If you’re a hiker and you don’t think Wisconsin has beautiful and interesting trails, by all means, book that trip to Colorado. That just leaves more room on Wisconsin trails for the rest of us.
Author Andrea Debbink knows that, with its lush forests, beautiful lakeshore, and picturesque grasslands, the area in and around Madison has plenty of trails for hikers of all experience levels to enjoy. On the City Cast Madison podcast today, Debbink talks to executive producer Hayley Sperling about her book “Urban Trails: Madison” about how to prepare for a hike and where to go.
Here’s some of the Madison trails that she recommends trying out. So lace up your hiking boots, fill up your water bottle and get going!
Debbink says this is often the first path a newcomer to Madison tries, because it’s part of the UW-Madison campus and popular with students. Most people know the Howard Temin Path that extends along the south side of Lake Mendota towards the entrance to Picnic Point.
Keep going along the Lake Mendota Path, which extends out to Picnic Point and then back along the lakefront past Frautschi Point to Wally Bauman Woods. If you’re not ready to head back, there’s lots of little branching trails through Eagle Heights Woods to explore.
This is a great option for families with young kids – it’s hard to beat a hiking trail featuring a visitors’ center with bathrooms! There’s the main road that extends from Seminole Road east through the Arb to North Wingra Drive, but if that’s too busy there are plenty of trails that offshoot the road into Wingra Woods and Curtis Prairie.
But that’s not the only part of the Arb to explore. Enter through the Martin Street lot and explore the Lost City Forest, featuring remnants of an abandoned century-old housing development. Debbink also recommends entering the forest via the Grady Tract Lot at the intersection of Seminole and the Beltline, where hikers will quickly go from a busy intersection into the lush trails of the Grady Tract.
This is the big boy of Wisconsin hiking, a 1,200-mile trail entirely within the state that’s broken up into over 100 segments. There are seven segments of the trail in Dane County, the closest to Madison being the Table Bluff Segment near Cross Plains and Badger Prairie County Park east of Verona.
Heading a little outside of the city limits, Debbink recommended this park southwest of Mount Horeb, which features a Watershed Trail Tour where hikers can learn about the environmental and cultural history of the region. She said it’s also a great place to forage for black raspberries or gooseberries (which is allowed in county parks).
