The Driftless Trail is more than a mini-Ice Age Trail

The project shows the variety of landscapes within the hilly southwest corner of the state

by

Sports & Recreation

Folks who spend any amount of time outdoors in Wisconsin are likely to be aware of the Ice Age Trail. That 1,200-mile footpath wriggles its way through the state, popping up in unexpected places, with its ubiquitous signs featuring a woolly mammoth. The trail continues to grow as land is acquired and easements secured.

Less well known is a smaller project, the Driftless Trail, meant to show hikers the variety of landscapes found within the Driftless Area of southwest Wisconsin. I was certainly unaware of it, despite my love for the Driftless Area.

I grew up backpacking the trails in the High Sierra mountains of California. I hiked a large portion of the 211-mile John Muir Trail, a strenuous feat rewarded by stunningly beautiful vistas, pristine alpine lakes, and beautiful trout streams. Because of national parks, forests, wilderness areas, and Bureau of Land Management land, 100% of this trail is on public land. All it took politically was a signature from the governor of California, Hiram Johnson, to create the trail in 1915. The surveyors did the rest.

The challenge to creating hiking trails far away from the public lands-rich west is that there is almost no public land. Only about 16.5% of Wisconsin’s land is publicly owned, so building a hiking trail of any size will be a long process, with backers patiently assembling small pieces of trail via easements from willing landowners. Federal land in southern Wisconsin is almost nonexistent.

“Think of it as a miniature Ice Age Trail,” says Jen Filipiak, executive director of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy (DALC). “The goal is to have a trail from Governor Dodge State Park, to the wetlands of the Lower Wisconsin River near Spring Green, then to Blue Mounds State Park, and back to Governor Dodge.”

It’s a trail with a purpose, says Filipiak. “The idea is to connect people to the land and to each other, but also connect them to the natural and agricultural world.” Indeed, so many people are disconnected not just from the natural world, but also from the agricultural land where their food is grown. “As it is now, you can’t get hiking land outside of state parks and other state-owned properties unless you have family land or know someone who does.”

The idea of walking on private lands is common in Europe. All that is asked from hikers is that they are respectful and treat the land as if they are guests. When I was walking through Ireland, steps were often built into walls so you could pop over and continue your jaunt. On a walk across Ireland’s Dingle Peninsula, we scaled more than half a dozen stone walls, strolling among the sheep and goats that paid us no mind.

The Driftless Area Land Conservancy received a grant in 2018 from the National Park Service to do a feasibility study to see if people would actually grant easements for the trail. The responses allowed a green light for the creation of the trail. The first mile opened near Pleasant Ridge in 2020.

Today there are four sections, with a total of just over seven miles open to the public. The Knobs Road section is just under four miles, traveling through a working cattle farm with beautiful vistas. The Phoebe Point section is just over a mile and boasts views of the Wisconsin River. Weaver Road was the first section to be added, just a bit over a mile through grassy fields with dairy cattle making the best milk for the best cheese, made just down the road at Upland Cheese. The Welsh Hills loop starts at the Taliesin Visitor Center and runs through the Cates family cattle farm.

At this point, another 15 miles are in process. This is a long-term project, but momentum is there.

Trail sponsor Ann Zimrin, owner of the land in the Knobs Road segment, agrees that access is key for the public to understand what surrounds them. “We were behind the idea from the start,” says Zimrin. “We heard about the project from David Clutter. He approached us because we had land that was perfect for the trail.”

Clutter is the former executive director of DALC, and was the driving force behind creating the trail. Clutter is now the executive director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Foundation.

Zimrin’s section of the trail opened last year. “Some of the hikers were nervous about hunters. Hunting is part of the local culture here, and we wanted to respect that. We close our section of the trail during the deer hunt. It has been a great experience, and no issues or conflict with unwelcome visitors.” The second 2.4 mile-section was recently completed.

The Cates family was also enthusiastic from the start. “My family is all in with the gift of sharing this magical landscape,” says Dick Cates. “We can hardly wait to assist walkers, birders, skiers and more, who love this land as much as we do, to have an opportunity to make it a part of their joy of living.”

The Cates property is nestled near the “shining brow” of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin.

The Cates family has been dedicated to conservation farming on this land for decades, including more than three miles of Lowery Creek, a native brook trout preserve. They are clearly generous with their land access.

“My family is honored and privileged to be able to offer a public walking corridor for a long-dreamed of Driftless Trail through our iconic northern Iowa County grassland and wooded farm,” says Cates.

There is no fixed completion date for the Driftless Trail; it’s certainly a long game. “The hope is that by 2030 it will likely be possible to hike 15 miles from the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway to the Knobs Road segment or Governor Dodge State Park,” says Filipiak. “By 2040, it may be possible to hike through the entire project area on a combination of trails and rural roads, enjoying many nooks and crannies of the Driftless that have not been accessible to the public since the mid-1800s.”