I'm leaving on Monday (June 11-17) for a 5-6 day tour from Minneapois to Chicago. I'm basing my route mostly on what Google Maps says to do via bike (with a few minor adjustments). I have an approximate route map on my other computer, I'll get it uploaded soon.

I'm planning to travel through and stay in each of these towns a long the way:

Pepin (80.4 mi)
La Crosse (73 mi)
Reedsburg (82 mi)
Lake Mills (85 mi)
Racine (80.3)
Chicago (70 mi)

Has anyone toured this part of Wisconsin before? I'm looking for suggestions on the best maps and routes to take along the way. Anything I must see along the way? Good places to camp?

This will be my first time spending time in Wisconsin and I'm really excited about seeing what I've heard is a gorgeous state. I'll post some pictures when I return.

I'd really appreciate any suggestions, thanks!

Lucas

Paging Steef. He's toured to Milwaukee.

This is a great ride! You can take lots of rails-to-trails paths getting out there. I would recommend going down the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi from Prescott but its hilly so if you’re not into that the Minnesota side is better but be very careful if you’re thinking about crossing the river at the Hastings Bridge. This bridge has a lot of construction going on and sucked to cross before all that work started.

The first rails-to-trails path starts about 4 miles south of the Winona Bridge on the Wisconsin side. It’s easy to miss so be careful. Right after crossing some train tracks there’s a sign for the Marshland trail access. I think it’s just a little dirt road on the right off from highway 35. Link to map is below.

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/parks/specific/greatriver/greatrivermap07.pdf

This will get you to the La Crosse River State Trail.

http://www.lacrosseriverstatetrail.org/images/bikemap3.gif

Then the Elroy-Sparta trail.

http://www.elroy-sparta-trail.com/trailmap.htm

Followed by the 400 trail. This map includes the first three trails too.

http://www.400statetrail.org/trail-map.pdf

From Reedsburg make sure you swing through Devils Lake state park and then go through Merrimac to take the ferry across Lake Wisconsin. Swing through Madison (not sure which roads are best to get there, it’s been a long time since I toured the area). East of Madison you can get on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, which will get you to the Milwaukee area.

http://www.glacialdrumlin.com/Home.html

Then you can just follow the coast of Lake Michigan down to Chicago. Last tip would be to stop at the Baha’i temple in Evanston. Beautiful architecture and the surrounding gardens are amazing too.

http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/

Have a great trip!

I can't get some of these links to stop getting broken up, sorry about that. Just search for the trail names on your own I guess.

Don't be a wiseacre. Steef did it in 2 days and slept on the bike.

Use the url button and put the links between the tags.

Thanks! Links all work now.

This is not a ride to be done in a hurry, there's lots to see on the way so take as much time as you can. Plenty of camping options along the way but campsites are harder to find as you get closer to Milwaukee and Chicago. The campsite at Elroy is one of my favorites of all time. Find a site at the very top of the hill so you're out of the woods and away from the mosquitoes.

Can’t stop thinking about what a great route this is and since no other tips are coming in I’ll offer some more detailed advice.

I think there are two good options for breaking up this trip based on campgrounds along the way. The first one is my preference but it requires you to put in a big ride on the first day.

Option 1:

Mpls to Merrick State Park (110 miles)

Merrick to Elroy (92 miles)

Elroy to Devils Lake State Park (50 miles) – This assumes you go by way of the International Crane Center, which you should. It’s more like 40 miles if you go straight to Devils Lake, which would give you more time in the state park but you would miss seeing the Crane Center.

http://www.savingcranes.org/

Devils Lake to Lake Mills (70 miles) – Go by way of Merrimac and take the Ferry, it’s awesome! Then take a route through Madison to stop somewhere for lunch or whatever else you want to do there. There’s a campground called Sandhill Station at Lake Mills. I haven’t stayed there before so can’t vouch for it. I stealth camped off the Glacial Drumlin trail closer to Waukesha. I remember it being a little hard to find a spot where I didn’t think I would be noticed and waited until right around sunset to pitch my tent and then broke camp right away at first light.

Lake Mills to Illinois Beach State Park (105 miles) – Another long day but there aren’t a lot of camping options between these two points.

Illinois Beach State Park to Chicago (50 miles)

Option 2:

Mpls to Stockholm (70 miles) – Camping is in the city park and I’ve heard it’s kind of loud due to trains passing through.

Stockholm to Sparta (96 miles)

Sparta to Devils Lake (78 miles) – Not likely you’ll have time to swing by the Crane Center, which would add a few miles, or have much time to really enjoy Devils Lake.

Devils Lake to Lake Mills (70 miles)

Lake Mills to Illinois Beach State Park (105 miles)

Illinois Beach State Park to Chicago (50 miles)

Thanks for all the tips, and sorry I didn't get a chance to reply earlier!

I've been on tour since mid-day Monday and I'm currently in Madison, Wisconsin. I'm going to hop on the Glacial Drumlin Trail after breakfast and head toward Racine for the night. It's been a beautiful ride thus far. The "Bike 4 Trails" network was incredible, it brought me all the way from Marshland to Reedsburg on gorgeous, shaded bike ways.

You can check out/follow my photos on Instragram @onlandandatsea, I'm not keeping any other documentation but will be sure to write something up at the end!

Thanks again,

Lucas

Just checked out your pics on instagram...looks like an awesome time. Love the pics on the trails. You riding solo?

If you ever want to ride that route again, let me know. I've been wanting to do this for a few years now.

Yeah, I did the trip solo, and only ran into one other group of bicycle tourists along the way. I had heard about a guy who was also cycling from Minneapolis to Chicago who was about a half a day ahead of me, but I never caught up to him.

The route was beautiful! I shot a number of instagrams along the way because it was the easiest thing to do as I was using my Iphone to navigate.

If interested, you can see the photos from my trip here: http://instagrid.me/onlandandatsea/?v=list

Great pics!

I loved that Ferry because I did not know I was going to encounter one.

Did you take the Des Plaines trail ?

Did you check out the Bike Museum in Sparta ?

Next time I do the ride, I am crossing over at Winona to get on the WI trails there.

good pics. i rode mpls to mke last summer and it was great. i was so amazed at all the rails to trails that made getting there so easy.

im headed out in 2 weeks with a few other mbl'ers to ride to mke again. last time we skipped the ferry, but this time ill try to route it in. also have to route in a few breweries/wineries. new glarus, tyranena, vintage, ale asylum, seven hawks.

those tunnels on elroy sparta trail are amazing.