Find the top rated hiking trails in Fitchburg, whether you're looking for an easy short hiking trail or a long hiking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hiking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Took a road bike from Dawley's Sanctuary on the Capital City Trail east. Took several tries to find the right path through Chicory Hills and I stumbled onto the Cannonball Path at the southeast corner of the Arboretum. Signage is indeed awful here. So many trails and offshoots and no idea where to go! But I headed west on Cannonball until I got the to hub where all the trails come together. I decided to keep going west and did the Military Ridge Trail. It's lovely and paved the first 3 miles, as noted, and the next crushed gravel part is fine for a road bike in dry weather... until about 2 miles past Verona when it becomes much more sandy at Sugar River Wetlands, where I turned around. Next time I will take a hybrid!
Rode from Dawley's Sanctuary on the Capital City Trail east. Took several tries to find the right path through Chicory Hills and I stumbled onto the Cannonball Path at the southeast corner of the Arboretum. Signage is indeed awful here. So many trails and offshoots and no idea where to go! But I headed west on Cannonball until we got the to hub where all the trails come together. I decided to keep going west and did the Military Ridge Trail until about 2 miles past Verona when it became sandy at Sugar River Wetlands, where I turned around. I rode all the way back and took Cannonball into some residential neighborhood near Rosecommon Park and had to use my Spidey sense to fine my way to home base. Cannonball is in great shape, easy ride, shady and lovely. Great for a road bike. Wish it were longer. Probably the best part of the ride.
What a mess! The trail is basically packed (and loose) dirt with so many weeds growing through it in some places that you literally have to ride through the grass. I would not call this a bike trail at all. The paved area is great, but the rest is almost impossible to ride.
Nice short ride along Black Earth Creek between Mazo and high school. Lots of benches and signage along the way. Good for “new riders” (kids).
As others have noted, this trail really needs some upgrading. We road our gravel bikes 50 miles from Gov. Dodge State Park to Mt. Horeb and back and the first thing I would say is NO ROAD OR COMFORT BIKES. Substrate ranges from paved (in the park) to packed gravel to areas (like outside barneveld) where the trail has been reduced to a loose sand Arroyo that is walking only. Some areas that once were paved are weeded over. This is all sad because this trail goes thru some lovely countryside and has some of the nicest scenery of all the rail trails in the state. If you start at gov. Dodge, please be aware that the path to the Military Ridge though paved, is very steep and those not in good physical shape will have to walk a ways or join the trail somewhere else. Folks with hybrids should be able to manage the shifting terrain but be careful of soft spots and deep gravel. It is well worth the ride but this is a sadly neglected resource .
Easy ride from Monroe to Mineral Point. Weekends on trail are too busy. Plenty of places to get gas and/or supplies approx every 5-7 miles. DNR and Sheriff always on trail. Trail can have some serious jagged rocks so bring repair kit or spare. Watch out for erosion some serious wash outs in places.
Most of the small towns are very welcoming to atv/utv except Mineral Point (most Mineral Point businesses only take cash) experienced rude and unwelcoming town folk / businesses and an atv route that does not let you drive or park in the business area. You have to park on the atv route which runs on the outskirts of town then just stops at a gas station..you park blocks away and walk in. Most businesses closed during the week in Mineral Point..think they would want, need and welcome the revenue...guess they don't. Bring cash if you decide to visit. Check out Leftys and Ponchos in Monroe great food and people!
I rode this trail this May. It is a smooth asphalt paved trail from beginning to end. There are some slight grades but they are easy.
This trail has 15 road crossings in its 5 miles. Most of those being in Sauk City. There is one particular road crossing that really concerns me. And that is crossing U.S. 12 in Sauk City. There are two lanes going in each direction, with a turn lane in the middle. This is a very busy highway. Push button pedestrian warning lights are placed there, but the traffic will not stop unless you are actually out in the crosswalk. And to me that is a danger to someone with small children. Regular stop and go lights should have been placed there. Maybe it's just because the trail is so new that drivers aren't used to having to stop for people. I actually crossed this road 3 times to see if the first time or two was an aberration, but it didn't seem to be so.
There is only one restroom easy to get to, other than Culver's near the trail. That is Fuch's park near the south end. And it looks like that restroom is seasonal. If you difficulty climbed a short steep hill then don't park at Veteran's Park, use city streets.
However out in the country and especially near the Wisconsin river this is a beautiful trail. I can't wait for it to extend north to Devils Lake state park.
Rode south out of fitchburg. About 5-6 miles south this turns into a limestone path. I rode it in november so maybe its better in the summer but its no skinny tire road bike route. Was nice until then.
Trail is ok. They really need to fill some cracks. Its pretty rough. Of course it could be that they do this in the spring. I rode it in November. I suspect its a really good trail in the warmer months. It gives you great access to the downtown area pubs and restaurants.
From Waukesha to London and back to Lake Mills DNR camp. Awesome bacon burger trail side in Mills! Forget the name of the bowling alley bar joint. More dog walkers then bikers this trip, if you don't pick it up kick it off to the side of the trail! worse then those darn potholes that have been mostly filled in. Would rather look for deer then dog #*!+! One lady complained about bathrooms being closed at the Mills trail head with no port-a-potty. Blah Blah Blah! Great ride, love to see the folks walking the pups out there.fff
Even though this is supposed to be a groomed trail, it is in very poor overall condition. There are several very deep holes and washouts along with ruts left by someone driving farm implements down the trail. Many of these ruts are full of water and mud. There are also a few sandy areas that are deep enough to cause problems . One of the many bridges has approaches that must have washed out and are being reworked. You will have to carry your bike across this. Scenery is farmland mostly and you will likely get up close and personal with a cow occasionally. There is an outhouse and a very friendly dog with a limp at Twin Bluff Drive. I think he belongs to the Farm implement place. This could be a really nice trail if it was not in such poor condition.
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