Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
glacial topography, and a few glacial pools are canoeable. The superb
interpretive center
is perched on an ice-walled lake plain; it won a Governor's Award for design, and it's ap-
parent why when you get there. From the deck, you can get a view of South Shattuck Lake,
a kettle or ice-block lake.
To the east, the reserve is connected to
Brunet Island State Park
by a 20-mile segment
oftheIceAgeTrail.It'sagreatriverinethumbofapark,setbetweentheconfluence oftwo
rivers,southoftheHolcombeFlowage.Youcanknockoffthetrailswithoutbreakingmuch
of a sweat. Chippewa County Forest lands line the area between the state park and the Ice
Age Reserve Unit, offering dozens of miles of trails, most of which are unfortunately open
to braying off-road vehicles. The canoeing's lazy and fine.
Chetek
Once a community with one of the country's largest lumber companies, Chetek is much
moretranquiltoday.Dozensanddozensoflocalresortsline128milesoflakeshorelineona
six-lake chain. There's little else unless you count the
Hydro Lites,
a local water-ski team,
as an attraction, or the
ice races
across the lake, held every Sunday after the ice freezes.
Inexplicably, one of the most luxurious inns in Wisconsin is found in Chetek:
M
Canoe
Bay
(115S.2ndSt.,715/924-4594,
www.canoebay.com
,$250-650).Thearchitectureofthe
cottages was inspired by—but not done by—Frank Lloyd Wright. Better, rooms and cot-
tages are sprinkled through a sublime, isolated setting. The fixed-price menu ($75/person)
is to die for in this area. Pricey, but you're not paying for posh—you're paying for peace
of mind, and you've got it here. This could be the most splendid isolation you'll find in the
state.
Rice Lake
Rice Lake is named for the ancient beds of
manomin
that once lined the shores of the lake.
The
Bayfield Trail,
along Lakeshore Drive, is an old Indian pipestone and wild rice trade
route with a burial mounds park.
Rice Lake is the terminus ofone ofWisconsin'snewest multiuse trails; the
Wild Rivers
Trail
stretches 96 miles through three counties. North of Rice Lake on Highway SS is the
western endpoint of the
Tuscobia State Trail,
another rails-to-trails project. This one is the
longest in Wisconsin, stretching 76 miles east from U.S. 53 to Park Falls. Part of the route
isanofficial IceAgeTrailsegment.Golfersmightlikethe
Tagalong Golf Course and Re-
sort
(2855 29th Ave., 715/354-3458), modeled after St. Andrews Course in Scotland. The
resortisnice,butitacceptsonlytravelersonpackageplansinsummer.Andsincegolfisthe
