Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Camping and Backpacking
Three family campgrounds are in the state forest. You'll also find canoe campsites south of
Black River Falls. Reservations (888/947-2757, wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com ,
reservation fee $10; non-residents $14 and up/night; daily admission $10) are a good idea.
Primitive backpacking is also available, and a permit is necessary. You can't camp any-
whereyouwant,sogetdetailsfromtheforestHQ.Thoughtheforestlookssmallandrather
mundane as a “working forest” (meaning that it's managed for timber extraction), it is easy
to get off-track here.
INFORMATION
The Black River State Forest HQ (715/284-1406) is at the junction of WIS 54 East and
I-94.The Black River Falls Chamber of Commerce (336N.WaterSt.,BlackRiverFalls,
800/404-4008, www.blackrivercountry.net ) also maintains some information.
BLACK RIVER FALLS
Black River Falls is your quintessential Our Town kind of community, set beside the river.
(Gotta love the town's greatest ambition—raising an enormous beer stein-shaped office
building. Absotively Wisconsin.) The chamber of commerce can point out a few area high-
lights, such as the scenic views from Bell Mound or the Native American petroglyphs at
Gullickson's Glen. The atavistic Sand Creek Brewing Company (intersection of East 4th
and Pierce Sts., 715/284-7553) was the first brewery in western Wisconsin and then a tur-
key factory and landmine manufacturing plant during the Korean War. Free tours are avail-
able 8am-4pm Fridays and Saturdays, but call first—the staff may be busy bottling.
Molly's Grill (715/284-9284, 11am-10pm Tues.-Sat., $4-11) in downtown Black River
Falls is rousing, but I love the Country Café (18 Main St., 715/284-1636) nearby, the kind
of place that creates and names dishes after regulars.
Northwestern Lakes
Erect a radar base in Eau Claire, where U.S. 53 branches north from the interstate, and the
sweep of the beam as it rotates clockwise between nine and noon reveals another massive
concentration of primeval glacial pools. Second in density only to Wisconsin's other lake
district,inthenortheast,butsecondtononeinsheernumbers,theareafeaturesarguablythe
state's best muskie fishing and the country's first established scenic riverways.
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