Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
for a great
wood carvers museum.
Clam Lake is also the best place to spot
elk.
You can't
miss the “Elk Crossing” signs (and even pull-offs for viewing) along WIS 77 and other
roads.
Information
The
Chequamegon Forest Supervisor office
(1170 4th Ave. S, Park Falls, 715/762-2461,
8am-4pm Mon.-Fri.) has basic information and numerous options for maps on sale.
Contacting individual district ranger stations is a better way to get information on the spe-
cifics.
The Park Falls District of the National Forest graces the western edge of the Lac du Flam-
beau Indian Reservation and just a few miles to the east of the town of Park Falls. To the
south is the Flambeau River State Forest.
Sights
East of Fifield are three wildlife-viewing areas, including Popple Creek, at which nests one
of the only colonies of yellow-headed blackbirds in northern Wisconsin. Then there's the
Round Lake Logging Dam,
built in the 1880s on the South Fork of the Flambeau River to
facilitate floating logs downstream.
At the Smith Rapids Campground, the
Smith Rapids Covered Bridge
is the only
coveredbridgebuiltinthestateinacentury.It'saTownLatticeTrussbridgewithamodern
twist—its use of glue-laminated lumber, allowing continuous chords on the top and bottom
of the trusses. Better, it's on an established state Rustic Road—#105, to be precise.
Recreation
The
Flambeau Trail System
offers 69 miles of multiuse trails. Smith Rapids bridge is
found along one route, as well as ridgeline rides, a couple of impoundment flowages, and
even an old log-driving dam. The Round Lake area here is a nonmotorized area and has an
old logging dam. Primitive campsites lie along the lake.
Camping
Of the half-dozen campgrounds near Park Falls,
Sailor Lake
is the closest—seven miles
east of Fifield on WIS 70. Farther east on WIS 70 and then north on Forest Road 148 is
Smith Rapids,
good for canoeists, as it's on the South Fork of the Flambeau River. Still
