Find the top rated hike trails in Winter, whether you're looking for an easy short hike trail or a long hike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a hike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
So yes, the gravel isn’t the greatest, the bigger the tire the better. It’s a bit chunky and loose..gets chunkier in Price county, seems to be kept up though? It’s so worth the extra effort come Fall. I had very little issues with my gravel bike. It’s super peaceful. No ATVs allowed, but horses are ¿. Seen quite a few grouse and there’s all new bridges throughout! It’s quite the beautiful trail and worth enduring the subpar gravel.
We listened to previous reviews and picked "the cream of the crop" for our ride -- heading north out of Jim Falls to Cornell. Beautiful ride along the river and plenty of tree canopy. Trail in great shape. At Cornell, we decided to bike into Brunet State Park for a nice ride around the small island. We got back to Jim Falls and kept going, for a daily ride of about 33 miles. Highly recommend a tour of the Leinenkugel Brewery in Chippewa Falls, overnight lodging at the amazing Otter Creek Inn in Altoona, and dinner at Mona Lisa in Eau Claire -- the pizza and pasta were outstanding, and a great dinner after a great ride!
My sister and I loved this trail. All black top. And a very cute town to explore
I’m not sure why it says it has a break in the trail because it doesn’t.. The “break in trail” is quite rough though.. Where the trail starts in Eau Claire is pretty cool. Where the trail ends is cool too, being in the state park. I got on the trail right from my campsite!
Wisconsin Bike Trip Report - Cycle Seven Rails to Trails in Five Days: In August 2022, our group of 11 went on a self-guided partially supported bike ride covering seven Rails to Trails in Central Wisconsin near La Crosse, Sparta and Eau Claire. Turned out to be an amazing trip with great weather, except the last day during which it rained. Great variety of environments and trails, including some short bridges and long tunnels, shaded woodlands and bright prairie. Attached is a pdf detailing the logistics and planning we carried out to make the trip happen. TrailLink.com has great description of each individual trail. Over five days of riding we covered:
1. Elroy-Sparta State Trail
2. Great River State Trail
3. La Crosse River State Trail
4. 400 State Trail
5. Red Cedar State Trail
6. Chippewa River State Trail
7. Old Abe State Trail
For a 5 page pdf summary document of our trip with maps and logistics, see: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mk5DYWU-LirXlXT9_B3R6ZbDn4Iautr_/view?usp=sharing
A very good and scenic route to follow. If you’re starting down at the far end in Chippewa it is a little bit boring to start until you get north of the lake. Once north of the lake things get very scenic and beautiful especially between Jim Falls and Cornell. The trail is very well-maintained, however you do need to pay to use it. If you’re walking the trail is free, however bicycles must pay a five dollar daily use fee. You can also purchase a year-round pass at local stores. Overall an excellent trail it’s flat for the most part but still excellent exercise
A beautiful, peaceful, and flat ride on smooth pavement. It is a little less than 20 miles from the Old Abe Trail Anson Station on 97th Ave to Cornell. Part of the ride is under tree cover, while the rest is more exposed as it passes farmland and a couple of small towns.
We actually rode the entire trail but this is the part we thought was worth riding. But, if you want to ride the entire trail, it is complete from Eau Claire to Cornell (the map above shows a gap which no longer exists).
Only 3 stars due to 18 miles being largely on an open road along a busy highway or county road.
We started the ride from our hotel on Mondovi Road & Short Road (south of Phoenix Park), heading north. It is in an open trail, adjacent to a county road or 4 lane busy street. Mostly industrial, not wooded. The first three miles of our ride were on the Chippewa River State Trail. (due to our starting point) Be aware there is NO signage for this trail. It is very easy to take a wrong turn as we did on the trip out and back. We ended up on the city streets and used google maps to find the trail again. We encountered road construction twice, where roundabouts were being added. We had to get off our bikes to lift them over the concrete curbing. Mile markers on this trail ended after 5 miles. At this point you had no idea if you were even on the right trail. At the northernmost point, where we should have turned around to head back, the trail continued on the other side of a 4 LANE ROAD, continuing north. There is NO sign to indicate which way to go at that intersection, and the trail itself was not visible, diagonally across the 4 lane highway. There is no GAP in the trail. It is relatively flat with some small inclines. Our round trip was 35.6 miles.
The second leg of this trail was much better. This portion I would rate 5 STARS. We started where we left off the previous day, parking at the Riverview Reserve only a short distance from there. Heading north the trail is wooded and a low grade. We didn't go as far as the county park. At about 13 miles in there is an outhouse sponsored by a local scouting group. There are frequent markers with the trail name and distance to locations ahead. We road 40.18 miles.
The entire trail is asphalt in fairly good condition. It is closer to 38 miles one way.
We were traveling in this area and decided to try this trail. There is only
about 1 mile of paved trail through the town of Shell Lake and the remainder of the trail is all hard packed dirt and gravel up to the town of Spooner. It is mostly used by the ATV crowd. I would not recommend unless
you are prepared for a mostly dirt ride.
This is a very well maintained trail. Camp grounds in Ojibwa Park and Loretta are excellent. Parking also available in Winter at the Winter Depot Welcome Center as well as Chamber glossy magazines from all regional Chambers of Commerce. Log onto friendsoftuscobiatrail.com for a directory of all services along the trail. Oral History on computer at Depot Welcome Center of historic railroading, logging and settling from early pioneers. Elk reintroduction and muskie interpretive displays with oral descriptions also available. Open Wed through Sat, 10 AM to 3 PM plus Mon and Tues based on staff availability..
Rode the Pine Line trail out of Medford — (June 31, 2022) This was a little gem of a trail. Parking was perfect. Great wooded scenery and farms along the route. Gravel surface was nicely graded and we noticed that every mile was sponsored by someone. We rode like this for about 17 miles — perfect ride, perfect day, no traffic, crossings were primarily over private driveways. Then you cross into Price County and it’s like crossing into East Berlin during the Cold War! No more gravel. No more groomed trail. Highway right off the trail. We were like — what the heck happened??? We rode into Price County for about a mile or so until the route was so ripped up and tracked that our tires were falling into the grooves and it got downright dangerous. If you’re going to ride this trail, leave from Medford. The only negative thing I can say about the Taylor County side of the Pine Line Trail is that there are no bathrooms along the way. There was a porta-potty in a Lions Club rustic campground near Chelsey. Saying it was ‘rustic’ is kind of a step up from what it actually was. The park was overgrown, there was one sad looking camper parked there and you kind of got the feeling that you just didn’t want to find out what may be living in the porta-potty or if you were brave and tried it, as you were sitting there the door might be flung open and some guy with a chain saw and mask might be there while your pants were down. Included some scenery shots and trail shots— as I said, a pretty little gem of a bike trail — until it wasn’t. The last 2 are the crossover into Price County.
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