point.

A final note: You’ll definitely want to apply insect repellant before hitting this trail, and be sure to carry it with it in case it sweats off.

Read more about Douglas County day hiking trails in my Day Hiking Trails of Douglas County guidebook.