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Print Friendly MapThe Heart of Vilas Bike Trail, recognized as a National Recreation Trail, is a 52 mile bike trail that spans the width of Vilas County and some of Iron County Wisconsin.
The trail spans the towns of Mercer, Manitowish Waters, Boulder Junction, Sayner and St. Germain and is made up of five distinct trail sections, listed (west-east) below:
Mercer Hike and Bike Trail (9 miles)
Manitowish Waters Bike Trail (18.6 miles)
Crystal Lake Trail (11 miles)
Plum Lake Trail (5 miles)
St. Germain Hike & Bike Trail (12 miles):
As the westernmost end of the Heart of Vilas Bike Trail, the 12-mile St. Germain Hike & Bike Trail is an excellent cap to any trail ride. Leaving off from the western endpoint in Sayner, the trail traverses south and then east into the town of St. Germain before reaching its eastern endpoint (and the easternmost endpoint of the whole Heart of Vilas Trail System) just east of the town.
This portion of the trail features a fixtation (a bicycle repair and pump) at the St. Germain Chamber of Commerce.
Parking is available at the St. Germain golf course, 9041 WI-70 and at the St. Germain Chamber of Commerce.
See TrailLink Map for more options and detailed directions.
Wife and I loved this ride! All paved and fun hills and curves. Great fall colors and a top trail in the north woods.
We wrote this yesterday starting at the southern and near Saint Germain up to Sayre and then back down. It has many Rollinghills some are rather steep. If my counters right there were 17 total. At least two we made it almost to the crust then had to walk the bikes back up the hill. The trail crosses the road many times it is clearly marked so keep your eyes open for those changes.
We rode this today from the southern portion outside St Germaine up to Sayer and the trailhead for the Plum Lake Trail. Then back down. It had 17 rolling hills in one direction. Fast downhill and uphill was challenging. On the return trip we couldn’t make it up and walked part of the way. Green
Biked the entire trail and it was in great condition. We started the trail near Plum Creek and road beyond St. G. Great bakery in town.
My boyfriend and I biked this trail in June and had a wonderful time. The paved trail was in excellent condition though, a few times, when the trail ended at a gravel road, we hoped we were going in the right direction (and were)so some more signs would be better. A black bear crossed the trail in front of us at one point which was very exciting and we watched an osprey on a nest with at least one chick! We are planning to bike the extension from Sayner to Boulder Junction on our next trip to the North Woods.
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