Straight Lake may be Wisconsin’s quietest state park
It's quiet at Straight Lake.
The kind of nobody-else-is-here quiet you don’t usually find at a state park in Wisconsin.
As my mom and I hiked the Ice Age Trail through the Polk County park in May, our biggest run-in was with a garter snake that caught me off … guard. In about an hour of hiking, we saw only two other people. For that kind of solitude on a summer weekend in Wisconsin, you usually have to go deep into national or state forest land.
"There are times I'm up there and I don’t see another soul," said Matt Densow, the ranger and assistant property manager for Straight Lake. "You definitely feel like you're out there in the wilderness."
A few factors contribute to the serenity. As one of Wisconsin's newest state parks — the Department of Natural Resources purchased the land from the Brunkow Hardwoods Corp. in 2005 — it's not as well known as its older siblings.
Located about 70 miles northwest of Eau Claire, it's not exactly easy to get to, especially from the Milwaukee area.
The land, which used to be a Boy Scout camp, doesn't have any flashy natural features — just two pristine lakes, a few hiking trails including the Ice Age Trail, and a handful of walk-in campsites. And although it has been a state park for more than a decade, it's been developed for recreation only in the past couple years — minimally.
"Straight Lake was one of those (parks) that was determined to be a more silent-sports type of property," Densow said, noting the DNR wanted to keep it as rustic as possible.
That included forgoing a visitor entrance building,
which originally was part of the park's 2009 master plan.
Motorized activities and even biking are prohibited at Straight Lake, where miles of quiet, empty trails beckon. Ten rustic, walk-in campsites — spaced at least 400 feet apart — allow for a quiet overnight trip and supreme stargazing far from city lights.
The park feels a little like Newport, Wisconsin's only wilderness park. That Door County park is minimally developed with only walk-in campsites as well.
"That's kind of what we tried to go with," Densow said.
Straight Lake's main trail is a nearly 4-mile segment of the Ice Age Trail that traverses the length of the 2,000-acre park, following the shores of Straight and Rainbow lakes and the Trade and Straight rivers.
The trail passes through a forest filled with red and white oak, basswood, red maple and white pine. Some of the trees in the remote forest are nearly a century old.
It also passes through a tunnel channel, one of the best examples of such a geological feature in the Midwest. When a glacier covered this area more than 10,000 years ago, a fast-moving river flowed beneath the ice, carrying sediment with it out of the receding glacier. After the glacier was gone, the wide, deep channel remained.
A few other short trails wind through the property, including the 0.9-mile Straight Lake Trail that starts at the picnic area and winds along the southern shore to the first-come, first-served campsites. Glass containers are prohibited at the park, and campers need to bring in their own water or be prepared to treat water from Straight Lake. Densow said the park is working to have solar wells up and running by next year.
Straight and Rainbow lakes are popular with fishermen, but motorized boats and gas-powered augers for ice fishing are prohibited. Rainbow Lake has an accessible fishing pier.
The area is prime for birdwatching, with sightings of trumpeter swans, bald eagles, red-shouldered hawks and the Midwest's largest population of cerulean warblers.
In winter, trails are open to hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, although they're not groomed. Densow advises winter visitors to use a vehicle with four-wheel drive to access the park, as the two parking lots that are plowed (at the picnic area off 120th St. and on the northern end on 280th Ave.) may take a little time to be cleared following a storm.
Densow said the park is the "busiest" in spring and fall, when ticks, mosquitoes, flies and other insects aren't as bothersome.
And while it's not a very busy park now, he does expect more people to discover the quiet little enclave as word spreads and the Department of Natural Resources adds signs on Highways 8 and 35.
But the "nice quiet rustic property … is not going to be anything like a Willow River or Peninsula," two of the state's most popular parks, Densow said.
More information: Vehicle admission stickers ($8/day, $28/year) are required for accessing Straight Lake. Purchase one at a self-registration station at the park.
Campsites at the park range from a 400-foot to 0.33-mile hike-in from a parking area. They are self-registration ($16) and first-come, first-served. The park is carry-in, carry-out, and glass containers are prohibited.
The park is about 30 miles northeast of Interstate State Park, Wisconsin's oldest. That park, outside St. Croix Falls, features a dramatic gorge along the St. Croix River, the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Getting there: Find the main parking area for Straight Lake State Park off 120th St. and 270th Ave., northeast of Luck, about 330 miles northwest of Milwaukee via I-94, Highway 53 and Highway 48.