Julia has most Fridays off work, so we try to do something special
together on the first day of her weekend. Today, we were off to
Roche-A-Cri State Park, located located about 30 minutes north of
Wisconsin Dells. While I’ve been to most of our state parks, we’ve
never been to this one for some reason. We were scouting it out for a
possible camping trip and looking for a place to hike some new trails.
The main trail in the park is the Acorn Trail (3.5 miles). Most of
it is flat and travels through second growth forest. At one point,
there were some huge white pines that looked like virgin growth. We
added about another mile on Turkey Vulture Trail (beautiful restored
prairie). During most of the hike, temperatures were in the lower 70’s
with light rain.
The highlight of the hike was the mound, which requires 333 steps to
climb. The trail to the mound and the area around the trailhead is not
dog-friendly. I counted at least 6 signs within 50 yards making sure
that you knew man’s best friend was not permitted in this area. I ended
up waiting at the bottom with Callie (dangerous outlaws ready to make a
getaway in the event a ranger thought Callie was too close to one of
the signs), while Julia climbed to the top.
After
our hike was finished, I went back alone and hiked up while Julia and
Callie spent time in the truck. I completely understand the need for
dogs to be leashed and fines for people who don’t pick up after their
pets on a well-traveled trail, but a ban? It’s one reason not to
return. People are capable of a lot more damage than dogs. The other
reason that I wouldn’t camp here is the significant road noise in the
campground from nearby Hwy13. Otherwise, the campground was lovely with
well-spaced sites.
At this point, Julia felt that a lunch and locally-brewed beer was
necessary. I was not going to disagree. We drove to the Dells for a
light lunch at the
Riverwalk Pub
and then took a short walk along the river. Wisconsin Dells is a great
place for water parks, go-cart tracks, and Ripleys Believe It or Not,
but you have to search out the natural beauty.
We then headed over to
Port Huron Brewing Company
for a tasting flight of beers to share. After trying the hefeweisen,
amber, pale ale, ipa, and porter, we brought home a growler of the
Twelve Bottom IPA for future consumption.
We finished the day with a nice nap before grilling some fish for dinner. The yard work would have to wait another day.
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