Midwest hikes...

“Just wondering about some of your best hikes/camps in the Midwest area. I love the North Shore and BWCA in MN but want to try some new areas on the weekends so I don't have to travel far. Thanks!”

“baxter state park is nice.....no wait.....rocky mountain national park in the summer.....dammit.....gosh you should really see.....oh no.....

ok seriously....southern indiana has charles deam wilderness and the knobstone trail, southern illinois has garden of the gods, ohio has the buckeye trail...what states exactly were you looking for?”

“How about Wisconsin? I've never once hiked it, is there anything?”

“Yeah, lots of cheese there.

Actually, Pekka can give info about hikes in WI.

Lots of us in MI, give us a heads up when you want to hike.”

“I'm in NE Iowa. Whereabouts are you in MN? I work around Lanesboro.”

“Iowa ain't the midwest lizs. Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana yes. But not Iowa!

Neener neener!”

“Twin Cities area... only 4 hours to the North Shore...

Lanesboro, is that near Winona?”

“How about Cloquet, or Barnum?”

“Iowa is more midwest than your area.

Maybe mideast for your guys??

neener, neener yourself :-P~~

Yeah, maybe an hour from Winona. You haven't heard of Lanesboro and the Root River Trail? I thought it was a required tourist vacation destination of Twin Citians. (and then about 1/10th of you decide to move here) lol...”

“is it flat? is it boring? does it have lots of corn? if you answered yes to all three questions, youre in a midwest state of mind”

“Ice Age trail?

North country trail?”

“oh yeah there is that. cmb and gforce just went thru a tornado-ravaged section of that a week ago”

“If you're lookin for a hiking partner, i'm down here in albert lea, e-mail me at simer190@yahoo.com if ya want.”

“lots of trails. Depending on what you'r looking for.

As mentioned above, there is the North Country Trail, with connecting loops to Lake Superior and other points. The (discontinuous) Ice Age Trail that wanders from southern Wisconsin to northern Wisconsin, and many, sometimes poorly mapped trails in the Nicolet and Chequamegon (sp?) forests in Northern Wisconsin.

Also, there are the ever popular Porkies and Isle Royale in Northern Michigan.

Don't know what you mean by the "north shore" but there is the Pictured Rocks Trail too.

Will let you know when I think of more.”

“"North Shore"...... think Lutsen, Grand Marais.... stuff north of Duluth on up to Canada. Superior Hikng Trail land.

Some day.......”

“There's also the Trap Hills in MI. A bit less used than the Porkies.”

“And how could we forget?! Isle Royale National Park. Can't get much more North.”

“Lizs - Lanesboro, IA????? My dad grew up on a farm outside Lanesboro -- very small town. In fact he still owns interest in the farm. Is it that small a world?”

“I believe this was taken yesterday...

http://pasty.com/discuss/messages/1779/2123.html#PN”

“Try Sleeping Giant Provincial Park on the Sibley Peninsula just east of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Isle Royale is only a 2.5 hour ferry ride from Grand Portage, MN. That means it can be a weekend trip for you.

There is a trail that follows the old portage route of the French Voyagers in Grand Portage NM.

But I would really check out Canada. If you can get to the BWCA, then you can get there.”

“I'm planning on scouting a bunch of Wisconsin and the UP this summer, so I'll try to post some ideas.”

“Errr... nope, dhutch. I am in northeast Iowa, just 15 miles from Minnesota. I work in Preston, MN, and also cover Lanesboro, MN, which is currently a crazy tourist town. 800 people, a National Historic District downtown, a canoeing river below scenic bluffs, a state bike trail system stretching for around 90 miles now, 30 B & Bs... etc.

Where is Lanesboro, Iowa?”

“Just West of Watersmeet, MI on US 2. (Watersmeet is at the intersection of US 2 and US 45.)
Has hiking and canoeing trails to remote sites on many of the lakes.”

“First, go to Midwest Mountaineering and find a copy of Hiking Wisconsin by Eric Hansen, and Backpacking Wisconsin by Jack & Elizabeth Hailman. Once they give you some ideas of what you can find in the Badger State, come on over.

From the Twin Cities, you can come over on I-94 to Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls, hook up with Highway 29 and come east to US 51 at Wausau, turn north and come into lots of prime hiking country, including Ice Age Trail segments. That's as close as going to the North Shore. I live in Rhinelander, and since 29 went 4-lane for all but a few miles, I can get to Minneapolis in under 4 hours if there are no weather or construction delays.

The "northern" route, going up the freeway from TC until you can turn east to hook up with US 8 (almost all 2-lane) across Wisconsin, will get you in vicinity of the Blue Hills, sections of the Ice Age, and other areas before hitting US 51 near Tomahawk, 14 miles west of Rhinelander.

Sylvania Wilderness is about a 45-minute drive north of Rhinelander. There are a number of trails in the national forest northeast of Rhinelander (west of Eagle River on state Highway 70) such as the Anvil Trail, including 3 wilderness areas.

And it's less than a 2-hour drive to the Porkies from Rhinelander.”