Trails

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:21 pm

I love hiking on trails. I had never realized there were so many in the area. I am pretty new at this however, and don't have a lot of experience. What trails do you recommend. I live in Milwaukee and would like to find great places to cache and hike within driving distance of probably not more than an hour.

Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:27 pm

Check out Bong State Recreation Area-it has lots of trails and a bunch of caches.

Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:45 am

Bong is great for hikes so I second that. Bristol Woods park also has some nice trails and caches too.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2209

The Bugline Trail that runs from Menomonee Falls to Merton has over 50 caches and another 100 within a few tenths of the trail. Several cachers have done 100 in a day along this route.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2209

The Bugline Trail that runs from Menomonee Falls to Merton has over 50 caches and another 100 within a few tenths of the trail. Several cachers have done 100 in a day along this route.

Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:40 am

Just west of Milwaukee, you can pick up the Ice Age Trail. I would recommend picking it up at N43 00.804 W88 23.920. There is a wide spot in Hwy. 18 here, and you can hike north up into Lapham Peak State Park There's a bunch of caches there, along with a nifty fire tower to climb.

Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:16 am

All these are good suggestions, but this is a case where the best thing you can do is rely on the terrain ratings for the caches in your list. Just look for caches with 2.5 - 3.5 star terrain and you will be brought to all sorts of intersting places to hike (including most of those listed above.) Of course, you will want to visit the lower terrain rated caches in the same areas, but aiming for the higher terrains is a good way to start.

Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 3:35 pm

Any of the Kettle Moraine Units (North unit near Campbellsport, South unit near Eagle, Lapham Peak near Delafield, and Pike Lake near Hartford) have outstanding trails and are easily within an hour's drive.

Other great spots that come to mind are Seven Bridges (Grant Park, southern Milwaukee County), Wehr Nature Center (Whitnall Park), and the Lion's Den (just south of Port Washington in Ozaukee County).

If you want a structured way to do the Ice Age trail, check out the Walk the Wauk program.

Another good resource is the Milwaukee Campers, Backpackers and Hikers group on meetup.com, particularly if you enjoy hiking in a group or are looking to meet people with similar interests.

Hope to see you on the trail this fall!