Recreational Trails in Lincoln County Forests

ATV (summer)

The Lincoln County Forestry Department maintains 25 miles of summer ATV trails in the Harrison Forest Unit of the county forest. The trail is very scenic and traverses glacial moraines, upland hardwoods, cedar swamps and along small rivers and lakes. This trail links up to the Langlade Forest trails. The main trailhead is located ¾ of a mile north of County Highway J on Turtle Lake Road. The trail is a two-way trail and uses logging roads that are also open to other motor vehicle traffic, hikers, skiers and other recreationists. The trail is in an area that has many other trails that are not on the map, so stay alert. ATV’s are not allowed on the Ice Age Trail or town or county roads unless signed for their use.

(ATV map and captions)

Ice-Age Trail

There are three segments of the Ice-Age Trail in Lincoln County. One of these segments winds through 16.2 miles of Lincoln County Forest in the Harrison Hills area. Another segment traverses 6.1 miles of the Underdown Recreation Area. These segments are very rugged and have many steep climbs, including Lookout Mountain, the highest point on the Ice-Age Trail at 1,920 feet above sea level. The third segment is 4.8 miles long and follows the Wisconsin River through Newwood County Park. When completed, the trail will cross Lincoln County connecting the Langlade County segment near Parrish with the Taylor County segment in the Rib Lake country north of County Highway M. Camping is permitted along those portions of the trail that are on County Forest land. Please be careful with fire, carry out your garbage and respect private lands.

The Hiawatha Trail

The Hiawatha Trail is a Rails-to-Trails project in which a segment of the abandoned Milwaukee Road railroad bed has been transformed into a scenic recreational trail. Opened for use in the summer of 1990, the Hiawatha Trail is used by snowmobilers in the winter months and is restricted to bicycles and hikers the rest of the year. Except for snowmobiles, all motorized vehicular traffic and horses are prohibited to allow for safe and enjoyable public use. Starting at the Sara Park Activity Center in Tomahawk, the trail crosses Lake Mohawksin then heads north out of town along Business 51 to the Lincoln County line near Lake Nokomis. Eventually the 6.6 mile trail will join up with the Bearskin State Trail that comes south from Minoqua on the same rail bed. The trail crosses state, county, town-ship roads, active railroad tracks and private land, use caution at intersections and respect the adjoining land.

Underdown Recreation Area Bridle Trail

The Bridle Trail trailhead and campground is located on Copper Lake Road in the Underdown Recreation Area of the Lincoln County Forest. There is a total of 21 miles of maintained trails that loop around and through the Underdown region. The campground has toilet facilities, a year round hand pump well and 10 campsites large enough for trucks and trailers. The Lincoln County Forestry Department, in cooperation with the Prairie River Ride Association, provides facilities and maintenance.

(map)

Snowmobile

The Lincoln County Forestry Department maintains 75 miles of snowmobile trails within the County Forest. In addition to this, there are 285.7 miles of funded trails to bring the total for the county to over 300 miles. The majority of this mileage comes from easements obtained from private landowners to use their land. Without these easements there would not be much of a trail system, so please respect their land. There are seven snowmobile clubs that work hard to keep the trails groomed and safely signed throughout the winter.

ATV (winter)

In addition to snowmobile trails, Lincoln County provides 183.5 miles of winter ATV trails. These segments follow some of the same routes as the snowmobile trails and are closed to ATV traffic when the temperature is above 28 degrees to reduce rutting and other damage.

We assume no liability as to trails, machines or individuals.

(snowmobile map and captions weekly updates and postings)

Cross-country Skiing

The Lincoln County Forestry Department maintains an extensive cross-country ski trail system located in the Underdown Wildlife Area, a 7,000 acre managed forest of pine, aspen and northern hardwoods. The Underdown Cross-country Ski Area consists of approximately 33 km of marked trails, which traverse some 4,600 acres of Lincoln County Forest.

(insert map, weekly updates and postings)

The trail network consists of three loops. The "blue trail" is a 20km loop, which circles the perimeter of the ski area. The ‘"red" trail is a 12km loop. The "green trail" is a 5km loop. Most winters the Loop Road is groomed from point 6 to point 38 for skate skiing.