The Wood Lake Segment of the Ice Age Trail is a 13.5-mile point-to-point hiking trail that traverses primitive wilderness and county forest land in Taylor County. Wood Lake County Park is located near the trail's midpoint and offers dozens of drive-in first-come-first-serve campsites as well as a lake for fishing, boating, and swimming.
This trail length is popular with backpackers as it rolls over hills far from highway traffic noise. The campground is a local hang, not widely known outside of the county, and you should be able to get a site even on busy holiday weekends. Sites are generous in size, shaded by dense tree cover, and within easy walking distance to the lake and trail.
The Wood Lake Segment connects directly to the Rib Lake Segment to the West, and directly to the Timberland Wilderness Segment to the East.
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
I backpacked this trail segment in addition to the Rib Lake Segment in late summer of 2019 and thought it was a breeze. The difficulty level that I experienced contradicted the difficulty rating in the IAT Guidebook. The trail bed itself is a well worn single track footpath that is easy to follow. And, while there are many hills, none are very high or steep.
I enjoyed the mix of forests which ranged from dense hemlock to large hardwoods. The forest along the trail had recently been logged along some sections which made for hot and sun drenched wasteland landscapes, but the trail is long and the logged areas were soon forgotten. The derecho of 2019 hit the weekend before my hike and several large trees were down causing me to depart the trail in long arcs. These obstacles added several miles to my total walk.
The area around Gus Johnson Creek is the most scenic, and there are some busy beavers in this area which have flooded out areas around the trail. The Gus Johnson Creek valley is formed between two ice walled lake plains which form steep valley walls on either side of the trail. Backpackers looking to make a primitive camping spot will find the higher ridges along the Gus Johnson Creek to be prime - offering a breeze to keep the biting bugs at bay while staying within a scramble from a water source.
Most backpackers, however, will make use of the sites at Wood Lake County Park. The park offers a couple dozen drive-in sites within a quarter-mile of the trail. Drinking water and vault toilets at the county park are welcome amenities.
If you're driving into this area and looking for a post-hike snack I recommend stopping in Rib Lake at Mann Made Pizza. Get the Road Kill for extra protein. They also have Cedar Crest Ice Cream. Another side trip worth checking out is Timm's Hill, the highest elevation in Wisconsin located in nearby Ogema. You can drive most of the way to the top of Timm's Hill, and from a parking lot there is a short uphill walk to an observation tower.
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment
COUNTY
TAYLOR
COMMUNITIES
RIB LAKE, WESTBORO
TOTAL MILES
13.5 MILES POINT-TO-POINT
DIFFICULTY
MODERATE
LOWEST ELEVATION
1628 AMSL
HIGHEST ELEVATION
1800 AMSL
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN
2190
TOTAL ELEVATION LOST
2208 FT
CAMPING
WOOD LAKE COUNTY PARK, PRIMITIVE CAMPING ANYWHERE IN THE TAYLOR COUNTY FOREST 100FT FROM TRAIL
NEXT IAT SEGMENT EASTBOUND
TIMBERLAND WILDERNESS SEGMENT
NEXT IAT SEGMENT EASTBOUND
RIB LAKE SEGMENT
Directions and Trail Map
DOWNLOAD PDF USGS TOPOGRAPHIC MAP
WOOD LAKE QUADRANGLE 2018
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: Newood Ave, Rib Lake, WI 54470
| coordinates: 45.337577, -90.087095 |
| From Milwaukee | 4 Hours |
| From Madison | 3 Hours |
| From Green Bay | 2.5 Hours |
| From Wausau | 1 Hour |
| From Minneapolis | 3.5 Hours |
| From Chicago | 5 Hours |
Photos
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |
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| Ice Age Trail Wood Lake Segment |