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Over 20,000 acres of glacial hills and lakes are available in the Southern Unit, and the Northern Unit, which is about 40 miles north, contains another 29,000 acres. Over 145 miles of trails are available, including 51 miles for equestrians, 23 miles for mountain bikes, 46 for snowmobiles, and 30 for cross country skiing. The area became buried under a glacier about 100,000 years ago, and when it receded 12,000 years ago, it left behind Wisconsin Glacier moraines (after which the state is named), eskers, drumlins, lakes, marshes, bogs, and gorges. Its southernmost edge is called terminal moraine and the 1000 mile Wisconsin Ice Age Trail, a National Scenic Trail ( of which 610 miles in 45 segments were completed as of 2000) runs atop this terminal moraine. About 32 miles of this trail traverse the Southern Unit and another 30 miles or so run through the Northern Unit.
Three-sided shelters are interspersed along the Ice Age Trail, and in the Kettle Moraine, these are the only areas where backpackers are allowed to camp. Shelters are roofed, have an sand floor, and provide latrine, fire ring and space for tents. Water is not readily available at shelters number 2 and 3, which we stayed at. Shelter number two is a half mile from the forest headquarters, where water is available. Shelter number 3 is 2 miles away from the advertised water source, a washroom facility in the parking lot of the Muir Hiking/Biking Tail area trailhead (and more than 2miles if you can't find the correct "loop" to take to the parking lot! There is a pond a few hundred yards south of shelter 3, near Dutton Road, but the water did not look too appetizing.
A backpacking permit is required and a fee is charged for the use of the shelters ($18 for 2 nights, 3 people). Also, a parking fee is charged. In 2000 the parking fee was $7 per day for non-residents, or an annual pass for $25.
Summer temperatures range from 75 to 95 degrees. Wildlife includes whitetail deer, hawks, turkey vultures, raccoons, squirrels, possoms, and turtles. There are no bears in the area. Wildflowers abound, as do straw grasses, sumac, poison ivy, maple, oak, and birch.
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E-mail Chuck at CMorHiker@aol.com