Hikin' the Ice Age Trail

Check out my story in today’s (Friday, Oct. 27) New York Times on the Ice Age Trail, a National Scenic Trail established by Congress in 1980 to tell the story of the recent icy past via the educational medium of a hiking trail. (click here to link to NYT)

Six hundred miles of the Ice Age Trail have been built over the last four decades, with intermittent segments found in forests throughout the state. Federal and state financing, private donations and hundreds of trail-building volunteers each year lengthen the path. The goal is to connect all the trail segments to create an uninterrupted route 1,000 to 1,200 miles in length that swings a giant S-shape through the woodsy entirety of Wisconsin.

Geology lessons aside, hiking is the No. 1 recreational activity on the trail. Overnight backpacking trips are becoming more popular every year. A handful of long-distance through hikers have walked the whole trail over several weeks, hiking established paths, camping out and linking undeveloped sections of the trail on foot over rural roads.

I’ve tested many a shoe on the Ice Age Trail’s variable terrain. Worth checking out if you’re in the neighborhood.