2001 Wisconsin State Trails Network Plan
Trails Network for South Central Region

Numbers on this draft map refer to proposed trail segments described below it. Click on a number to read the description.

This map is available in PDF format [PDF 328KB] for better printing.

Existing and Approved Trail Network South Central Region

Potential Network for South Central Region

South Central Region

Among natural features in this region are the Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Rock rivers, and their respective watersheds, much of which are dominated by Driftless Area topography, a segment that escaped glaciation in the last glacial advance. Edward Daniel, the first state geologist, described the Driftless Area in the 1850s: "About one-third of the surface is prairie, dotted and belted with beautiful groves and oak-openings."

Other topographic features include a group of five mounds described as outliers of the Niagara escarpment. Blue Mound, the highest at 1,716 feet, is protected within Blue Mound State Park near the Village of Blue Mounds. The Baraboo Bluffs also carry significant geologic importance as the remnant of an ancient mountain range that is also home to Devils Lake State Park.

Recreational resources in the 12-county region consist of 238 miles of established rails-to-trails, 94 miles of Ice Age Trail corridor, 16 state parks and recreation areas, and the 90-mile Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. Existing state trails are the Military Ridge, Pecatonica, Sugar River, and part of the Glacial Drumlin Trail.

The following describes 16 potential trail corridors.

Segment 12—St. Croix - Mississippi River corridor (South Central Region)

Following the Mississippi River in Grant and Crawford Counties, this potential trail route is part of a state-long Mississippi River corridor that extends southward into a similar trail system in Illinois, and could link up with a similar trail system in Iowa and Minnesota. The Wisconsin Bicycle Transportation Plan 2020 identifies a 150-mile-long segment of State Highway 35 as a "priority corridor" that is resulting in wider paved shoulders for bicyclists and walkers

The Mississippi River provides a national natural resource corridor and this segment would serve up a high quality, river’s edge experience through diverse uplands and lowlands from broad, spectacular panoramic views of the river valley to intimate views of less extensive landscape features. Users could visit the villages and towns and many other cultural features along the river and encounter the wide variety of ecosystems that characterize the river valley.

The eventual completed segment could be pieced together in a variety of ways, using primarily corridors incorporating state, county and town highway right-of-ways, parts of rail corridors, and public and private lands.

In the South Central Region, the corridor links a dozen communities, Nelson Dewey and Wyalusing state parks, Stonefield Village and Villa Louis historic sites and major portions of a large national wildlife management area.

Segment 21—Spring Green to Illinois

State Highway 23 is a potential north-south trail route that could connect Tower Hill and Governor Dodge State Parks, and link with the Military Ridge State Trail.

Road routes could link Mineral Point and the Military Ridge Trail with the Pecatonica and Cheese Country State Trails to create a 62-mile system that highlights highly scenic unglaciated landscape and culture of southwest Wisconsin. It also would link a number of interesting communities, state and local parks, and historical sites, including Pendarvis and First Capitol historical sites and Belmont Mound State Park. In addition, this segment would connect with the Mississippi River corridor and the states of Illinois and Iowa.

Segment 22—Prairie du Chien to Madison

A major east-west route along the historic and highly scenic Wisconsin River corridor would create a long-distance trail linking the Madison metropolitan area with the Mississippi River valley corridor and Wyalusing State Park near Prairie du Chien.

Much of the 97-miles-corridor is already recommended for a trail in the master plan of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway and the Wisconsin Bicycle Transportation Plan 2020, where paved shoulders are suggested for State Highway 133. The trail would likely rely primarily upon a combination of publicly owned lands ithin the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway project boundary, as well as a variety of state and county highway right-of-ways and possible rail corridor.

Segment 23—Mazomanie to Devil’s Lake

This roughly 19-mile-long corridor would link two major recreation areas, the Lower Wisconsin Riverway (LWSR) and Devil’s Lake State Park. Together with Segments 28 and/or 29, discussed below, Segment 23 would provide a link from Madison and beyond to the "400," Elroy-Sparta, Great River, and La Crosse River state trail corridors. The proposed corridor might use rail, road, and utility right-of-ways.

The area has abundant scenic resources as it passes from the LWSR into the Baraboo Hills. This proposed trail relates to several trail recommendations in the Devil’s Lake master plan:

• Page 8 of the Devil’s Lake master plan recommends creation of the Stage Coach Trail on a route that would roughly parallel an old stagecoach route between Baraboo and Sauk City. This route would follow a path now known as Burma Road and a snowmobile route that follows the perimeter of the Badger Ammunition Plant property.
• Also on page 8 the plan recommends development of a bicycle trail along South Shore Drive from the eastern park boundary to the South Shore use area by constructing a separate gravel path parallel to the road, similar to the one at Peninsula State Park.
• The master plan recommends that if the railroad grade is ever abandoned, it could be converted into a trail. The rail corridor could extend either to Sauk City through the Badger Ammunition Plant property or to Madison through Merrimac (see Segment 29).

Segment 24—Madison to Sun Prairie

This nine-mile corridor would serve Sun Prairie, a growing suburb of Madison. The trail would provide a significant link between the two communities for commuting and recreation. The proposed corridor might use rail, county or town roads.

Segment 25—Lone Rock to Hillsboro

The 19.5-mile section of this corridor from Lone Rock to Richland Center is an existing trail on an abandoned rail line owned and operated under a joint county/private partnership arrangement. The 20 miles from Richland Center to a linkage with the Hillsboro State Trail in Hillsboro would follow various roadways and the Pine River. This route would link with Segment 22 (Prairie du Chien to Madison).

Segment 26—Darlington to Yellowstone Lake State Park

County Trunk Highway F is a potential trail connector route from Darlington that would provide users of the Pecatonica and Cheese Country trails access to Yellowstone Lake State Park. This 10-mile-long connection will add to the recreational opportunities of Yellowstone Lake State Park.

This corridor would provide an opportunity for both recreation and bicycle commuting. The 50-mile-long corridor, which follows the U.S. Highway 12 right-of-way to Prairie du Sac/Sauk City, is a major link from Madison to the recreation-rich areas of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. Various road routes would make the connection beyond this point. In Madison, there is the potential to connect with the Capital City State Trail. There are two crossings of the Ice Age State Scenic Trail corridor, one south of Wisconsin Dells and another between Madison and Sauk City.

Segment 29—Madison to Reedsburg

This 53-mile-long route would provide a unique opportunity to travel from the capital city of Madison, across Lake Wisconsin on the Merrimac ferry, and on to Devil’s Lake, one of the state’s most popular natural resources, linking to the "400," Elroy-Sparta, Great River, and La Crosse River trail corridors. It could connect with the Ice Age State Scenic Trail at Lodi, Merrimac, and Devil’s Lake. This route would follow rail and road routes.

Segment 30—Madison to Cottage Grove

For several years, the cities of Madison and Fitchburg, Dane County and the DNR have worked together on the 27-mile-long Capital City State Trail proposal. The trail will link the Military Ridge and Glacial Drumlin State Trails by using active and abandoned rail corridor, city streets, private lands, and segments of the Dane County E-Way. The only remaining section to complete is a seven-mile-long section of the Glacial Drumlin Trail between Madison and Cottage Grove.

Segment 31—Madison to Racine (South Central Region)

This 45-mile-long rail corridor provides a potential trail route between Madison and Janesville. It is one leg of a triangular trail system that includes the Badger State Trail and Segment 32. It would connect with, and potentially incorporate, a portion of the Ice Age State Scenic Trail near Janesville.

Rail corridor or roadway would create a potential trail connector from Janesville to the proposed backbone trail system in the DNR’s Southeast Region. The Rock County Alliance of Snowmobile Trails is on record in favor of a trail on the rail line, recently proposed for abandonment. This proposed connection with the Turtle Creek corridor would take place northwest of Darien at the Rock/Walworth county line.

Segment 32—Monroe to Janesville

This potential 34-mile-long trail route in Green and Rock counties uses a railroad right-of-way that links with the Cheese Country Trail and Sugar River State Trail on one end and connects with the Rock County Trail system in Janesville. This corridor would connect with segment 31 and 33.

Segment 33—Janesville to Clyman Junction

This 48-mile-long trail would be made up of a variety of corridors. The Ice Age State Scenic Trail from Janesville north to Milton is recommended for completion, with rail corridor a second option. The section from Milton to Fort Atkinson, part of which has been developed as Jefferson County’s Glacial River Trail, includes various highway and rail right-of-ways. From Fort Atkinson to the south end of the Wild Goose State Trail at Clyman Junction, the proposal includes the option of using rail corridor or highway right-of-way. It intersects the Glacial Drumlin State Trail north of Jefferson.

Segment 34—Rock River, Watertown to Beloit

With the support of Jefferson and Rock Counties, the Rock River is recognized as a major natural resource corridor having trail potential. The 60-mile corridor intersects the Glacial Drumlin trail east of Lake Mills. It could also be considered as having interstate trail potential with a connection at the state line in Beloit.

Segment 35—Watertown to Oconomowoc (South Central Region)

A 15-mile route on rail line from Watertown to Oconomowoc has the potential of providing a connection to an on-street/road trail proposed in the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's Bicycle / Pedestrian Plan for Southeastern Wisconsin. This route would link with the Ice Age Bike Route proposed as one of the "backbone" trails in the Southeastern Region and with Segment 33, the proposed southerly extension of the Wild Goose State Trail.

Segment 36—Beaver Dam to Pike Lake (South Central Region)

This 26-mile segment has the potential of connecting with the Wild Goose State Trail and with the Southeast Region's proposed "backbone" trail system via rail corridor to the Dodge/Washington county line. Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Co. operate the rail line. At the county line there are two options for extending east to Hartford—rail line or the Rubicon River natural resource corridor. There is an off-road trail from Hartford to Pike Lake State Park and a trail in the park from Highway 60 to the beach, where it would connect with the Ice Age Scenic Trail.

2001 Wisconsin State Trails Network Plan

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