Southcentral Wisconsin's top fall hikes, Pt. 2

Blue Mound State Park, Wisconsin

There’s no better way to experience autumn colors around southcentral 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 southcentral Wisconsin to hike. Some are right out your back door, while some are a day trip that you can do in an afternoon.

Iowa County
A walk through a maple-oak forest that blazes with color each autumn awaits day hikers at Blue Mound State Park. The 1.5-mile Flint Rock Nature Trail loops up and down Blue Mound’s side as well as around and over large rocks. It ends near an observation tower that hikers can go to the top of. During September and October, hikers will be delighted by the array of autumn colors here – the yellow, orange and red hues of sugar maple as temperatures cool, the amber of basswood, the deep crimson of the red oaks, the russet of white oak, and the gold of shagbark hickory. From County Road ID in Blue Mounds head north on Mounds Park Road (maps sometimes refer to it as Mounds Road). Follow the road to the beginning of where it circles back on itself. Park in the small roadside lot on the circle’s northwest side. From there, walk west along the roadside for a little more than 100 feet to the trailhead, which goes north into the woods.

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Fall colors light up the trail to picturesque Stephens Falls in Governor Dodge State Park. The 0.5-mile round trip Stephens Falls Trail passes beneath a canopy of hardwoods before arriving at the waterfalls, which spills 20 feet over a moss-covered sandstone into a splash pool below. The hike can be extended by continuing past the falls on the Lost Canyon Trail. From Dodgeville, take U.S. Hwy. 23 north. The park entry road is on the right/east. Follow the entry road north to the Stephens Falls parking area on the right/east. Leashed dogs are allowed on the trail.

Jefferson County
An incredible vista of fall colors and farm fields await on Bald Bluff in the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit. The steep 0.5-mile (one way) Bald Bluff Nature Trail heads to the summit, which at 1050 feet is one of Jefferson County’s highest points. You can extend the hike by walking another 2.9 miles (one way) to the Stone Elephant, an eratic that looks a lot like an elephant’s head. From Palmyra, take County Road H south. A parking lot is on the road’s left/east side.

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Day hikers can see a variety of autumn colors common to southern Wisconsin on the rugged Orange Loop in Kettle Moraine State Forest’s Southern Unit. The 6-mile loop heads up and down glacial geography through a hardwood forest. Part of the Emma Carlin trail system, it’s just one small sample of the more than 300 miles of trails spread across 30,000 acres in the state forest. Fall leaves range from the reds of black cherry and golds of quaking aspen to the cinnamon of northern red and yellow of white oaks. The trees all make up a classic southern dry-mesic forest. From Palmyra take Wis. Hwy. 59 east. Turn right/south onto County Road Z/Little Prairie Road. In just under a mile is a parking lot on the road’s right/west side. From the lot, go left/southeast on the trail.

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Great autumn colors await at historic Tivoli Island Natural Park in Watertown. About 0.25 miles of paths cross the heavily wooded island, located on the Rock River. Since the 1870s, the island has served as a recreation getaway for local residents. Today, wood chip paths maintained by the local Izaak Walton League pass beneath oak, maple, and ash trees. From downtown Watertown, take Wis. Hwy. 16/East Main Street east. Turn right/south on Tivoli Drive. Park along the street. A footbridge crosses to the island.

Lafayette County
Ridgetop views, an oak woods, and prairie grasses await hikers on the Windy Ridge Trail at Yellowstone State Park. The 1.7-mile trail passes through an oak grove, where leaves shine tan, red and brown overhead and oodles of acorns crunch underfoot. From Darlington, take County Road F northeast. Turn right/southeast onto N. Lake Road. Go left/northeast on the road leading tot he campground and park int the lot past the turnoff to the campground. Walk the road south back toward the turnoff; the trailhead is on the road’s left side.

Rock County
Hikers can see unique sandstone rock formations in an oak-dominated forest at Magnolia Bluff County Park. A 1-mile looping nature trail heads along the limestone and sandstone bluff, the county’s second highest point. Autumn is colorful in the forest of black, red and white oak, shagbark and bitternut hickories, American and slippery elms, black cherry, red and sugar maples, white ash, basswood, hackberry, aspen, white birch, black walnut, and butternut. From Evansville, go south on Wis. Hwy. 59 then left/south on North Croak Road. Enter the park by turning left/east and park in the lot where the road ends. Head straight-west from the lot and follow the loop south.

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A plethora of autumn colors await at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville. More than a half mile of trails wind through the 20-acre site, where 4000 varieties of plants grow in 26 garden styles. The best sections in autumn include the North Woodland Path, which runs by a pond, and the woodland walk and woodland glen areas. From the intersection of Interstate 90 and U.S. Bus. Hwy. 14, take the latter northwest. Turn left/southwest onto Palmer Drive. The botanical gardens are on the right/north.

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Beautiful views of the Rock River amid a canopy of yellow and orange leaves awaits hikers at Big Hill Park in Beloit. The 190-acre park sits on bluffs overlooking the river. A great route is the 1.9-mile round trip unnamed trail that runs through the park's south side then turns north with the Rock River below and ends at a parking lot on the Big Hill's northeast side. From downtown Beloit, take Sixth Street/South Afton Road north. Turn right/east onto West Big Hill Road then left/north onto Big Hill Drive. Park at the environmental education center and walk south alongside Bill Hill Drive; the trailhead is on the road's left/east side.

Sauk County
Mix fascinating rock formations, a clear blue lake, and fall colors, and you’ve got a recipe for an awesome hike. Devil’s Lake State Park serves up this dish on the 2.6-miles round trip East Bluff-East Bluff Woods Loop. September and October is gorgeous as harvest leaves frame the trail and neighboring Devil’s Lake. East Bluff Wood features maples and oaks with some sumac and birch mixed in. From Baraboo take Wis. Hwy. 113 south. Enter Devil’s Lake State Park by turning right/west on County Road DL. Follow it past two junctions – one for the campgrounds and the other with Old Lake Road – then turn left/south onto Park Road. Cross the road that leads to the park headquarters. Pass through the first parking lot and use the second one. The trailhead leaves from the east side of road just after it exits the second lot’s south side.

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A variety of autumn colors can be enjoyed at Ferry Bluff State Natural Area near Sauk City. The bluff rises 300 feet above the confluence of the Wisconsin River and Honey Creek. Two trails head from the parking lot, one to an overlook at 0.76 miles round trip and one to the river at 0.52 miles round trip. Along the way, you’ll traverse the bluff’s wooded slopes, covered in yellow-leaved white oak, scarlet to orange-colored red oak, amber basswood, hackberry, elm, and ironwood, and green hickory. From Sauk City, take U.S. Hwy. 12 west. Turn left/southwest onto Wis. Hwy. 60 then right/southeast onto Ferry Bluff Road.

Autumn leaves highlight Blue Mound hike

Autumn scene from the base of the west observation tower, Blue Mound State
Park. Photo courtesy of Wisconsin DNR.

Flint Rock Nature Trail map. Click for larger version.

A walk through a maple-oak forest that blazes with color each autumn awaits day hikers at Wisconsin’s Blue Mound State Park.

The 1.5-mile Flint Rock Nature Trail loops up and down Blue Mound’s side as well as around and over large rocks. It ends near an observation tower that hikers can go to the top of.

Blue Mound peaks in a flat meadow at 1719 feet, making it the highest point in southern Wisconsin. Limestone once covered the surrounding landscape at that height, but over millions of years it eroded away, leaving this remnant.

Interrupted fern
To reach the trailhead, from County Road ID in Blue Mounds head north on Mounds Park Road (maps sometimes refer to it as Mounds Road). Follow the road to the beginning of where it circles back on itself. Park in the small roadside lot on the circle’s northwest side. From there, walk west along the roadside for a little more than 100 feet to the trailhead, which goes north into the woods.

From September through October, hikers will be delighted by the array of autumn colors here – the yellow, orange and red hues of sugar maple as temperatures cool, the amber of basswood, the deep crimson of red oak, the russet of white oak, and the gold of shagbark hickory.

The trail narrows as passing around half-buried boulders amid the trees. At 0.2 miles, the path intersects Indian Marker Tree Trail; continue straight/north.

From there, the path heads down a slope through a growth of interrupted fern. Reaching up to 40 inches high, colonies of the interrupted fern grow in clumps. They like both shade and open, moist woods. When the fern emerges each spring, a light wool covers it then falls off.

Maples and basswood
On the loop’s north side, the Willow Spring Trail briefly joins the trail; continue left/west and then straight/west when the Willow Spring parts ways. You’ll know you’re going the right way if you cross a plank bridge over a small stream at 0.3 miles from the trailhead.

Among the trees you’ll spot on the loop is the sugar maple. Wisconsin’s state tree, the sugar maple is popular first for its seasonal leaf color – which changes from summer’s deep green to fall’s yellow, orange, red and then a dark burgundy – and of course, for its sweet maple syrup that tastes perfect on pancakes, waffles and French toast. The tree reaches heights of 80-115 feet and is easily identifiable by its distinctive leaf, seen on the Canadian flag. Sugar maples can live up to 400 years.

The next half-mile is downhill. At 0.5 miles is another plank bridge and a bench to catch your breath, followed by three more small bridges.

Often found mixed with sugar maples is the basswood. Usually basswood rises between 60 to 120 feet high with a trunk diameter of 3 to 5 feet. It grows faster than most North American hardwoods. The leaves can be between 3-6 inches long. They alternate on the twig with the one nearest the branch the largest. The tree can live around 200 years.

Oaks and hickory
The path goes uphill then down to a flat wetlands at 0.9 miles. At a mile in are more boulders to walk around and a couple of more bridges to cross.

Red oaks, which prefer to grow in glacial drift and well-drained soils along streams, also can be found in Blue Mound’s woods. The red oak grows straight and up to 92 feet high; its trunk diameter can be up to 39 inches. The tree is easy to differentiate from other oaks; its stout branches grow at right angles to its stem branch, resulting in a narrow, round head. Younger red oaks also can be quite tall, as they grow rapidly; a 10-year-old tree can be up to 20 feet high. Red oaks live up to 400 years.

White oak also can be found in Blue Mound. The tree’s name comes from the color of its wood; its bark actually is a light gray. It usually grows up to 100 feet high with a massive canopy supported by large branches. Mature oaks drop massive amounts of acorns, so don’t be surprised to see squirrels and chipmunks scampering beneath them. White oaks can live 200 to 300 years, though some are known to be around 600 years old.

Shagbark hickory likes to grow among the oaks. In Wisconsin, hickory is found in only the southern part of the state. The leaves are long, between 12-24 inches, usually with five leaflets. Hickory grows well over 100 feet high and often lives around 350 years.

West observation tower
After the boulders and bridges, the trail ascends again. Steps laid into the ground help make the climb easier. The trail reaches the west observation tower at 1.7 miles. Hikers can head to the tower’s top and enjoy a view of the surrounding forest, which stretches for several miles. It’s a particular spectacular view when the autumn leaves are in their full color.

Just east of the tower, the trail leaves the woods and enters the open meadow atop the mound. At the park entry road, turn left/north and follow it back to your parking lot.

Be sure to wear good hiking boots for this trail. The path and rocks along it can be slippery after a rainfall.

Day - er Night - hike trail haunted by Wisconsin’s most famous ghost

Wisconsin’s most famous ghost allegedly haunts a segment of the Military Ridge State Trail, which can be day (or night) hiked. The Ridgeway Phantom has been scaring travelers on what used to be the famous Ridge Road since the 1840s.

To reach the trail, from U.S. Hwys. 18 and 151 just east of Ridgeway, turn northwest onto Hi-Point Road, which becomes County Road Hhh. At the County Road H intersection, park in a gravel lot at the junction's northwest corner; follow County Road H about 100 feet to the trail.

Mother's revenge?
Before hitting the tail, however, continue past to the Eastside Cemetery on the road's right side…if you dare. You’ll find headstones there dating to the 19th century.

Head back to the trail, going a right/southwest onto it through the edge of town. Since the late 1800s, travelers on the Ridge Road between Blue Mounds (to the northeast) and Mineral Point (to the southwest) have reported a number of spectres, ranging from a headless man and animals to an old woman and balls of light.

These ghosts allegedly are the different forms that the Ridgeway Phantom took before it attacked travelers. The attacks grew so numerous that for a quarter century many travelers refused to take the road at night or without an armed escort.

The Ridgeway Phantom may be the mother of two teenage boys who suffered gruesome deaths at McKillip’s Saloon in downtown Ridgeway. One night in the 1840s, a bunch of drunken toughs tossed one of the boys into the fireplace where he burned to death. The other teen froze to death after fleeing the saloon. Others believe the phantom is the boy burned in the fire, as he was given a less than respectful burial the next day.

Doc Cutler's scare
After passing downtown, head into a wooded area for the middle third of the trail. Among the most famous sightings on this stretch of the Ridge Road occurred when Doc Cutler of Dodgeville would take his buggy to Ridgeway for a house call. The phantom often jumped on the buggy’s tongue and stared at the doctor – who soon started taking another road to Ridgeway!

Upon reaching the Temes Court road, turn back, following the trail to your parking lot for a 1.2-mile round trip.

Sightings of the Ridgeway Phantom apparently ended in 1910 after the town burned down; apparently the ghost had its revenge. Still, others say the phantom remains out there in the Ridgeway woods, and if you listen carefully, you’ll hear its howl in the chilled night air.

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