Governor Knowles State Forest is a forest resource protection area running 55 miles alongside the St. Croix National Scenic River. Within its 35,500 acres, the state forest protects a wilderness zone along the St Croix and includes six state natural areas. The rest of its acreage provides a stock of timber that can be selectively harvested for forest products.
The forest features extensive backpacking and hiking trails within the wilderness zone along the banks of the St. Croix River. The Raspberry Route is one of the legs of the longer point-to-point trail system. The Raspberry Route is a bit confusing though, as it is a small network of short interconnected trails that surrounds the St. Croix Family Campground off Highway 70 in Grantsburg, which is the primary drive-in campground at Governor Knowles State Forest. Basically, all of the trails around this campground are signed as the Raspberry Route, but also sometimes signed as a different trail name. I'll try to explain this further in the narrative below.
The Raspberry Route connects directly to the 5-mile long Sandrock Cliffs Trail on its northern end and directly to the 8-mile long Benson Brook Route on its southern end. Between these two points, the trail is about 2-miles long and moderate in difficulty with a few hill climbs. The Raspberry Route features two primitive campsites along the Wood River which are claimed on a first-come basis and are fee-free but require a backcountry camp registration permit available at the State Forest Headquarters in Grantsburg.
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| Raspberry Route Trail at Governor Knowles State Forest |
The St. Croix National Scenic Riverway protects 169-miles of the St. Croix and 101-miles of the Namekagon River that flow between parkland preserved through the National Park Service and state and county forests. Governor Knowles State Forest accounts for 55-miles of the preserved wilderness along the Wisconsin banks of the upper St. Croix. The State Forest also offers overland access to the National Riverway via 38-miles of interconnected linear hiking trails which are suitable for multi-day backpacking excursions.
The Raspberry Route is the primary access point for the southern portion of this linear trail system. The Raspberry Route itself is a 4-mile network of trails surrounding the St. Croix Family Campground and includes the Wood River Interpretive loop.
I started this trail by parking in the St. Croix Family Campground at a small mowed grass shoulder lot that is in-between the trailheads for what is called the Wood River Interpretive Trail. I began my walk by quickly covering a gridwork of trails that extends to the east of the campground. These trails are all signed as the Raspberry Route and eventually lead to a very large gravel parking lot on West River Road. This grid of interconnected trails is very easy walking on wide two-track trails which I suspect make great cross-country skiing in the winter. There is not much for scenery along these hiking trails, however.
I eventually returned to the Wood River Trail and descended down an imposing wood staircase into the Wood River Valley. Keep in mind that the Wood River Trail is a part of the Raspberry Route and is signed as both the Raspberry Trail as well as the Wood River Interpretive Trail.
I found an excellent primitive campsite set off from the trail and on the banks of the turbulent Wood River; that is Wood River Campsite #2. A little further along the trail from campsite #2 I came to an intersection and continued across a modern steel bridge over the Wood River. Just on the south bank of the river, I found Wood River Campsite #1. This campsite is directly adjacent to the trail and I would prefer and recommend site #2 rather than #1.
As the trail extends south towards Raspberry Landing it becomes more rustic and transforms into a single track trail. At Raspberry Landing, you can get down to the banks of the St. Croix for a view of the National River. Heading south after the landing the trail picks up elevation and climbs up a steep hill on switchbacks before reaching its termination and connection to the Benson Brook Route.
This is where I turned back and walked the remaining portions to the north of the St. Croix Family Campground and found the footpath that ducks under the Highway 70 bridge and connects to the Sandrock Cliffs Trail.
Had I continued on the Benson Brook Trail heading south I could have hiked for an additional 15-miles before the trail system terminates at Evergreen Road.
The Raspberry Route is a very beautiful and well-maintained trail. The trail travels in proximity to the St. Croix River, and hikers can sense the water nearby, but there aren't very good direct views or overlooks of the river on this route. However, views of the fast flowing Wood River are extraordinary.
Other than some confusion with the interconnecting trails that are all labeled as Raspberry Trails, the trails are easy to find and follow. I'm looking forward to returning to this area to backpack all of the trail routes at Governor Knowles State Forest.
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| Wood River Interpretative Trail and Raspberry Route |
Raspberry Route - Governor Knowles State Forest
COUNTY
BURNETT
COMMUNITIES
GRANTSBURG
TOTAL MILES
4-MILES NETWORKED TRAIL
DIFFICULTY
EASY-TO-MODERATE
LOWEST ELEVATION
827 AMSL
HIGHEST ELEVATION
905 AMSL
NEXT TRAIL SOUTHBOUND
BENSON BROOK ROUTE
NEXT TRAIL NORTHBOUND
SANDROCK CLIFFS TRAIL
Directions and Trail Map
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: 15415 WI-70 Grantsburg, WI 54840
| coordinates: 45.763427, -92.779781 |
| From Milwaukee | 6 Hours |
| From Madison | 5 Hours |
| From Green Bay | 5 Hours |
| From Wausau | 3.5 Hours |
| From Minneapolis | 1.5 Hours |
| From Chicago | 7 Hours |
Photos
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| Raspberry Route Trail at Governor Knowles State Forest |
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| Wood River Campsite #2 |
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| Wood River along the Raspberry Route |
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| Raspberry Route Trail at Governor Knowles State Forest |
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| Wood River along the Raspberry Route |
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| Wood River Campsite #1 on the Raspberry Route |
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| Raspberry Route Trail at Governor Knowles State Forest |
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| Raspberry Landing on the St. Croix River |
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| St. Croix River along the Raspberry Route at Governor Knowles State Forest |
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| Raspberry Route Trail at Governor Knowles State Forest |
Links
Governor Knowles State ForestGovernor Knowles South Trails Map
Governor Knowles North Trails Map