Elroy-Sparta State Trail Update

Well, at least one damaged section of the Elroy-Sparta State Trail should be open soon! Here’s what we saw when we went up to check out the progress.

The History

In August of 2018, heavy rains and storms caused damage to various sections of the popular Elroy-Sparta State Trail between the towns of Wilton and Elroy. (This section of the trail is about 1 hour north of Devil’s Lake State Park.). It was expected that the trail would be fixed in a reasonable amount of time, but due to a variety of issues that we talked about here, the repairs are only being addressed right now at the end of the 2021 summer season.

Where Are We Now?

As you may know, we delayed our own bike trip this year until October due to the damage. This week we took a drive up to see how the repairs were going. The first observation we made is that the washed-out area between the town of Wilton and Tunnel #1 looks pretty close to fixed! I verified that this was the case with the property manager who told me that this section of the trail should open fairly soon. Of course, we couldn’t pin an exact day down!

Right now crews are working on the bridge located about 2 miles west of Elroy. We have no completion date on that one. The other bridge which is about a mile east of Kendal isn’t as far along. The foundation is in place, but there is no sign of the bridge at this time. My guess is that after the Elroy bridge is completed the crew will move up to the next one. There is no estimate on when these trails will be done.

Photo Gallery

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Detours?

Well, here’s the funny bit. Well, to me anyway. The DNR takes pains not to recommend or suggest a detour for riders. I can only guess that this is a systemic fear of reprisal if someone were to get hurt or killed while riding the roads. Personally, I think the tendency to withhold helpful information isn’t the right move either. So with that said, the only “quick” detours involve crossing over to Hwy 71 which travels along the same route as the bike trail. The issue with the highway is that road biking is inherently more dangerous than riding a trail. The upside of Hwy 71 is that it is a fairly modern road with nice wide shoulders. There has to be, as this is Wisconsin’s Amish country. It’s common to see Amish Buggies sharing the road as well.

More Options?

Of course, there are plenty of fantastic bike trails in our area. The Wisconsin State 400 trail connects Reedsburg to Elroy and the nicely paved Great Sauk State Trail runs from Sauk Prairie through the Sauk Prairie Recreation area. For families, we also recommend Baraboo’s Riverwalk Trail which you can jump on just about 1 mile north of the park on Old Lake Road. We have more information and even video tours available right here.

Oh yeah, and about our trip, the one we were going to be doing all the social media stuff on..?? Well, we’ll still be doing it, detours and all… So if you want to learn more about the trails and what it’s like to do it in October with two dogs in tow… just follow “Skillet Creek” on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram…