Lone Rock Hike & Buckhorn State Park

I first heard about the Lone Rock Hike in a book called Hiking Wisconsin. Today was the first time I attempted one of this writer’s suggested paths. 

There were a few things that both intrigued me and made me nervous about setting out on this particular trail: (1) Lone Rock is extremely isolated; (2) it involves a hike up a solitary stone tower without any steps or guides that would have been provided in a state or county park.

Lone Rock is located in the Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area, which is on a lonely stretch of road (miles from any highway).

The hike I did the night before was ruined by the constant sound of cars on the highway, so I liked the promise of isolation, but what if anything happened to me? Like what if I twisted an ankle or fell off the cliff? (See mom, I do think about these things.) I ended up telling two of my coworkers about my plans and told them if I didn’t post anything about the trip by Saturday night they should send help.

I pulled into a tiny lot at the sign for the wetlands and started my ritual of applying sunscreen and bug spray.  

I was the only one there until a Prius with Illinois plates sped into the lot and plowed into a big pile of sand that I had noticed and carefully avoided upon my arrival. Three college-age girls climbed from the car laughing and shrieking at the predicament of driving into the sand pile. Alpha Girl announced that it was no problem and she’d just back out while the other girls pushed. I watched helplessly as she spun those tires so far into the sand they were completely buried. I tried to figure out a way I could take a video without them noticing, but opted to try to provide some assistance instead.

I encouraged Alpha Girl to stop, asked if they had cell phones and AAA and recommended they call a tow truck. Alpha Girl told me they were fine and could figure it out on their own. So I left. In a hurry. 

Just in case they decided to hike first and deal with the car later, I didn’t want to be hiking with them for the next 3 miles.

As it turns out, I never came across a single person on my entire hike and I was perfectly okay with this.

Before heading out that morning, I studied up on the Hiking Wisconsin book, as well as downloaded the step-by-step instructions of a hiker who posted about it online in 2013.

I’m pretty impressed with how accurately both books described my feelings on my hike to Lone Rock. The bugs are bad. Like really BAD. However, the swarms were only mildly annoying on my initial hike to my destination. 

The trail is flat and easy and because it hadn’t rained in a few days, the swampy paths were actually mostly dry dirt covered in animal tracks. The only tracks I recognized were deer but there were at least 4 other types of critters using those paths.

Just as indicated in my research, by mile 2.5, I wondered if I would ever see this mega rock feature in the middle of the swampy woods, and then at the next turn it loomed before me.

Lone Rock is a majestic and beautiful rock formation.  

Circling the bluffs were several birds of prey (eagles? hawks? turkey vultures? I'm really not good at bird watching). With the soaring birds and blue skies, the scene was incredible. I could not wait to see the view from the top.

Following the detailed instructions of the book, I searched for the recommended location to hike up.

The online hiker indicated, “The easiest and most serene route is to move south down the west wall until you located a north pointing gap between the main sandstone ridge and another outlying parallel mini ridge, and walk up the canyon that separates them. It is quite nice, with pine needles cushioning your steps up.”

The Hiking Wisconsin author wrote, “Mile 3.0 … is west and a little south of the south end of Lone Rock. A lane runs northeast from this point, up the slope and through the open oak woods to the butte. Follow the lane to 100-foot-high cliffs. At the base of the cliffs, turn right southeast and walk 200 feet to a break in the walls that shows wear marks of an impromptu path. This break, a charming 30-foot-wide canyon offers a way to the top that is little more than steep walking. One or two spots require high steps. There is no serious danger on the ascent route.”

Okay, so at this point, if you are my mom or dad, you should probably stop reading.  There is nothing else to hear in my story. I hiked and made it home.

After my return to my car, I learned that Hiking Wisconsin was written in 2002, which probably explains why his directions were ludicrous. "...charming 30-foot-wide canyon"? Bullshit. And I have no idea what happened between 2013 and today that made the online guy’s advice so poor, but I do know that pine needles do NOT cushion your steps up. Instead they make the hike extremely slippery and dangerous.

I made three attempts, in three different locations, to get to the top of that damn rock. 

My GPS showed my attempts to get to the top.

The first attempt ended at a dead end of boulders, the second attempt ended when I slipped on pine needles and smashed my shin into a rock. My third and final attempt was a doozy.

I made it half way to the top by scaling some narrow ledges and then my foot slipped. I managed to position myself so I landed on my butt as I started sliding recklessly down the side of the bluff. I was gaining speed when the sweatshirt I had tied around my waist snagged on a fallen branch. My slip and slide down the bluff came to a stop with a jerk and I managed to get my feet under me. I was pretty much back at the base of the hill.  While I may have been coated with dirt, pine needles and sap, miraculously the only scrape I had was on my shin from my previous attempt. I was shaken up, but a little wiser and decided to call the rock climbing quits.

No amazing view was worth dying for.

Here is where I found myself in another predicament. When I slid down the side of the bluff, I did not land near the path I had taken to Lone Rock. Instead I found myself surrounded on three sides by a thicket (the fourth side was the impossible trip back up the rock cliff). I had no choice but to walk through the brush.

Which turned out to be thorns.

The next five minutes were the worst five minutes of hiking I have ever experienced.

When I finally made it through (with surprisingly only minimal cursing and no tears), I sat on the grass and pulled dozens of thorns from my flesh (and ultimately decided I need to start packing a tweezers in my hiking kit).

Defeated and miserable I hiked the three miles back to my car. Remember those bugs that were only mildly annoying before? They had grown in numbers and gotten bolder trying to fly in my nose and ears.

As I approached my car, I decided this was a hiking fail. Sure I got some pretty pictures, but I was scraped, covered in thorny wounds, and frustrated with the bugs. Even if someone told me they would show me exactly high to make it to the top, I would need some convincing bribery to get me to go back.

Much to my surprise, the Prius was still stuck in the sand and the three college girls were sitting inside. Not surprisingly, they looked pissed.  They were not talking or laughing. I had been gone for just under 3 hours. 

I was about to offer them some water when an SUV with some young men pulled into the lot. The girls jumped out of the car and were very excited to see them, so I guess their white knights had arrived.

I high-tailed it out of there and headed over the Buckhorn State Park. I’d never been here before, but I had been reading about it and learned they had a shower facility and it was only 30 minutes away. I needed to get the grime off me and thoroughly scrub all my tiny little abrasions, as well as the big shin scrape.

Even in my somewhat foul mood, Buckhorn State Park turned out to be a pleasantly nice park.

If you like camping then it’s worth a try. It’s right on the shores of Castle Rock Lake and has canoe rentals and lakefront campsites.
  

There were also a lot of trails.
  

After getting cleaned up, I did two very short hikes (although there were much longer ones I could have done had my failed attempts to climb Lone Rock not been so physically demanding).

Both the hikes I did were serene and pretty and a nice end to a very long day.

STATS:

Lone Rock Trail

Trailhead Location: Quincy Bluff & Wetlands State Natural Area, just north of the corner of 14^th Drive and Dyke Drive, Adams, WI 53910

Elevation Gain: 127 feet (but all 127 feet was at Lone Rock, the trail is flat)

Distance: 6.9 miles

Time: 2 hours and 45 minutes (including de-thorning legs, recovering from falls, and searching for a way up)

Type of Trail: Out and back

Temperature: 63 degrees, mostly sunny, 48% humidity

Central Sands Trail & Buckhorn Barrens Trail

Trailhead Locations: South Parking Lot & Barrens Lot, Buckhorn State Park, 36^th Street, Necedah, WI 54646

Elevation Gain: None

Distance: 1.25 miles & 1 mile

Time: 25 minutes & 20 minutes

Type: Both trails were loops

Temperature: 77 degrees, mostly sunny, 23% humidity

Point Beach State Forest & the Trestle Trail Bridge

This weekend I was in Neenah spending time with my dad while my mom was away.  He humored me when I asked him to go for a hike and didn’t even blink when I mentioned it was an hour away.

I drove my dad to Two Rivers right on the shore of Lake Michigan.  When we left Neenah the skies were clear and blue, and the temperature was in the sixties; however, once we got to Two Rivers it was foggy, windy and a mere 40 degrees.  It was my first up close experience with “lake effect.”  After we left the park, within 15 minutes we were back in the land of blue, sunny skies and warm weather.

My dad is a good friend and he is one of the funniest people I know (I get my sarcasm from him). During our drive I made a lot of jokes about his senior citizen status, he made fun of my bad driving, and we both lamented about the sheer number of roundabouts along the way (Even out in the middle of nowhere, there were roundabouts. Where in the world are they all coming from?).

Once at the park, I wanted to see the Rawley Point Lighthouse, which turned out to be nothing like I thought.  It looks kind of like a water tower.  

With the clouds so thick and low we couldn’t see very far along the shore.

 So we hiked inland for a mile along the Red Loop Trail.

This is where I learned that in addition to my sarcasm, I’m fairly certain I get my sense of direction from my dad.  I was the one with the map and yet he felt certain we should follow some yellow arrows. I should point out that they did not go in the direction I had mapped out. I even questioned following yellow arrows on a trail called “RED loop” but I was overruled as only a grown daughter who loves and respects her dad can be.  Within minutes I knew exactly where we were and it was not on the Red Loop Trail. I recognized the yellow arrows as being indicators of the Ice Age Trail. Being the amazing daughter that I am, I humored the old man and we trekked on because I knew it would eventually get us back to where I wanted.

My dad should be grateful I stopped him before he hiked the entire trail (all 1,000 miles)

After hiking we drove over to a structure, which was built in the 1930s, and is by the main beach area.  My dad sat by the shoreline and told me about coming here as a kid with the family (he is the middle child of five kids) and how they’d eat lunch in the pavilion and swim in the really cold water and splash along the shore. Even though I had never been there before I could picture them all and it was a really cool moment for me to share with my dad.

That's my dad!

Later that evening, my dad and I went to Menasha to the Trestle Trail Bridge at Fritse Park.

Two weeks ago this area was struck with tragedy. On a beautiful spring evening, dozens of families and couples and friends were walking across this iconic bridge over Lake Butte de Morts. A mentally ill man opened fire from one of the fishing piers and killed random strangers before taking his own life. A father and daughter were two of the victims. The victim’s wife was shot but managed to get their two youngest children to safety (I’ve since learned that she will survive). The distance that injured woman had to cover to get her youngest from the fishing pier to safety is heroic and awe-inspiring. I commend everyone who sprang to action to save her life.

I’ve walked across this bridge several times with my dad. The views are lovely and it’s a really pleasant walk. One end is at a park that I used to play in as a child and the other end is near a lock and damn that we used to travel through in the family boat. The area is nostalgic for me.

I’m not a person who typically likes to memorialize the location of where someone died. I’d prefer to remember and honor how someone lived (instead of a gravestone, I’d like someone to plant a tree or grow tulips or donate a bench in my honor). However, I was deeply moved by the mementos and tokens that people have left on that fishing pier.

Standing next to my dad in the spot where two weeks earlier another father and daughter were murdered stopped my breath.

I didn’t take any photos of the memorial or the place where the tragedy occurred. I don’t want to remember this bridge for that tragedy but instead of the story of resilience for the community. 

The bridge is beautiful.

I will continue to walk here when I visit home and I will think of my family and how much I’d be lost without them.

Tower Hill State Park, Ferry Bluff State Natural Area & Natural Bridge State Park

Today, I took my friend Angie exploring with me to three different areas that were all within an hour of her home. Her favorite place to hike is Devil’s Lake State Park and while I agree it’s stunning, I wanted to show her that there were other areas in Sauk County worth seeing.

Tower Hill State Park

Our first stop was Tower Hill State Park. Even though it’s May, the park was “closed for the season.” Surely, they didn’t mean us. We parked a quarter mile down the highway and hiked in.

The hike was beautiful and had all the elements I love – rock ledges, hills, views and color (I’m obsessed with the color green right now). 

We were never quite where I thought we were when we came across directional signs (perhaps the park was closed so they could fix the signs).  

While there are lots of areas of historical significance in the park (something to do with manufacturing shot for the Civil War), we were there for the views.

From the Mill Creek that ran below to the rock ledges to the nearby swamp -- the area is pretty much stunning.

Mill Creek

While at the park we came across a group of five older women who were staying at the nearby House on the Rock Resort. They were loud, chatty and entertaining (and they also felt the “closed” sign was merely a suggestion). Angie and I saw them a few times along our hike (not hard to do since there are less than 2 miles of trails that keep intersecting with each other).

One of my favorite moments was when Angie and I neared an area called the “Shot Tunnel” which is at the base of a steep cliff and somehow involved with the historical building above. 

The trail to the shot tunnel.

As we approached the tunnel, we heard frantic screaming and the five women came running from it flailing and shrieking. I wish I had it on video.

Shot Tunnel

Apparently, there was something living inside.

Naturally, I wanted to see for myself. I suppose it would be more apt to say I wanted to see it without seeing it. While not afraid of the dark, I am afraid of getting attacked by things I can’t see (you should see me in a haunted house – I scream curse words like a trucker). As far as I could tell there was nothing here to be afraid of. It’s Wisconsin for crying out loud. It was a beautiful day and I was hiking with my friend. Living creatures are harmless, right? (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not Grizzly Man, I was just convinced it was a bunny.) I entered the cave with the assumption that Angie had my back. Of course, I eventually learned she had my far back and never really left the cave entrance.  

I honestly can’t say if there was anything living back there or not.  The darker the cave got, the less confident my murmurs of “I’m okay, we’re doing great, I’m okay” sounded.

Can't tell if there is anything living back in that hay.

Angie guarding the tunnel entrance. She's got my back.

Without a flashlight, I eventually chickened out.

Back in the daylight, this area of the park is incredible with the sheer number of birds flying around and rock formations. The cliffs are filled with nests and the birds dance to the sounds of chirping and insects.

Even though the park didn’t have many trails to hike, and I will always wonder what the heck was in the back of the shot tunnel, it was a lovely destination and absolutely worth the trip.  I will return with a flashlight someday.

Side note: On the hike along the highway back to the car I saved Angie from stepping on a recently deceased squirrel. It was not pretty. Let's just say that at least one of us has got the other's back. Just sayin'.

Ferry Bluff State Natural Area

We drove from Spring Green to the Ferry Bluff State Natural Area using Highway 60. The drive itself is beautiful with winding roads over rolling hills and surrounded by farmlands. For whatever reason, other drivers felt really confident with all the twists and turns and did not appreciate the fact that I was only going 5 over the speed limit. I am confident that the no passing zones were making the other drivers agitated. I eventually found a driveway to pull into and let all the suicidal drivers go by.

Ferry Bluff State Natural Area was not as easy to find as I had hoped, mostly because it’s not marked along the highway.

As a matter of fact the only reason we found it is because Angie mentioned how interesting it was to pass a street named after the place we were going to.

Cue u-turn.

The road from the highway to the Ferry Bluff State Natural Area is about a mile long and it is not gentle.  

It’s gravel and one lane and there are no parking spots at the end. You merely have to park along the roadside and hope people leave enough room to let you out when your done with your hike. 

The hike is short (less than a half mile) and pretty much goes up to the top of the bluff. People have told me how easy this hike is; however, I would not recommend it for everyone – like leave grandma and grandpa at home. It’s kind of steep (although not nearly as steep as some of the other hikes I’ve done over the past few weeks – Perrot State Park comes to mind).

The view is AMAZING.    

You can see for miles standing along a rock ledge 300 feet over the Wisconsin River.  

The trees are green and the water was absolutely perfect.  No one else was there when Angie and I arrived at the top so we simply sat along the ledge and enjoyed the view while we each took about a dozen identical photos.

After we hiked back down, we took a similarly short path along the riverbed.

Back at the dead end of Ferry Bluff Road, I maneuvered a 6-point turn to get out of my parking spot and we were off to our next stop.

How do so many people know about this place?

Natural Bridge State Park

I confess I had somewhat low expectations of Natural Bridge State Park. The significance of this park is its history. Archaeologists found artifacts of people living there dating back 12,000 years. While that is impressive, it’s not necessarily going to make for a pretty hike.

As it turns out the area is charming and serene; albeit, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

The park is named for the stone arch that crosses over the home of the ancient dwellers. The arch is a cool marvel to see (even if you can’t climb on or over it).  It’s covered in initials and names as numerous generations have carved their marks into the limestone.

As it turns out there were lots of families with kids and dogs in the area so we did not stay long.

Angie and I also hiked up a very steep embankment to a scenic overlook (only to discover we were not on the actual path and the way we took was much harder than it needed to be). 

Not a path

The view was mediocre. It was hard to focus on it because a couple lay on the ground canoodling on the other side of the fence covered in “Stay on the Trail” signs. Aca-awkward.

 

Below this photo's edge is a canoodling couple.

Other than the cozy couple, it was a great and full day. 

Angie and me

STATS:

Tower Hill State Park

Trailhead Location: Hiked in from small parking lot on CTH C, Tower Hill is located at 5808 CTH C, Spring Green, WI 53588

Trails Hiked: Hard to say

Elevation Gain: 253 feet

Distance: 2.25 miles

Time: 1 hour (including photo ops)

Type of Trail: Loop

Temperature: 70 degrees and sunny

Ferry Bluff State Natural Area

Trailhead Location: Ferry Bluff Road, Sauk City, WI 53583

Trails Hiked: Bluff and River Trails

Elevation Gain: 246 feet

Distance: 1.15 miles

Time: 35 minutes (including photo ops)

Type of Trail: Out and Back

Temperature: 73 degrees and sunny

Natural Bridge State Park

Trailhead Location: Natural Bridge State Park, E7792 CTH C, North Freedom, WI 53951

Trails Hiked: Indian Moccasin Nature Trail

Elevation Gain: 167 feet

Distance: 1 mile

Time: 30 minutes (including photo ops)

Type of Trail: Loop

Temperature: 75 degrees and sunny