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NEWS | Bayfield Area Trails |
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 What a year!!! In 2024 the Bayfield Area Trails volunteer workforce of more than 60 individuals logged over 3300 hours planning and implementing projects in 16 trail locations between early May and mid-November. THANK YOU ALL!
Read all about it in the Annual Report where you will see photos and information about:
 Keeping the crew happy with snacks! The Town of Bayview, Landmark Conservancy, and Bayfield Area Trails send a BIG THANK YOU to all volunteers who helped with trail work at Houghton Falls Nature Preserve on Saturday November 9th!
 Gil Larsen Trailhead Sluiceway Cleanout If you head out on the Big Ravine’s Gil Larsen Trail on Washington Ave. across from the library in Bayfield, you will see excavation and dirt work. The City’s Public Works Department has cleaned out the drainage and catchment structure in front of the sluiceway that directs water through a culvert down to the lake. This maintenance work was required after several high runoff events deposited woody debris, rocks, and sediment that threaten to obstruct the stormwater system.
In the near-term the grassy slope at the trailhead will be reseeded and the gravel trail in front of the interpretive signs will be cleaned up. The City is consulting with restoration specialists to determine the best steps to reestablish desirable vegetation and stave off invasive species in the floodplain. The large dirt pile will stay until the access trail is refurbished into a gently-sloping path next year. For the long-term, the City is requesting funding from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program to conduct an integrated analysis and plan for the recreational and public works infrastructure in the lower Big Ravine. The analysis would evaluate current structures and strategies for capturing debris and managing water flow into the sluiceway. The entire project would take into consideration climate change, changing flow regimes and creek morphology, diversified trail users, universal accessibility, and low-cost maintenance approaches for the trail and water management. If funded, the assessment and planning project would begin in 2025, with the goal of starting implementation in 2026.  During September and October, Bayfield Area Trails Committee partners contributed lots of time, equipment, and energy to prepare the Upper Pileated Woodpecker Trail for hikers and snowshoers this fall and winter. And now it’s ready for YOU to enjoy! The trail can be accessed at the start of the nordic ski trails at Mount Ashwabay. A trail sign marks the start of the trail and provides information about distances to trail intersections and the Pikes Creek bridge. Although the trail between the bridge and the fish hatchery is still closed to public use due to a land ownership dispute, it is a nice 1.8-mile hike to Chickadee Point and 2.2-mile hike to the bridge, making it about 4.5 miles round trip from Mount Ashwabay. The fall colors may be starting to fade, but the grouse are still drumming and the woods are peaceful.
Status Update on the Hatchery Access
Reestablishing public access behind the Les Voigt State Fish Hatchery remains a priority for the Wisconsin DNR. The DNR and Bayfield County are working on a land sale that would transfer three small parcels of property from the County to the DNR. This will be the first step toward reestablishing trail access. DNR continues to research the legal status of the old access road that had been used for many years for public access. The findings of this research will be pivotal in reestablishing access. The DNR recently met with the private landowner to convey their intent to reestablish public access.
Please continue to respect the trail closure until legal public access is reestablished. Thank you for your cooperation!
Ted May, Gene Lemmenes, John Ipsen, Kris Wegerson, Tracy May, Mike Kinnee and Jeff Martin put in the finishing touches by hand, clipping overhanging branches; digging out exposed trippy roots and stumps; cleaning up or fixing water diversions; and adding a couple small water diversions.
In addition to leading to Chickadee Point and Pikes Creek, the Upper PWT connects to the Jolly Long Loop and ultimately to the Jerry Jolly Trails. Follow the signs and discover the adventure out there!  A total of 18 volunteers turned out for two beautiful autumn mornings to work on repairing the Brownstone trail below the Wild Rice Retreat on October 17th & 18th. The three amigas, Kris Wegerson, Cami Smalley, and Suz Thomson also worked on a segment near the Waterford Condos. Thanks to everyone who made it happen! Crew Leaders Extraordinaire: John Ipsen & Kris Wegerson. Track Loader Operator, the magnificent Mark Frazer. Hard working hand crew members who did it ALL: leaf raking & blowing, weed trimming, branch lopping, ditch digging, gravel raking, trail tamping, and culvert installing -
Thank you, donors! This would not have happened without donations of time and funding from Rex Dollinger, Mark Frazer, David Sonstegard, Viking Motors, Wild Rice Retreat, and two anonymous donors.
Crew leader John Ipsen remarked, “This was a pretty complicated project with lots of moving parts and players. But I’m always impressed at how advance planning, the right tools and equipment, and enthusiasm about the trails enables us to accomplish so much in just a few hours.” I think we will call this “the year of Blue Brule” said Kate Kitchell. “We added 31 yards of this gravel in key locations on the west and east sides of the Big Ravine in late September; and now Dan Maki from Viking Motors brought us another 13 yards for the Brownstone Trail.” It’s amazing how the Bayfield Area Trails volunteers rally together to continuously improve the trails.  Before and after images of the work completed on the Striped Skunk trail in the Big Ravine trail system.
The gravel was placed in locations that have been consistently muddy and difficult to traverse late into the spring season. Trail users will recognize these locations where impermeable clay soils and lack of drainage on flat terrain cause the water to pool and stand for extended periods. These conditions were especially prevalent during this year’s extremely wet spring and after the June 19th flood event. In the muddiest spots, volunteers installed heavy-duty landscape fabric to keep the gravel from sinking in. In addition, small berms and drainage ditches were added to divert water off of the trail and minimize potential erosion of the trail tread. Four boardwalks were moved from the Striped Skunk Trail and relocated to extend existing boardwalks in key locations. It was a huge team effort!
Although we hope that the 2024 very wet spring conditions and the June 19th flood event were relatively uncommon occurrences, we hope that these trail improvements will make the trails more usable under such conditions in the future.
Thanks go to the volunteers re-opening this trail: Fred Clark, John Ipsen, Kate Kitchell, and Jen Maytum, who worked under Mattson’s leadership.
Check out the trail. It’s easy walking. You’ll be refreshed by the tranquility of Pikes Creek which is just beginning to reflect this season’s famous fall hardwood colors.  We are launching the Bayfield Area Trails Economic impact study trail user surveys. We need your help. Trails! Hiking, XC skiing, snowshoeing, biking …. presumably trails in the Bayfield Peninsula are valuable and attract people to the area to visit and live.
We need volunteers: If you’re not the type to run a chainsaw, swing an ax, or build rock steps, this is an excellent opportunity to support Bayfield Area Trails. We are looking for folks who are willing to sign up for 2-hour shifts at a trailhead where they will greet trail users, conduct a short interview, and enter interview results into a database via a personal tablet or phone. Volunteers will receive training and will be provided name tags and a Bayfield Area Trails ball cap to identify them as trail volunteers. Volunteers will have lots of flexibility to sign up when times are convenient for them; and they may choose to work with another person or alone. Timing: We plan to conduct the first volunteer training the week after Labor Day and to start trail surveys by September 15th. Sign up here: If you are interested in possibly volunteering, please sign up here. We will invite you to the training and give you a chance to give it a try! Please sign up via this link.
 At 9 am on Friday August 16th, Nan Fey, Bob Feyen, Neil Howk, John Ipsen, Kate Kitchell, Ted May, and Kris Wegerson met at the Mount Ashwabay parking lot to work on the Upper Pileated Woodpecker connector trail between the Jolly Long Link and the Ashwabay parking lot.    Kate, Neil, Nan, John and Kris removed rocks from a portion of the trail where Bayfield County plans to bring in machinery to mulch the trail surface in early September. This will be followed by Doug Olson’s handiwork to install rock in a drainage that crosses the trail and to elevate the trail surface and create drainage to make the trail fully passable prior to the end of the season.    Ted and Bob worked on stabilizing a footbridge that was impacted by flooding earlier this summer. Neil, Nan, and Kate hauled rocks from the creek bed to armor the streambank around the bridge. Ted, Kate, Kris, John, and Bob also dug some water bars across the trail on the slope leading down to the bridge to prevent erosion from heavy runoff and foot traffic. Ted, John, Kris, and Neil returned on Saturday August 17th to install steps/water bars on the Pileated Woodpecker Trail just south of the spur trail to Chickadee Point. They installed 15 steps along the switchbacks on the steepest part of the trail. Additional steps are still needed, but these new ones should help divert water from running down the trail as well as create steps for trail users where the clay soils can create slippery conditions when wet or icy.
Although the trail remains closed at the Red Dam gate behind the Les Voigt Fish Hatchery, it can be accessed from Mount Ashwabay as it connects to the Jolly Long Trail that ultimately leads to the Jerry Jolly Trail network from Star Route. This work puts us several steps closer to having a full trail connection between the fish hatchery and Mt. Ashwabay. Stay tuned for more progress! |
