Last year over Memorial Weekend we had a family weekend at Parkland Village Campground and while the Heath and Mason did their dirt bike riding, Tristan and I explored the surrounding area. This is where I encourage you to divide and conquer with your kiddos every so often, explore hobbies together and apart, have family time and build your skills as a team and as individuals. This time we had one of the sleeper cabins, so the family was split between the sleeper cabin and the roof top tent on the Jeep. Besides the refrigerator in the sleeping cabin, it was more like camping than our park model cabin rental this year with all the amenities. I always camping and the roof top tent, so no complaints from me :) The sleeping cabins are nestled up along the edge of the campground surrounded by woods, so it feels private (and you aren't surround by RVs) which is nice.
Hiking
AllTrails helped us plan our hiking adventures this go round. I have the free version which has a lot of capabilities, you can find trails, bookmark favorites and save them to lists, navigate while on the trail, among other things. AllTrails+ has even more capabilities like sharing trail updates with people you select. If you download AllTrails and set up an account, even just the free version to check it out, they will plant a tree for you and me, isn't that neat?!
Scenic Overlook Trail
If you are heading north on I-94 to reach Black River Falls, this is a great stop as the trailhead is at a rest stop south of town. If you are heading there from Black River Falls, you will have to head south on 94 and then back track north a bit to get there. I believe I was able to turn around earlier than the maps app recommended. This is a 0.8-mile out-and-back trail that is ranked as easy. It is paved until you reach a nice boardwalk that leads to the overlook. Tristan and I spotted a sand trail that allowed us to loop back on the other side of the hill versus coming back on the pavement, you can see our route in the screen shot below. The lupines were in bloom among the white pines making for a scenic hike all around.
Levis Mound
Levis Mound Recreational Area is about a 22-minute drive north of Black River Falls, WI. The trails there are open to biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. They also offer camping and have a shower building with a pavilion, restrooms, drinking fountains, and air station for bike tires. The majority of folks we saw were there for mountain biking. They have mountain bikers start on one side of the trail system and hikers on the other, so you are mostly only crossing paths and not following one another/having hikers hold up mountain biking traffic. And bonus! There is no user fee if you are only hiking.
Tristan and I hiked the Cliffhanger Loop and then added on a portion of the Porky Point Loop. The Cliffhanger Loop is a 3.2-mile loop trail that is rated as moderately challenging and AllTrails average time listed to complete is 1hr 16mins. The Porky Point Loop is 1.4-miles and rated as moderate with an average time of 33mins to complete. Tristan and I hiked 3.91-miles with our movement time clocking in at 2hrs 13mins. We took plenty of breaks and spent quite a bit more time on the trail than that; there are a lot of ups and downs and elevation gains throughout the hike. The views at the overlooks were stunning but the cliffs alongside the trails to get there were just as cool. Before passing over and under the cliffs, you have a scenic hike through the bluff valley, and as you hike the bluff side you get incredible panoramic views of the landscape from which you just ascended. Tristan exclaimed this trail was even cooler than Whitewater's State Park Chimney Rock, which previously held all-time top rank. We didn't come across too many mountain bikers but when we did it was fun to watch them traverse the trails.
Exploring in and around Black River Falls
Downtown
The Carnegie building used to hold Wisconsin's first public library and now houses the Jackson County Historical Society Museum. It is a neat place to visit to explore the past and learn about the community and surrounding area's heritage. Hardware Hank has any camping gear or bug spray you may have forgotten, and the antique shop has the coolest mural! Right from downtown you can view the dam and walk down to the Black River. The river edge is sandy and picturesque.
Lunda Community Park
As a family of young kids, we seem to always be in search of playgrounds. Black River Falls has quite a few to offer and the Lunda Community Park had one that Tristan thoroughly enjoyed. We enjoyed surrounding park grounds as well, especially the pond with the very forthcoming fish.
Rustic Mill Park
This park is located about 2.5-miles outside of Black River Falls. A creek runs through the park and there is a small waterfall where the mill used to reside. The creek has a nice sandy bottom in the mill area and was fun to splash around in. It was a bit muddy in other areas. Quite a few others were there doing the same, there was a group doing family photos while were there as well. It seemed like a pretty popular place. There is a pavilion with restrooms as well. Here you can also fish and walk along some scenic trails.
Wazee Lake Recreation Area
Wazee Lake is about 8-miles outside of Black River Falls and the perfect spot to get in or on the water. Tristan and I headed straight for the beach, which was packed. We ended up parking along the roadside which seemed like typical overflow parking for the area. All we brought were towels, which was sufficient, but a water/sand toy set and/or a floaty would've been the icing on the cake. After splashing around and playing in the sand, we drove around the lake and checked out a few of the overlooks. Checkout the Part One blog post for more info on this recreation area.
We look forward to returning to the Black River Falls area in the future and exploring more of the city and surrounding area has to offer. Thank you for reading!
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