View the Wisconsin Biking Guide - Wisconsin Department of Tourism

2Nicolet Roche Trails
LANGLADE
JUST THE FACTS
DISTANCE: 14 miles total with 13
miles of single-track.
DIFFICULTY: Moderate to difficult.
SURFACE TYPE: Mostly loamy soil,
some sand, rocks and roots.
SIGNAGE: Brown mountain bike silhouette
and “You are here” map signs.
TRAILHEAD LOCATIONS: On the
south end at Boulder Lake
Campground & Boat Landing 1.8 miles
northeast of Hwy 55 via Cty WW and
Forest Road 2116. On the north end on
Hwy 64, 3.3 miles east of Langlade.
ATTRACTIONS: Nicolet National
Forest, Depot Museum, paddling
opportunities.
FEES: None, but donations to LAMBA
can be made at Bear Paw Inn.
NOTE: Salvage logging in the blowdown
area may be going on at times.
Check with the Forest Service for possible
trail section closings.
CAUTION: The trails are two-way.
When extreme obstacles are encountered
obvious bypasses exist. Hikers
may also use the trails; always yield to
pedestrians and don’t spook animals.
LEGEND: For a complete listing of all
map icons, see page 2.
OTHER TRAILS IN THIS REGION: Go
to www.travelwisconsin.com. In the
search box, enter Washburn Lake
Trails, Reforestation Camp Trails, or
Ed’s Lake Trail.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Antigo/Langlade County Chamber of
Commerce
888/526-4523, 715/623-4134
www.antigochamber.com
Wolf River Territory Tourism
Association
715/493-0922
www.wolfriverterritory.com
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
715/362-1300
www.fs.fed.us/r9/cnnf
30
COUNTY
There’s a bit of a French connection in
this part of the state. The Nicolet
unit of the vast Chequamegon-
Nicolet National Forest is named for
Jean Nicolet, the French explorer acknowledged
as the first European in Wisconsin.
Fur trader Sieur Charles Michel de Langlade
is the county’s namesake. Fitting then that
when LAMBA (Landglade Area Mountain
Bicycling Association) members chose a name
for their new trail’s most distinguishing characteristic
they decided on “roche,” the
French word for rock.
The rocks you’ll find here are not just
any stones, though there are plenty of those
too. Expect encounters with megaliths in a
half-dozen trail sections. One section is even
named MOAB – “Mother Of All Boulders”–
what a treat! These huge boulders dot the
forest floor and offer high skill, low consequence
challenges. If you’re riding technique
is not up to tackling these stone monsters
there are always obvious bypasses.
Beyond the boulder fields you’ll find
more fun riding with short steep sections traversing
20 to 50 feet of elevation. The riding
here is a bit easier. Even though trail section
names like Beast, Gravity Cavity and Psycho
Path suggest a certain amount of whimsy in
choosing titles, there may be more than a bit
of truth in them as well. For beginners, or
just an easy warm-up, mountain biking is
allowed on the Boulder Lake Campground
Trail, a mile-and-a-half ride around a bog on
the soft forest floor and boardwalks.
The Nicolet lobe of the Chequamegon-
Nicolet is gigantic. It encompasses more than
660,000 acres. That’s more than 1,000
square miles. It covers the most thinly populated
part of the state, perfect for getting
away from it all. The nearest sizable town is
Antigo, more than 20 miles to the west.
There are services available at the tiny towns
of Langlade and White Lake. In White Lake
you can learn more about local history at the
Depot Museum (open MD-LD Sat 9am-3pm,
Sun noon-3pm; 715/882-8581).
More recent history has challenged
LAMBA members and local residents. On
June 7, 2007 an F4 tornado sliced through
the forest. The satellite photos of the damage
are amazing. They show a 35-mile long,
half-mile wide slash running southwest to
northeast across the emerald green forest.
It looks like a gigantic bowling ball rolled
through, flattening everything. This “mother
of all strikes” tracked right across the trail’s
central loop. The good news is the boulders