Devil’s Lake State Park has no flat, paved or “family friendly” bike trails. Bicycles are only allowed on the Uplands Loop Trail within the park. Bikes are not allowed on any other trails within the park.
CONNECTOR TRAIL CLOSED: In 2018 the connector trail between the Northern Lights Campground & The Steinke Basin area was closed until further notice.
The Uplands Loop Trail provides about 4 total miles of “mountain bike” trail at Devil’s Lake State Park. For a short distance from the Steinke Basin parking lot in either direction, the trail offers some medium effort sections on occasionally mowed grass trails, but soon cyclists will find themselves climbing over 200 feet to ride the fairly challenging Uplands Trail. Dirt, mud, loose rock & gravel, ruts, embedded boulders and fallen trees can create potential hazards on sections of the trail.
Even on peak summer weekends, you can be almost alone on portions of the Uplands Loop, however, you do need to be aware of hikers & pets (often off-leash) that could be around any tree or a blind corner. All Devil’s Lake State Park Rules apply. (Only the Uplands & Connector trail are open to bikes.) Cars parking at Steinke Basin still requires a State Park Admission Sticker. For cyclists who prefer staying on blacktop, the rural roads outside Devil’s Lake that travel through the Baraboo hills are very popular, but again, they can be challenging due to the hilly landscape.
Fat Tires
Fat tire bikes are allowed anywhere in winter that bikes are allowed in summer. This limits riders to the roads and the Uplands Trail including the Steinke Basin access to Uplands.
More Biking Options
There are many other biking options outside of Devil’s Lake State Park from “Rail to Trail” and paved trails, to more challenging single trail trails.