Madison Hiking
Submitted by jlinwood on Sat, 2010-10-02 02:54

On the west side of Madison, Blue Mound State Park has the best system of technical trails - great for a weekend day. Closer in to town, hiking options are a little more limited - the best places are the UW Arboretum and Elver Park.

Trails: 

University of Wisconsin Lakeshore Path

The University of Wisconsin Lakeshore Path (also known as the UW Lakeshore Path) runs along Lake Mendota in Madison near the University. The most used part of the trail connects the tip of Picnic Point to the UW Memorial Union and the Union Terrace. The round trip is about 4 miles. Most of the trail is on a wide crushed gravel surface, but there are also segments of paved trail with soft shoulders that are separated for bike and pedestrian traffic.

3.00miles

University of Wisconsin Arboretum

Description: 

The UW Arboretum is a great place to exercise outdoors in Madison. The arboretum's main road does not cut through the arboretum, except for bicycles, making it perfect for road bike training.

The 1200-acre Arboretum is laced with hiking trails, open from 7am to 10pm. They do get pretty muddy in wet weather, but you can access over 20 miles of trails through the Arboretum.

The visitor center makes for a nice introduction to the nature center side of the Arboretum, if you are interested.

Glacial Drumlin Trail

The Glacial Drumlin Trail is a 52-mile trail that connects Cottage Grove, just east of Madison, with Waukesha, west of Milwaukee. The western 39 miles of the trail are wide, crushed limestone - the eastern 13 miles are paved and suitable for road bikes or inline skating.

Like many Wisconsin rail trails, you will need to purchase a state trail day use or annual pass if you plan to bike, cross country ski, or inline skate. Hiking the trail does not require a trail pass.

52.00miles

Blue Mound State Park

Description: 

Blue Mound State Park is 25 miles west of Madison, Wisconsin, and is one of the best open spaces in the area for trail running, mountain biking, and running on singletrack and doubletrack. The park is out Highway 151 from Madison.

There are miles of trails, and more added all the time. You can make a 15-20 mile loop on the trails without a lot of repeats. Unlike a lot of Wisconsin trail, this is technical, not just dirt roads or cross-country ski trail.

The park is home to the Blue Mound Trail Run in June, and the 12 Hours of Blue Mound Mountain Bike Race in August.

There is a swimming pool in the park for cooling off after your adventure.

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