Ice Age Trail

Ice Age Trail

The Ice Age Trail is a designated National Scenic Trail in the United States that will run some 1,200 miles (1,900 km) through the state of Wisconsin once completed. It was established by Act of Congress in 1980 due in large part to the efforts of Wisconsin Congressman Henry S. Reuss, who in 1976 authored the book On the Trail of the Ice Age. The Trail's origins, however, date to the 1950s with the dream of Milwaukee native Ray Zillmer, who in 1958 founded the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation with the goal of establishing a National Park in Wisconsin running the route of the last glaciation.

As of 2008 the trail is 1,099.5 miles (1,769.5 km) long with 467 miles (752 km) being traditional hiking paths, 103.2 miles (166.1 km) being multi-use trails, and 529.3 miles being connecting roads and sidewalks. The trail wanders through 30 of Wisconsin's 72 counties, following the southernmost location of the last continental glaciation. The western end of the trail is at Interstate Park. The eastern end is at Sturgeon Bay. According to Henry S. Reuss's book, the first person to backpack the entire length of the Ice Age Trail was 20 year old James J. Staudacher of Shorewood, Wisconsin during the summer of 1979.

While the trail is primarily administered by the National Park Service, the trail is also constructed and maintained by numerous private and public agencies including, most notably, The Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation, a non-profit member- and volunteer-based organization with 23 local chapters. Like other National Scenic Trails, the trail often coincides with other trails within various county and municipal parks. The trail thus passes through the land of various owners, including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, The Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation, and hundreds of private citizens.

Two books are published by the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation to help visitors learn about or hike the Ice Age Trail: an 'Atlas' of maps and a 'Companion Guide' hiking book.

• The Western Terminus of the Ice Age Trail at Interstate Park in St. Croix Falls, WI
  The Western Terminus of the Ice Age Trail at Interstate Park in St. Croix Falls, WI
• An Ice Age Trail sign at the Table Bluff segment near Cross Plains, WI
  An Ice Age Trail sign at the Table Bluff segment near Cross Plains, WI

Units of the Ice Age Trail

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The Ice Age Trail is made up of trail right-of-ways, and trails in nine state protected properties.

• Two Creeks Buried Forest State Natural Area-located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the foot of the Door Peninsula.
  • Glacial features: Buried Forest and Lake Michigan.
• Kettle Moraine State Forest
  • Glacial features: Kames, eskers, kettles, interlobate moraine.
• Campbellsport Drumlins
  • Glacial features: Drumlins
• Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area
  • Glacial features: Extinct glacial lake
• Cross Plains (Cross Plains Feasibility Study)
  • Glacial features: Driftless topography, sub-glacially formed gorge
• Devil's Lake State Park
  • Glacial features: Devil's Lake, terminal moraine

See also: Devil's Lake (Wisconsin)

• Mill Bluff State Park
  • Glacial features: Sandstone buttes that were former islands in Glacial Lake Wisconsin and the former lake bed.
• Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area
  • Glacial features: Kettle lakes and ponds, stagnant ice terain, ice-walled lake plains.
• Interstate State Park
  • Glacial features: Deep gorge - the Dalles - cut by glacial meltwaters. Potholes in the bedrock.

For additional summary of each area, see the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve article.

See also

• Quaternary glaciation
• Illinoian Stage
• Laurentide ice sheet
• Pleistocene
• Last glacial period

External links

• Ice Age National Scenic Trail official website
• Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation website
• WI-DNR Dynamic Mapping
• Mittlefehldt, Sarah. "The origins of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail: Ray Zillner's path to protect the past," Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 90, no. 3 (Spring 2007)