Midwest Adventurers

Situated along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Devil's Lake State Park offers magnificent views from 500-foot quartzite bluffs overlooking a 360-acre lake. Visitors enjoy nearly 30 miles of hiking trails, four miles of off-road bike trails, lakeshore picnic areas, swimming beaches, scuba diving, paddling opportunities, campsites, concession stands, picnic shelters and picnic sites, fishing, hunting, rock climbing and year-round naturalist programs.

There are so many awesome trails to explore here, let’s start doing some after work hikes. They will be either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night hikes and will range from 3 miles to 7 miles. The starting times will range between either 5:00pm or at 5:30pm and usually finish between 7pm and 8pm depending on how long the hike is. Longer hikes will start at the 5:00pm time slot. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to get some exercise in the evenings after work. Eventually we will repeat some trails, but again, this is just to get out and get some exercise during the week.

Trail this Week
We will be doing the Tumbled Rocks Trail starting on the north side and go up to do the West Bluff Trail and end on the north side. This will be a loop and about 3 miles.

Friendly dogs are always welcomed, just be sure and bring water for them and they will need to be on a leash, with the many visitors that are out on the trails and the other dogs we need to follow the rules.

What to Bring
Please bring water, electrolytes, snacks and trekking poles if you use them.

Weather
Please check the weather forecast and come prepared for various temperatures.

Directions
As the park gets more and more busy it will be hard to grab a picnic table, so instead look for my vehicle. I will be parked by the North Shore Chateau parking area and I have a black Toyota 4 Runner that has red mountain graphics on the sides, you can’t miss it. I will put a picture of the vehicle in the photo section.

Fees
There are no fees for these evening hikes. A Wisconsin State Parks vehicle sticker is required for parking in Devil’s Lake State Park.

This 55-mile-long forest in northwestern Wisconsin parallels the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and offers camping, paddling, hiking, horseback riding, biking, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling opportunities. It consists of three campgrounds (St. Croix, Trade River Equestrian and Sioux Portage Group) and nine primitive backpack campsites all found within 32,500 wooded acres.

Thousands of water enthusiasts flock to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway each year, taking advantage of its beauty and resources. The St. Croix River winds its way through a wild and scenic countryside from its origin in a spruce-tamarack swamp near Upper St. Croix Lake. The river system varies from swift and rocky whitewater to placid flowages. Primitive river campsites managed by the National Park Service can be found along the shore and on many islands.

Governor Knowles State Forest has a total of 40 miles of hiking trails that stretch the wild and scenic St. Croix River Valley, these trails are also open to bikes. This trail system is split into two segments. The north segment is 23 miles long and the south segment is 17 miles long. Each trail meanders along the bluffs overlooking the St. Croix River and occasionally swings down onto the scenic wilderness area along banks of the river.

Directions
Sioux Portage Group Camp Coordinates 45.975623, -92.460435

Weather
This is a late spring early summer outing. Please check the weather forecast and come prepared for various temperatures.

Finding Us
We will be camping at the Sioux Portage Group Camp. (Please see coordinates) This is at the northern end of the Governor Knowles State Forest. We will have portable water, picnic tables, fire ring, vault toilets and a dumpster near by.

Friday
Arrive at Governor Knowles State Forest any time after 3pm. Have dinner, take a short hike, relax, and get your tent set up. There is always the option of going in town for a Friday night fish fry.

Saturday
After breakfast you have options of going on a hike, bike ride or joining on a 14.3-mile kayak trip down the St. Croix River. The section we will be going down is Class I (Easy) and some Class II (Novice) rapids. Once we have an idea of who is joining going down the river, we will discuss shuttling the kayaks/cars to the beginning and end points. For lunch we will stop on one of the sandbars and enjoy the scenery and the individual lunches we brought.

Sunday
Sleep in! Have relaxing breakfast, pack up your camping gear, go explore the state forest some more or head home.

Fees
Your $27.00 meetup fee covers $22 in 2 nights of camping costs, $3 in Meetup fees and $2 in firewood. The fee DOES NOT cover personal equipment or food for the event. You will need a WI state pass to enter the state forest. Payment is due 48 hours after signing up. Full refunds will be honored if notified by May 18th. Please send your fee by Venmo @Sherri-Lockwood or by Zelle at 414-759-6317.