Date of Report: May 31, 2022
Area Report:
All Sawyer County and Federal Forest ATV trails are open for use.
COMING UP: Wisconsin DNR National Trails Day is coming up – June 4-5, 2022. Come ride the trails for this free weekend! ATVs, UTVs and off-highway motorcycles are exempt from registration requirements. Resident and non-resident all-terrain vehicle operators do not need a trail pass to ride state ATV trails.
5/31/2022 ATV Trail Report:
Seeley Hills: (North and Northeast of Hayward: Trails 31, 8, 77, 15) Most of the trails in this area shoot off Sawyer County Forest gravel fire lanes. Leaving the main fire lanes, you’ll find primarily hard-packed dirt and rock trails that wind through the woods with occasional hills, sharp corners, and water holes. Some stretches are heavy with imbedded rocks and wash-out tiles (Trail 8), requiring some careful navigating. You will also find a few areas of newer gravel base from recent rehab work. Typically, these trails are fairly dry, although you will find some perennial water holes on each – they all have hard bottoms though and none are deep enough to cause issues for most riders/machines. Recent rainfalls have helped keep the dust down on these trails and have created a few more water holes than usual. Trail 8 heading north from Nelson Lake and hooking into Seeley Fire Lane is extremely wet right now – and many of these large water holes have a softer bottom/mud, so be prepared if you go this way.
LCO Loop: (South of the Casino on Hwy B, Trails 30, 3, 29, 9) These trails wind through a heavily wooded area and are typically always an adventure. Normally hard-packed dirt, with a lot of water holes and dips to navigate. Some of these water holes (especially on 30 & 29) have a deeper, muddier center to them so use caution going through. With the recent rains, this trail is well-dotted with water and mud. Trails cross several roads (watch for trail signs) and have a few areas of sand plus spotty areas of rock as well. Trail 29 is off 30 and shoots you over to the Little Round Lake area- some of this trail is dry but closer to the lake it has some pretty good water holes, especially with the recent storms.
Trail 30 also intersects with Trail 3. If you head east on Trail 3 you will reach and turn right on gravel Green Lake Rd and shortly turn to the right to start up Trail 777. This trail is probably not for beginners- the first section has some deep-water holes and difficult terrain to navigate – if you make it through the first section and end up on Indian Lake Rd, turn right and road ride down a ways -turn left into the woods again for the second section of steep hills and a lot of rocks. If you make it through this, you’ll end up on Gurno Lake Rd and can continue towards the Chippewa Flowage, or head south down Larson Road to the Tuscobia.
At the 30/3 intersection, you can also head west on 3. Mostly a winding dirt trail with more hilly areas and a few less water holes than Trail 30 – this trail comes out on Hwy K at the Little Casino/gas station. From here you can go north on Hwy E to get back into Hayward or you head south on Hwy K and turn left onto Hwy E, to Gurno Lake Rd to bypass the top of 777, If you stay south on Hwy K, you can road ride all the way down between Lac Courte Oreilles/Grindstone lakes, to Hwy KK for several stops.
Chippewa Flowage Area: From Gurno Lake Rd you can head south on Hwy NN to reach resorts on Chief Lake or continue to Hwy N/CC/Conger Rd to reach intersection of Trail 9 N&S and Trail 33. Trail 9 S has some pretty rocky, wet terrain as you get closer to the Ashegon Fire Ln area, but hooks into 777 and takes you to the Tuscobia. Trail 33 takes you to the Blueberry Lake resorts. Or head south on gravel Boundary Rd traveling under Blueberry Lake, to a short run on Hwy H and onto Blueberry Fire Ln- a rocky, hard-packed narrow road with a few shallow water holes. There is a bad culvert washout on Blueberry Fire Ln – hopefully it will be filled in soon. At the end of Blueberry Fire Ln, a left on gravel Helsing Rd will take you to more southern Flowage resorts, or up Hwy CC (the route dead ends at Hwy B). A right on Helsing will take you south to the Tuscobia. Resorts on the north side of the Flowage can only be accessed by coming down FR319 from the Moose Lake area. You can reach Moose Lake by coming south from the Namekagon region or heading north and west from Barker Lake/Fishtrap Lake trails, fire lanes and routes.
Tuscobia/9-mile loop: This railroad bed goes from Price County line down to Birchwood and has access to many areas to stop for gas or grab food/refreshments. Graders had been out grading it but due to higher traffic, some washboard areas are appearing near intersections/stops. Between Ojibwa and Winter there is also a rougher section along the swamps that will cause you to slow down over some deeper holes, dips, and rocks. We have an order for more grading soon so hopefully this section will be smoothed out soon. Near Loretta, there is a driveway culvert that is exposed and has some damage to it – watch for that. The scenic 9-mile loop is always a fun ride, especially since the ‘water hole’ off the side of the trail, now has some good water to play in. The trail winds around in a big circle, coming back out on the Tuscobia, and has a mix of dirt, sand, mud, rocky areas, and gravel. Recent work on a section that is prone to washout has a larger, sharp grey rock in it.
Eastern Trails: I have not yet run the 56-mile Dead Horse Trail between Clam Lake and Loretta, this spring, but I have heard it has plenty of water on it. The northern section had some logging done late March and I’ve heard that the trails in that area are more challenging than those closer to Loretta. There are no stops or gas on the Dead Horse, so come prepared. Trail 5 has a reroute near Clover Rd/Wolf’s Eagle Lodge so watch for signs there – it’s not on the map. Also, in the Flambeau Forest, the bridge over Connor’s Creek is not going to be replaced until early fall, so that trail is rerouted as well.
Enjoy the trails – keep your lights on, and please keep noise and speed in check when road riding through residential areas- we can lose these connector routes if we get too many complaints.
Please contact the Chequamegon National Forest’s District Recreational Info at 715-634-4821 for additional questions. For the Flambeau State Forest call 715-332-5271.
Non-Resident Trail Passes are required for ATVs. (WI residents do not need a trail pass, but are required to display their registration sticker.)
State law requires ATVs to operate with headlights on at all times.
Sawyer County allows the use of Side by Sides on ALL ATV TRAILS, including those in the Chequamegon National Forest.