Nearing the northern edge of Dane County, the Ice Age Trail passes the Lodi Marsh.

It’s a busy day at the Robertson Trailhead.

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Ever since they widened Highway 12 from Middleton to Sauk City I’ve been intrigued by two features of the new road. One is the pedestrian bridge at the top of Springfield Hill and the other is the bike trail along the road that ends abruptly, halfway up the hill.

I always figured I would check out the bike trail at some point, but it had one major drawback: no shade. But then when I found out there was a Springfield Hill segment of the Ice Age Trail, I knew the time had come.

Fortunately, it was a cloudy morning, so the lack of shade wasn’t an issue.

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Indian Lake County Park is the next segment of the Ice Age Trail in northwestern Dane County.

You take a bus marked “Lakewood Drive”
And you keep on drivin’ till you’re out of the city
Where the air is fine with the sweet smellin pine
And the countryside’s pretty
Indian Lake is a scene
You should make with your little one!

An old song by the Cowsills comes to mind when visiting this park.

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Another new section of the Ice Age Trail in northwestern Dane County is at the recently restored Liebtrau Prairie, just north of Cross Plains.

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It turns out I had to backtrack on the Ice Age Trail because I missed a brand new part of the trail that was not on the information I was sent. I stumbled across a newspaper article about the section during a Google search. This part of the trail is at the end of Old Sauk Road.

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I spent a good part of my childhood roaming the Mississippi River bluffs around Prairie du Chien. Table Bluff, on the Ice Age Trail and just off highway 14 west of Cross Plains, is much smaller but still a good hike. (more…)

The center of the Ice Age Trail Universe is Cross Plains, Wisconsin, where the Ice Age Trail Alliance headquarters is located right on Main Street.

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After the Saturday morning yard work was done, I decided to spend some more time on the Ice Age Trail.

The trail leaves Madison behind as it continues through the Town of Middleton.

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The southwestern edge of Madison is defined by a Green Belt that separates the city from Verona. And the Ice Age Trail meanders right through it.

The Madison segment south end begins at a brand new pedestrian/bicycle bridge over McKee Road.

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The arrival of June brings beautiful hiking weather, just as my Ice Age Trail excursions reach the segments closest to home, just a three mile bike ride on a Tuesday morning to reach the trail.

The Verona segment, just outside of Verona, intersects with the Military Ridge Bicycle Trail, a great locus of recreation.

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