WIthumper - WI twisties and hills between Milton and Neillsville

Well, I wanted to contribute to this awesome site so I created and validated a loop to share as sporty ADV/Dual Sport ride between Milton and Neillsville, WI which can be run by most any bike, but the sandy sections are better suited to ADV and smaller Dual Sport bikes. This is what I ended up with...

The file includes 700 + miles of the twistiest, hilliest and scenic back country roads I could muster between the two locations. There are also some sandy sections to keep it mixed up a bit. The sandy sections are around the Warrens area on the East loop and between Black River Falls and Millston on the West Loop. There are more gravel sections on the East loop and most of them are west of the Wisconsin Dells, between there and Elroy. There is another stretch on the East loop west of Necedah to Hatfield (sandy sections mixed in there as well).

The ride began at the Fins restraurant/bar in Newville and then took the East loop to Neillsville in day 1. On day 2, I started at Neillsville and ended back at Fins restrauant again via the West loop.

In addition I wanted to link southern WI to the Jackson Co and Clark Co ATV and single track trail systems for an added bonus for those who want to jump on those as well.

For those who what to ride it in smaller sections, there are ways to shorten it since it includes easy options to make smaller loops out of the bigger one.

This was pulled together by using numerous WI DOT bike route maps and Garmin TOPO and City Navigator maps. Most of the roads are back country roads that are not heavily traveled. There are no freeway sections and the roads navigate through areas of WI that will show off some of the best views that part of WI has to offer.

It was done on a Husky TE610. My moving average for both days ended up around the 35 - 40 mph and it took me about 10 - 12 hours to complete 1/2 of the loop. I was not in a big hurry, but kept it moving most of the day. Also, there are plenty of gas stops to accommodate smaller tanks normally used on DS bikes.

Some of the insteresting spots the route/tracks pass by include (not in order):

Fins bar and grill restrauant - Good food and on the Rock River.
Sauk City - Eagle watching/WI river
Merrimac Ferry - Ride it across the river
Devils Lake State Park
North Freedom historical train museum and train rides
Lake Delton - emptied out into Wisconsin River
Omish country
Necenah National Wildlife Preserve
Cranberry bogs
Optional ATV and single track trails
House on the Rock
Tower Hill State Park
Frank Lloyd Wright Hillside Home
Natural Bridge State Park
Wildcat Moutain State Park
Buckhorn State Park
Wisconsin Dells
Badger Army Ammunition Plant
Blue Mound State Park
New Glarus

Unfortunaty, my camera died so I don't have pics to really give it a good flavor of what the ride was like, but I will post the few that I have when I get a chance (and learn how to post them).

Enjoy!
WIthumper

Cannonshot - Thanks for taking the numerous tracks and creating a route out of it!

Route narrative updated to include some road conditions.

Updates to new GPX file:

1. Updated the track names so that tracks will not overlay previous track names due to GPS track name truncating.

2. Since there are GPS devices that cannot route if it has more than 50 points, I split the route into multiple routes.

Note: If you are going to ride the section between Black River Falls and Millston using a route, review the section first before riding it. There is a short section from the end of one route and the beginning of the next route which are not completely tied together, but can be easily figured out.

Enjoy!

Looks like a great route! Can't wait to give it a spin, thanks for posting!

+1 thanks. I need to exercise that area of Wisconsin next season!

First Post!

Nice Tracks!
I'm here in Milwaukee and I explored western Wisconsin for the first time last year. It's pretty fun once you get around Richfield.

Once the weather gets warm again, I head out.

The Other Alan - Welcome!

Just to put the length of the ride into perspective... I headed out from Milton to Sauk City along the eastern loop and had some lunch. From there, located some interesting roads that hooked me onto the western loop and road back to Milton. No hurry, and stopped from time to time to take in the views. Round trip took from 9:00 AM to about 4:00 PM.

Be prepared for a lot of sporty turns!

OK, ya got me sold. I finally got around to looking this up. I may not ride the whole thing, but even parts of it look fun!

There is an issue downloading the .gpx file. If you want it, just send me a PM and send it off to you.

Nice! Thank you for putting this together.

Hi, can I get the .gpx file for the Milton/Neillsville route? It wouldn't download. You can email it to cbarron@wi.rr.com if you like. I just got a 60CSx GPS so I'm itching to put some routes on it.

I'm originally from Milton (went to highschool with Zigman). You don't live out by Mike Ellis do you?

onefastrph - gpx file sent. Yep... I know Mike. We are almost neighbors.

Small world.

Hmmm...Seems like the download link no worky.

The site is still experiencing download file issues. Just send me a PM with your email address and I'll fire it off to you.

Just got a Zumo and looking for tracks and whaddaya know. Here's one close by. Please email it to me too.

Would you pls email me the file? sliew@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Email sent. Enjoy!