We rode this trail round-trip on a cool but sunny fall day. The mileage from 97th St to the end of the off-road trail within Brunet Island State Park is 18 miles, not 19.5.

The 97th Av. trailhead has no facilities, but there is a porta-potty at the edge of the golf course just south of the parking area on the way to the Lake Wissota bridge.

There is a continuation of the trail south of the bridge heading into Chippewa Falls. We rode 2 miles then turned around as the trail just paralleled a highway.

The whole trail is a very easy ride on a road bike with narrow tires. The first 4 miles of trail north of 97th Av was very smooth but there is no view of the river until you reach the town of Anson park, just west of the trail. There are rest rooms and picnic tables here and 2 miles further north at Jim Falls. On the north side of Jim Falls begins 10 miles of trail with many stretches of rough pavement. I had to watch out for frost heaves and potholes (a few of them are marked with paint), but it was still no issue for the skinny tires and would not dissuade me from riding this trail again.

About a mile past the Cobban bridge you leave the river again. The pavement improves as you get to Cornell, which has a marked trailhead within site of the river again and a city park with visitor center and rest rooms (closed for the season). The trail continues with a short on-road segment on the shoulder of a lightly traveled road, then parallels that road into Brunet Island State Park, ending suddenly at the RV dump station.

I rode the trail on sunday July 18th and enjoyed it very much. It is a nice flat trail easy to ride. The sign in Jim Falls that says rough trail next 10 miles makes it sound like you would need a mountain bike to ride that part of the trail. That is totally untrue. The blacktop has a few bumps in it, but actually it is no rougher than riding an unpaved trail such as the Elroy Sparta. I actually had a helmet cam mounted on my handle bars and did not have any problem with vibration due to a rough trail. I would ride this trail again any time.
We were on vacation and drove from Illinois and I would do it again. I came from the Chicago area and you could make this just a weekend trip if you wanted to even do it in one day if you did not mind a long day.

Ron Krich

Pretty typical midwestern trail - easy, pleasant enough, but kind of boring in the scenery department. The trail surface is paved, but not well-paved. How do you get a washboard surface on an asphalt trail?? We rode in a light rain, and noted that the drainage wasn't very good either - the water pooled on the trail instead of running off to the sides. The trail is very flat and is probably moderately shady on a sunny day. Bottom line: a pleasant enough ride if you're in the vicinity anyway, but not worth a long drive to get there.

We rode the southern end of the trail, Chippewa Falls to Jim Falls.

I began my journey from the city of Chippewa Falls on my Scorpion Fx Recumbent Trike on October 3rd.
The weather was perfect with sunny blue skies and a temperature around 65 degrees.

A good place to stay in Chippewa Falls, with reasonable rates, is the Lock Nest Motel right on Hwy 124 which is a main highway thru town.

To find the trailhead, turn East on First Street which is a few blocks south of the motel off of Hwy 124.
Follow First Street until it makes a slight jog in the road onto Hwy I. Follow I until it crosses Hwy 178. You'll immediately see the asphalt trail on your left beyond the stop & go lights. Go about another block, and park in the lot at the Wisota Wildlife Preserve.

About two miles into your ride you'll cross a lengthy expansion bridge over an inlet to the Chippewa River on your left, and Lake Wisota on your right. The trail is smooth asphalt up until Jim Falls. Jim Falls is a good place to take a break with it's Mini-Mart right next to the trail. You'll find fast food an refreshing ice cream cones here.

After Jim Falls the trail turns into an asphalt washboard resulting in a bumpy ride the majority of the way. I was told by another biker there were plans to fix this portion of the trail in the next year or two. The trail parallels the Chippewa River right up to the village of Cornel and Brunet Island State Park, and passes through many wooded areas and over at least one or two wood plank bridges. The foilage was abound with fall color, and a fresh clean smell of fall filled the air. On my way back, the sun was beginning to set backlighting the yellow leaves like gold gems. The air was still except for a slight russel through the leaves.

The day I was on the trail, two trees had blown down across the trail in two different locations, a few days prior to my ride. I had to maneuver around one tree, and pull the bike over the other. Hopefully, Obstacles such as this, can be removed as soon as possible to avoid injury and delays to bikers.

I found this trail to be approximately 22.5 miles from Chippewa Falls to Cornel. This trail is very peaceful and scenic, but repair is a must beyond Jim Falls to smooth out the surface.

"The trail extention across Lake Wissota and into the east end of Chippewa Fall is complete. The trail provides some scenic views of the Chippewa River. One caution, watch out for occasional stretches of washboard asphalt."

"This asphalt trail is pretty flat. It doesn't connect with Wissota State Park, but it does connect with Brunet State Park on the north end. On the south end the trail goes through farming areas, in the middle it goes next to Lake Old Abe and on the northern end it's mainly forested. "