CannonTracks - Touring Wisconsin - Bayfield to Beloit, WI

Bayfield, WI to Beloit, WI 616 miles

This route is primarily pavement, suitable for big adventure bikes, and might serve as an entertaining return route for anyone who rides the Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail.

I developed the route after considering a run on the TWT and realized I didn't want to just slab it home.

The route will take a minimum of two days but obviously that varies depending on how involved your sight seeing is.

Attractions/Features of the Route:

1. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (HQs in Bayfield) http://www.nps.gov/apis/index.htm
2. Big Top Chatauqua (live music tent near Bayfield) http://www.bigtop.org/
3. Northern Great Lakes Visitor's Center (near Ashland) http://www.northerngreatlakescenter.org/
4. Copper Falls State Park (near Mellen) http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/Org/land/parks/specific/copperfalls/
5. Rustic Road 95 (there are 8 rustic roads along the route)
6. Scenic Flambeau River and State Forest http://dnr.wi.gov/forestry/StateForests/SF-Flambeau/
7. Wisconsin Concrete Park (near Phillips) http://www.friendsoffredsmith.org/
8. Timm's Hill (highest point in WI, lookout) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timms_Hill
9. Rustic Road 62
10. Rustic Road 78
11. Travel along the Wisconsin River
12. Rib Mountain State Park http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/ORG/LAND/PARKS/specific/ribmt/index.html
13. Paper Mills in Wisconsin Rapids, Port Edwards, Nekoosa area
14. Shoreline rides along large Wisconsin River Flowages (Petenwell, Castle Rock)
15. Wisconsin Dells
16. Hwy A (Lake Delton) currently washed out - where recent news film of houses going in the river was made
17. Rustic Road 49 that runs along a levee on the WI River
18. Baraboo - home of the Circus Museum http://www.circusworldmuseum.com/visitorcenter/index.html
19. North Freedom - Railway Museum http://www.midcontinent.org/
20. Devil's Lake State Park http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/ORG/LAND/PARKS/specific/devilslake/
21. Free ferry across the Wisconsin River at Merrimac http://www.dot.state.wi.us/travel/water/merrimac.htm
22. Prairie du Sac - eagle watching below the dam
23. Rustic Road 21 near Leland
24. Shot Tower at Tower Hill State Park (near Spring Green) http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/Org/land/parks/specific/findapark.html#tower
25. Barneveld - wiped out by a tornado a while ago
26. Blue Mounds State Park (nice views) http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/ORG/land/parks/specific/bluemound/
27. New Glarus - Swiss Heritage town http://www.swisstown.com/
28. New Glarus Woods State Park http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/ORG/LAND/parks/specific/ngwoods/
29. Rustic Road 81
30. Rustic Road 94
31. Monroe (visit the square, have a Swiss Cheese sandwich - big cheese country) http://www.greencounty.org/aboutus.iml
32. Rustic Road 90
33. The route ends at the interstate at Beloit.


I also waypointed a few potential campsites along the route.
Fuel is pretty straight forward as the route runs through many towns.

An interactive map of the route:
http://maps.innersource.com/GProject.aspx?pid=5302












If you would rather have the .gdb, PM me an e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

The file contains one route, twenty-four waypoints, and six tracklines of less than 250 points each.

For anyone considering this as a return route after riding the TWT, here is a picture depicting the proximity of the two routes. The TWT is yellow and this route is green. If someone wanted a 1170 mile loop, they could join either track anyplace proximate to their home, and then ride out the loop to complete both segments. One would have to map out a link from Monroe to the start of the TWT (easy deal).

There are two other complimentary routes posted in GPS Central that could serve as return routes for big bikes.



East Coast: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367677

West Coast: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=367668

These tracks are now available again for download. Many thanks to fellow ADVer deputyjones who offered some server space.

Go to http://dsam-mi.org/GPS_Files/ and you will see a directory of folders that contain the files. You should be able to choose the proper directory without much trouble. The individual files will have names that are the same as or similar to the file names listed when the files were hosted on ADV.

The files are listed as .zip files. If you left click/open the file, you will open it in your computer's temporary internet directory. Depending on how you have your computer set up, clicking on the .gpx will open the file with Mapsource so you can look at it. Remember, it is in your temporary internet files.

To save the file in one of your neatly filed directories, "left click/save" or "right click/save target as" and put it where you want to keep it.

Some of the files have an associated spreadsheet file with points of interest (Black Hills, Pony Express, etc). Same procedures apply.

Happy to have quick and easy access to these files again.

Replacing lost file.

I think you could make a nice trip out of that. Lots to see along the way.

If I could, I would have been gone long ago.

Download it in post 7.

CannonTracks - Touring Wisconsin - Bayfield to Beloit, WI | Adventure Rider (advrider.com)