 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
The Montrose Segment of the Ice Age Trail is 7.5 miles of bike trail and footpath in southern Dane County. The trail begins at Purcell Road and follows along the Badger State Bicycle Trail. After 3.67 miles a footpath turns off and leads hikers to Piller Road.
After a short walk on the quiet Pillar Road the trail rejoins a 2.7-mile easy footpath of the Ice Age Trail. At the southern trailhead the Montrose trail directly links to the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment of the IAT. This trail features a mix of quiet agricultural scenery and footpath shaded by hardwood forest.
{tocify} $title={Table of Contents}
$ads={1}
advertisement
The quiet Montrose Segment offers an opportunity to combine hiking and biking in a single workout. As an out-and-back it clocks in at 15 miles, but you'll have the opportunity to bike 7 of those miles. The biking portion is mostly uneventful straight and flat trail on crushed gravel. The first portion of the footpath passes along the edge of farmland and briefly traverses through a wooded area before letting out on the quiet Pillar Road.
At the end of Pillar Road there is a large parking lot. From the parking lot the trail is footpath the rest of the way to the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment. The footpath initially winds its way around and up a large bedrock outcropping in dense hardwood forest. On the ridge line the trail crosses several farm fields and ducks into other wooded areas.
Towards the end of the footpath the area around the trail is owned by the Ice Age Trail Alliance. They have restored extensive prairies on the ridge top and established a disperse camping area for long distance hikers. From the disperse camping area it is a short downhill trek to county highway D where the trail meets the Brooklyn Wildlife Area trail. There is not a good shoulder space for parking along highway D, but there is a parking lot nearby with a connecting trail to the Brooklyn Wildlife Segment.
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
Overview: Ice Age National Scenic Trail - Montrose Segment
COUNTYDANE COUNTY
COMMUNITIES
BASCO, MONTROSEK
TOTAL MILES
7.5-MILE POINT-TO-POINT
DIFFICULTY
EASY
LOWEST ELEVATION
890 AMSL
HIGHEST ELEVATION
990 AMSL
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN
590 FT
TOTAL ELEVATION LOST
-610 FT
CAMPING
Disperse Camping Area
POINTS OF INTEREST
Badger State Trail
NEXT IAT SEGMENT EASTBOUND
BROOKLYN WILDLIFE SEGMENT
NEXT IAT SEGMENT WESTBOUND
VERONA SEGMENT
Directions and Trail Map
DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE PDF USGS TOPOGRAPHIC MAPMIDDLETON QUADRANGLE
Click Map Image to load the full interactive map.
If viewing on a mobile device, open the trail map above to load into Google Maps App by touching the expand rectangle in the upper right corner
Address for your GPS: 6619-6707 Frenchtown Rd, Belleville, WI 53508
| coordinates: 42.892424, -89.508254 |
| From Milwaukee | 1.5 Hours |
| From Madison | 25 Minutes |
| From Green Bay | 2.5 Hours |
| From Wausau | 2.5 Hours |
| From Minneapolis | 4.5 Hours |
| From Chicago | 2.5 Hours |
Photos
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |
 |
| Ice Age Trail Montrose Segment |