Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
East of Danbury and easily missed are the 11 separate communities spread through four
counties and composing the
St. Croix Indian Reservation.
Often called the “Lost Tribe”
because of its dispersion, another tribal community is across the St. Croix River in Min-
nesota, and the tribal headquarters is to the southeast, near the village of Hertel. Casinos
in Turtle Lake and Danbury are tourist attractions, and an annual late August
Wild Rice
Powwow
is a popular draw. The whole region east of Danbury along WIS 77 is dubbed the
“Fishbowl” for its preponderance of glacial pools and the teeming panfish in them.
For a good side trip through the remnants of Wisconsin's Pine Barrens, an endangered
ecosystem,headforthestate'slargestwildlifearea,thethoroughlycaptivating
Crex Mead-
ows Wildlife Area
east of the landing near Phantom Flowage along Highway F. This
30,000-plus-acre spread features 250 species of birds, including nesting herons, sharp-
tailedgrouse,sandhillcranes(13,000inautumn),trumpeterswans,rarecoloniesofyellow-
headed blackbirds, and a dozen species of duck. You may even espy the “Crex Pack,” a
pack of timber wolves that moved here from Minnesota (no Minnesota jokes, I promise).
The prairielands contain more than 200 of the last vestiges of pure prairie plant in the state.
Thereisawonderfulinterpretivecenteronsite,withanewbirdingtrailandself-guidedauto
tours. Visitors can also canoe, and some limited camping is allowed September-December.
Grantsburg itself is a pleasant one-horse town. The only tourist trap is the nearly eight-
foot talking wooden statue of “Big Gust,” the likeness of a local historical figure; check
himoutattheVillageHall.Thevillagealsohostsitssummertime
Snowmobile Watercross
in July, when snowmobile pilots attempt to skim their machines across a downtown lake.
Awesome.
Five miles east of Grantsburg in tiny Alpha is the
Burnett Dairy Cooperative
(11631
WIS 70, 715/689-2748,
www.burnettdairy.com
)
, a group of almost 300 local dairy farmers
and the former World Cheese Championship winner. Twenty-one miles east and north near
Webster you'll find
Forts Folle Avoine
(8500 Hwy. U, 715/866-8890,
www.theforts.org
,
9am-5pmWed.-Sun.insummer,$7),ahistoricalparkcomprisingmock-upsofthe1802fur
trading posts of XY Company and the Northwest Fur Company, along with a reconstructed
Ojibwa village. Costumed docents banter in period lingo—right downto bad Cajun chatter.
The dining room on special occasions serves up synchronous fare, from wild rice pancakes
to “wilderness stew.”
Fish Lake Wildlife Area
appears three miles south of Grantsburg; the 15,000-acre
refuge covers eight flowages and one natural lake, all in a glacial lake basin, and offers
walking and driving tours.
