Turkey Vulture to Homestead Loop

Kayaking on Lake Wausau lends to many adventures with bird watching at the Rookery as one of the most rewarding. On the south end of old Snake Bridge, now called McCleary on 17th Avenue, a small landing on Mallard Lane provides a less crowded location to drop your kayaks and easily park. Here you don’t have to contend with boat traffic rocking your course. Take the river channel under the bridg...

Take Cloverland or Parrot Avenue off the hustle of Rib Mountain Drive in the Southern community of Wausau to enjoy access to the Wisconsin River and broadened Lake Wausau. This park provides many amenities, plenty of parking, a boat launch, shoreline trails, shelters, grills, benches and picnic tables. Lake Wausau welcomes all forms of fishing including healthy sized muskies that put up a fight...

From South Mountain Road, turn onto Trillium Lane behind the Rib Mountain Fire Station. Follow Trillium Lane southeast, which acts as the bike path, to the dead-end where a small parking lot is. My friend and I strolled the wide paved path through the wooded wetland area. This project was just completed in September 2020 and is of solid construction, featuring trash receptacles, dog bags, board...

Begin at the trailhead either north or south of the river, where parking is offered, and hike down to the river. You should be able to hear the falls. A trail will follow along the river to the west, marked with yellow "River Trail" signs. Follow the river trail down until the footbridge leads across to the other side of the Eau Claire. Along the way are various spots to climb, swim, take pictu...

Parking is available at the southern terminus on Sportsman Drive and at the northern terminus on County Hwy HH. There is also parking available mid-trail at the intersection of Highland Drive and State Hwy 52, and south of State Hwy 52 along Highland Drive. Hike the trail as 5.7 miles one way by parking at one end and biking to the other end, make the trail an out-and-back of 11.4 miles, or spl...

About 12 miles north of Merrill on 107, there is easy access parking from either the dam on the north or Camp New Wood County Park to the south. We started at the Falls and hiked south to enjoy the rock formation known throughout the Ice Age Trail. While early June meant a cloud of biting insects, the mood didn’t suffer. We met a few people fishing off the rocks, some through hikers and a few d...