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| Bjornson Education-Recreation Center Loop |
Most of the countryside there is farmland with steep wooded areas set aside by their owners for private hunting, but that means the few public trails that do exist are great spots for spotting the plentiful wildlife.
Listed roughly west to east and then north to south, those hikes include:
• Glen Lake West Trail – Glen Hills County Park in eastern St. Croix County offers a plethora of trails amid 700 acres of maple, birch and oak hardwoods. This 0.4-mile round trip begins at the north end of the vista overlooking a swimming beach.
• Glen Lake East Trail – This 2-mile round trip trail heads from a high vista to a campground. Park in the lot at the end of Thompson Lane, northwest of Rustic Road 4.
• Wildwood Trail – Former railroad tracks recently were converted into the pretty Wildwood Trail, which connects the villages of Woodville and Spring Valley. The 7-mile (one-way) trail passes scenic farmland and runs through several small woodlands.
• Eau Galle Dam Trail – Day hikers can walk across the largest earthen dam in the Midwest on this trail near Spring Valley. The 0.8-mile round trip hike sits in the popular Eau Galle Recreation Area.
• Crystal Cave tour – Day hikers can explore Wisconsin’s longest cave near the village of Spring Valley. The tour runs about 0.5-miles round trip through 1,300 feet of passageways.
• Bolen Creek State Public Hunting Trails – Primitive trails cut through this small wooded area near Connorsville. Do not visit this area during hunting season. Park off of 1270th Street just west of County Road Q.
• Knapp School Hill Trail – Generations of kids at the local elementary school used to sled down the school-owned hill during recess each winter. In the 1990s, trees were allowed to overtake the hill, but the trails up the sandstone rise remain. Park in the elementary school lot off of Knapp’s Main Street on weekends or during summer.
• Bjornson Education-Recreation Center Loop – A good concentration of trails is at the Bjornson Education-Recreation Center. There day hikers can enjoy a pleasant walk through woodlands and past a small, spring-fed creek on a 1.7-mile loop, which is a set of interconnecting trails at the 443-acre school forest owned by the School District of the Menomonie Area. The entrance is on 160th Street southwest of 700th Avenue.
• Bjornson Education-Recreation Center Back Trail – A logging road heads down a hillside to a ravine created by an intermittent creek and connects with a trail heading to the center’s main campus. Park in a gravel lot off of 700th Avenue east of County Road Q.
• Gilbert Creek Trail – Hikers can walk along bucolic Gilbert Creek, whose banks recently were restored. This is best hiked in spring or in autumn after a hard freeze when grass is low. A small gravel lot sits off of County Road N north of Wis. Hwy. 29.
Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.
