Recreation

Ice Age Trail Expands in Chippewa County

V1 Staff |

Wisconsin’s 1,200-mile hiking marvel, the Ice Age Trail, just got a little longer, thanks to hard-working volunteers. Last month, 149 volunteers put in more than 3,700 hours of labor to build 1.5 miles of new trail in Chippewa County. The first portion is just west of County Highway E on property owned by Camp Nawakwa and Chippewa County, about 10 miles northwest of Cornell. The second segment is just west of County Highway CC in the Krank Nature Preserve, two miles northwest of Cornell. Like all the other parts of the Ice Age Trail – which tracks the terminal moraine left by the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago – the new portions are marked by yellow blazes and are open for walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and ungroomed cross-country skiing. “We are extremely pleased with how these new sections of the Ice Age Trail turned out,” says Richard Smith of New Auburn, a volunteer who coordinates the Ice Age Trail Alliance’s local Chippewa Moraine Chapter. “Anyone who enjoys being outside on foot will really enjoy the walking here. The views of lakes and tamarack bog are spectacular, especially in fall color.” Interested in checking out the new trails?

Go to chippewamoraine.iceagetrail.org/hike-the-chapter to view and download maps.