Castle Mound provides dramatic backdrop
Rock formations greet hikers near Black River Falls
It was a beautiful late-fall day last year when I found myself stuck inside — a car in this case.
On my way from Milwaukee to Eau Claire, the freeway miles piled up behind me as the sun shone outside, teasing me from a bluebird sky. I had to get out of the steel bubble and soak it in.
Luckily, I was just shy of Black River Falls, home to the 68,000-acre Black River State Forest.
The forest in Jackson County buzzes with activities year-round — sometimes literally, as ATVs and snowmobiles zip along more than 30 miles of trails. It’s also a popular spot for mountain biking, canoeing and kayaking, camping, hiking and cross-country skiing in the winter.
It was just me and my legs that day, so I opted for a quick jaunt on one of the forest’s hiking-only trails, the Castle Mound Nature Trail.
Most of the forest is northeast of I-94, but a couple of small parcels, including this trail, are south of the interstate.
Tucked along Highway 12 southeast of Black River Falls, the trail is in the Castle Mound Pine Forest State Natural Area, which protects a 180-foot butte of Cambrian sandstone. The mound’s location and orientation creates different plant communities on either side of the mound, “an ecological dividing line,” notes a sign along the nature trail.
The cool, north side harbors a boreal forest of white and red pine, paper birch, white oak, red maple and large-toothed aspen — a collection of trees typically found about 100 miles north. The drier southern side of the mound is home to jack pine and oak plus prairie flowers such as goldenrod — a forest community more common 100 miles south.
I parked near the trailhead at the entrance to the Castle Mound campground and started southeast down the 1.5-mile nature trail that circles the base of the mound, traveling a wide and easy path. About midway down the mound, I followed the halfmile trail that climbs up and traverses along the top of the butte, providing access to a small observation platform with nice views of the surrounding forest.
The overlook trail is not marked very well, but it’s hard to get lost when you’re on top of a mound. I had it all to myself as I first hiked northwest, squeezing around massive sandstone boulders and towering, layered rock formations.
As the last glacier retreated from Wisconsin, it left the soft Cambrian sandstone here exposed to weathering and erosion. That created dramatic buttes, hills and castellated bluffs like Castle Mound.
At the end of the mound I turned back to the southeast, toward the observation platform near the center of the mound. A short metal staircase there led up to a small platform that was once used for fire detection. Now it’s just a great spot for taking in the views, which are no doubt terrific during peak color in the fall. In the spring you might catch some migrating birds as well as redtailed hawks and eagles riding the thermals around the mound.
The rest of the forest is home to a variety of wildlife including the endangered Karner blue butterfly, wolves and elk, which were reintroduced to the area in 2015 and 2016 after a more than 125-year absence.
You probably won’t see any elk at Castle Mound, with its location close to the highway and a popular campground.
Still, the beautiful natural area with its towering rock formations makes for a great pit stop to stretch your legs and soak up some time outside.
While you’re there: The Castle Mound campground is open year-round and has 35 campsites, including an accessible electric site, plus a new shower building set to open in May.
On the other side of the interstate, the Smrekar and Wildcat trail systems are popular with mountain bikers in the summer and skiers in the winter, with seven trail loops stretching for 24 miles. Bikers 16 and older need a state trail pass ($5/daily, $25/annual).
More information: Note that most of the forest is open to hunting; be aware of the various seasons and wear bright colors during deer gun hunting in the fall.
The trails are often covered in pine needles and can be slippery when they’re wet — hike with caution, and keep a close eye on kids, especially when hiking along the observation trail.
Because Castle Mound is a nature trail, dogs are not permitted.
You’ll need a state parks admission sticker to park at the Castle Mound lot ($8/daily, $28/ annual), but they’re not required for some other areas of the forest, including the Smrekar and Wildcat parking lots.
For more, call (715) 284-4103 or see dnr.wi.gov/topic/State Forests/blackRiver.
Getting there: Castle Mound is on Highway 12 southeast of Black River Falls, about 195 miles northwest of Milwaukee via I-94 and Highway 54.
Reach Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel .com or on Twitter at @chelseylew.