Routes in WI?

[wi_bigfoot]

Currently I enjoy the rails to trails but lets face it those aren't off road trails. WI has a number of mountain bike areas but they are more short loops in one area and not really what you think of when you think of bikepacking.

Anyone know of any trails in WI for riding more distance from one location to another?

[grsarm6]

Where are you located at in WI?  Have you looked into the trails around Hayward, and Cable areas?  There is some great riding up that way along with places to camp.  You can order maps from CAMBA.  I'm planning on going up there for a few days of bikpacking this spring.

[bmike-vt]

TransWisonsin!

You don't have to race it... 

[wi_bigfoot]

I'm in Milwaukee area. Just learned about Transwisconsin. Will have to look at that more. Thanks for the other area ideas. Will look more into that as well.

[Askel]

If the TransWisconsin route looks fun, you might want to check out the work of another WI motorcycle rider known as "Cannonshot". You can find lots of his GPS routes here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=39   

While not for bicycles specifically, I can say that having ridden his 1200 mile UP based "CannonTrek", a lot of the route would be a hell of a lot of fun on bicycles.  Except maybe the sand. Oh, the sand. Ride report: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=473391

[bmike-vt]

+1 on ADVRider
It is a pretty cool source for routing / trip ideas here in the east - be them on road, on dirt, or a mix. I have a friend on a big GS bike and he got me looking over there for bike routes... after I sent him over some gaps and twisty stuff on dirt here in VT.

[the_mc5]

Hi, I'm in Madison. The existence of TransWisconsin and http://www.unnamedepic.com has stimulated me to realize there is lots to do here in my home state that never occurred to me before. So I've begun to nerd out:

One option you already know - The state trails. Rail trails. Pretty, thousands of miles everywhere, but flat flat flat. http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/trails/. Check out the "Facts and Figures" link for a concise list. On that list there are 4 that are marked for ATV use but not bike use - bikes are implied, you just have to share with ATVs.

Another reference is Tourism's "Wisconsin ATV Guide" http://www.travelwisconsin.com/pdf/atv_guide.pdf.

Another reference is WDOT's WISLR road database. It includes a GIS layer with a 'surface type' attribute, so you can identify and map the unpaved roads. Contact me if you want to know more.

There are also county trails on county forests. 9 Mile is an example. I haven't begun to examine other county forests yet. Too many counties!

"Jewels" to stitch together via dirt roads/ATV trails/state trails might include: the CAMBA trails up north, Levis-Trow, 9 Mile, Stump Farm, John Muir/Emma Carlin, CamRock, and Blue Mounds. Forgive me if I forgot a cool one.

I fantasize about winter snowbiking on the vast snowmobile trail network that evaporates each spring. See Tourism's "Snowmobile Trail Map"  http://www.travelwisconsin.com/PDF/snowmo_map_2007.pdf. The trouble is that these trails are substantially on private property, invented and maintained by local clubs http://www.awsc.org/ that annually (or supposedly annually) negotiate snowmobile-only easements with every individual landowner. Quite awesome that they've been able to herd so many cats! I spoke with a DNR warden today. He said any of the multiuse state trails and county trails would be fine. As far as the others go -  It is conceivable that a concerted effort on the part of a club of cyclists could negotiate with the snowmobile association to be included in their easements for particular trails. He was of the opinion that the association would want $$ for that sort of cooperation, that they have a history of 'pay to play'. I don't blame them, for all the work it takes. He gave an example where in recent years ATVers have used certain trails for winter ATVing, who negotiated fees with the snowmobilers for that. Anybody got any better straight dope on this subject?

See ya out there, Mark

[Slim]

Levis is great riding,  but there is not much mileage to make an overnight, but it would be great for a S24O / trial ride

Chequamegon NF is great. There are now miles of singlet rack loops and even many more miles of ski trails to link them aided by the innumerable forest roads, so you can get plenty of singletrack fun and still cover a good distance.

That UP ride looks like a good one for Pugsleys!