Find the top rated hiking trails in Wisconsin Rapids, 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.
Second long trip for me and the first trip that was mostly rail trail one quarter of which was the Elroy Sparta. Beautiful trail and the safety of being away from most automobile traffic made the trip way less stressful
We rode Sparta to Norwalk, through tunnel 3. Two of our group had ridden the entire length in the early 70s, so it was a nostalgic day. They recalled seeing farmland and we saw a little of that, but trees have grown up and it’s mainly a nice, shaded, flat ride.
A 5 star is really stretching this. I get the history of this being the 1st rail to trail and the cool tunnels, but the very narrow gravel path is not much to desire. The landscape doesn’t change much and the overgrown weeds and trees prevent much scenery. Occasional stream is a welcome sight on this boring path. America’s bicycle capital is needing a little update to encourage us to return. Glad we had headlamps for the almost two mile long tunnel raining on us. Riding, rather than walking was our choice to speed it up but if you’re not steady - then walk.
The tunnels on the trail are nice, cool bluffs and overall very nice trail
Trail from Wittenberg to Birnamwood is grass covered crushed limestone. They do cut the grass, but not particularly bike friendly.
We ride trails. We love trails. No pavement required. We embrace the crushed surface. We love to bike. The Omaha trail is surrounded by beautiful scenery. It begins and ends in friendly towns. It was strewn with debris the day after a storm, yet we were undeterred. You can bike around debris. Sadly, you can’t miss the ridges, ruts and roughness of a once paved trail. Omaha stole our energy and joy of riding. We rode on because we don’t quit. But it wasn’t enjoyable and was only memorable for the relief of finishing and knowing we won’t ride Omaha again. It’s unfortunate. The 400 is nearby. It is a far better choice, as is just about any other trail.
Rode the trail the last couple days, loved it. It’s in great shape and is pretty flat. Happened to be there when the Wheelmen were riding with the high wheels!
We’ve done this trail twice and really enjoy it. Was attending a conference in SP and decided to bring bikes along. Weather was perfect for riding so we took advantage and rode this trail. It was wonderful. Love the variety of ‘environments’ you bike through, especially Schmeekle Reserve. The train is well maintained. Only delay was waiting on a train for 45 minutes!!
I did the Wiouwash Trail between downtown Oshkosh and Hortonville over two days while visiting family in the Oshkosh area, and the conditions were pretty great. Prior to this past weekend, I had only ridden the southern half of this segment. If you enjoy a nice (mostly) gravel trail that is very flat, you should have a great time on this one. The trail only had one small sketchy area of about 100 yards just south of County Road II near the gravel yard. Other than that, it's a really smooth trail.
I road a Salsa Fargo on this visit with 29x2.2" tires, but have also done it on an All-City gravel bike with 700x38 tires. Both work just great, and I'm guessing you could easily get by with tires down to 32-ish mm.
There is a nice mix of fields and forested areas along with a few wetland locations. I happened to see quite a few deer, turkey Canada geese, two trumpeter swans and even a couple of Cooper's hawks hunting along the trail, one successfully.
It is probably also worth mentioning that I rode this trail on a Saturday and Sunday in good weather conditions and saw ZERO other bikers, which was more than a little surprising, but there were plenty of people walking dogs at various points along the trail.
Big thumbs up for this trail. Consider getting out to enjoy it if/when you are able.
We had ridden into Elroy from Sparta and realized the 400 trail left from there. We went back to Elroy two days later and rode 11 miles out on the 400. We went through Union and through Wonewoc. We were so impressed with the little town of Wonewoc and the super clean facility they had along the trail, that included a picnic shelter and water fountain along with bike repair stands. The ride itself was very nice. The trail was well cared for and there were many bridges that overlooked very pretty areas. We passed several large rock formations that were impressive. We hope to return to the area so we can ride the entire trail.
We had ridden into Elroy from Sparta and realized the 400 trail left from there. We went back to Elroy two days later and rode 11 miles out on the 400. We went through Union and through Wonewoc. We were so impressed with the little town of Wonewoc and the super clean facility they had along the trail, that included a picnic shelter and water fountain along with bike repair stands. The ride itself was very nice. The trail was well cared for and there were many bridges that overlooked very pretty areas. We passed several large rock formations that were impressive. We hope to return to the area so we can ride the entire trail.
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