Hiking the Forestville Segment of the Ice Age Trail

 

On a rainy October morning my husband and I hiked the Forestville Segment of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail (IAT). The Forestville Segment follows the Ahnapee River along the multiuse Ahnapee State trail from the corner of State Highway 42 and County Highway H in Maplewood to Birch Road (County Highway S) in Algoma. This crushed limestone trail runs through Kewaunnee and Door Counties. Built on a transformed rails to trails railroad track bed, the segment is named for the Village of Forestville, with the Forestvivlle Dam County Park near its halfway point. 

Stuart River to Lower Basswood Falls - BWCA 2023

With the goal of seeing Lower Basswood Falls and permits unavailable for our three target entry points, we defaulted to a still available permit for the Stuart River entry point. This entry point starts with a 433 rod portage, plus five more mapped portages, as well as several additional unmapped beaver dams to climb over before arriving at the first campsites from Entry Point 19. Maybe this causes some unpopularity for this entry point, and perhaps it is this unpopularity that allowed us the permit.