Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lake near Star Lake. An additional 40 lakes are development-free, but have some road ac-
cess; the most popular is probably Allequash.
The most popular canoe trip in the forest is doubtless on the
Manitowish River,
span-
ning 44 miles from High Lake, northeast of Boulder Junction, all the way to the Turtle-
Flambeau Flowage through extras such as wild rice beds.
The top draw to the forest is the 18-mile
Bearskin State Trail
for hikers/bikers, linking
Minocqua and Harshaw in Oneida County via an old railroad grade.
Nine primary hiking/skiing trails wend their way through the forest, ranging in length
from2miles(theappropriatelynamed
Schlecht
—that's“bad”inGerman—abruisingtrail,
with steep inclines) to 13 miles on the
Lumberjack Trail,
a wilderness track through the
oldest timber in the forest as well as some recently logged areas. Many say their favorite
is
Statehouse Lake,
a couple of miles of excellent riverside views along a section of the
Manitowish River.
Four cross-country/hiking trails do triple duty as off-road cycling options within the
forest—
McNaughton, Madeline Lake, Lumberjack,
and
Shannon Lake.
Camping
There are almost 1,100 sites at 20 campgrounds in the forest; surely you'll find something.
Modern family campgrounds have reservable sites; wilderness camp areas are also avail-
able, and, unlike most places, they can also be reserved. Most impressive is the network
of primitive wilderness canoe campsites—nearly 100 in all (a dozen sites can be reserved).
Reservations(888/947-2757,
wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com
,reservationfee$10,
non-residents $14 and up/night, daily admission $10) are a good idea.
With a (free) permit, dispersed camping is also allowed along the Lumberjack Trail or
along any of the labyrinthine network of snowmobile trails.
Information
The most visited ranger station in the forest is the
Woodruff Area HQ
(8770 Hwy. J,
Woodruff, 715/356-5211). But the main HQ is actually the
Trout Lake office
(northeast of
Woodruff, off U.S. 51 and Hwy. M, 715/385-2727). The DNR website has a PDF attach-
ment with all possible information within.
Manitowish and Manitowish Waters
These sister communities (though they don't refer to themselves as such) lie a handful of
miles apart via U.S. 51 at the far northwestern corner of the state forest and were named
