Brule River State Forest Conditions

Conditions as of Thursday, February 4, 2010:

• Camping
• Trails
• River
• More Information

The Afterhours Candlelight Ski turned out to be a successful event last weekend with around 185 people attending. The temperatures and the sky conditions cooperated providing for a comfortable, well lit ski along the trails. Two miles of trails were lit with candles and the almost full moon made it look more like dusk than night.

The moon was not only beautiful to watch at night...
DNR Photo by Catherine Khalar

...it was very prominent against the pink highlights of the sunset.
DNR Photo by Catherine Khalar

Afterhours Ski Trail

Skiers are reporting that they are seeing a lot of animal tracks along the ski trail. Deer, wolf, coyote, and fox are just some tracks that have been seen recently. Trail conditions are considered excellent…come out and give it a try this weekend…maybe you will be able to spot the animals in person out on the trails! Trail passes for 2010 are available; daily passes are $4 and annual passes are $20 (which are good for all Wisconsin State Trails through December 31, 2010).

There are now also some snowshoeing opportunities at the Afterhours trails. Two snowshoe trails are available for those who wish to hike the winter woods. The Coyote Loop is 2.2 miles long and the Fox loop is 0.8 miles long.

The Afterhours Ski Trail has a new brochure [PDF 500KB]. An updated ski trail map is featured on it along with the new snowshoe trail map.

Skiers look over the trail map before venturing out on the Afterhours Trail.
DNR Photo by Catherine Khalar

Afterhours Ski Trail Events

February

Saturday, February 6, 12:30 p.m. Learn to Ski at the Afterhours Ski Trail. For pre-registration and more information, call Susie Isaksen, (715) 372-4939.

March

Saturday, March 6, 9 a.m. Riverview Loppet Cross-country Ski Race for youths and adults in the skate and classic styles. This race is sponsored jointly by the Brule Valley Ski Club, the Brule River State Forest, and the Brule Lions Club.

Snowmobile Trails

For snowmobile trail updates, see the Brule River Riders trail conditions [exit DNR] page.

River

See the U.S. Geological Survey's page about the river [exit DNR] for provisional data about stream discharge, water level, precipitation, and water quality.

The rest of the Bois Brule River (Highway 2 to Lake Superior) closed for fishing.

Camping

Both campgrounds are open year-round. Brule River State Forest campgrounds are first-come, first-served. Sites are designed to accommodate no more than two vehicles and six people.

Camping is limited to the two campgrounds. Back country camping permits (required for the North Country Trail) are available at the Brule office. Camping is not permitted on the beach along Lake Superior in the Bear Beach State Natural Area.

Map [PDF 251KB]

There is a nightly fee (per site) for camping, and campers also must have daily or annual vehicle admission stickers. The camping fees are:

Instructions for registering are at campground entrances.

Special Notice: Any firewood brought in from more than 50 miles away or from a quarantined area [PDF, 102KB] or from out of state will be confiscated due to the potential of carrying harmful emerald ash borers [exit DNR]. Several businesses in and around Brule sell firewood from local trees. Buying local firewood is the best way of slowing the spread of exotic forest pests from coming into the Brule River State Forest.

More Conditions

Fire danger conditions
Road Conditions [exit DNR]
Weather [exit DNR]

If you subscribe to this page, we'll notify you by e-mail whenever it is updated. (We won't bother you, though, if we just change the date or fix a typo.) Click the envelope to get more information or subscribe.

Brule River State Forest Information: Phone (715) 372-5678 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or e-mail Catherine Khalar.