Trail Report

May 26, 2023

All forest trails in Sawyer County are now open to ride!

Memorial Day Weekend is historically the deadliest time for ATVers – please-

  1. Wear a helmet!  By law, all riders under 18 must wear an approved helmet, (not a bike helmet), but we suggest all riders wear one
  2. Don’t speed on the road routes- and keep music down when driving through populated areas
  3. Stay on the right side of the trail at all times and watch for oncoming traffic
  4. Drive carefully – remember, you want to live to do this another day too!

There may be some branches down and minor washouts that crews will be tending to if they haven’t already.  Just be on the lookout.

With that said, we had a late spring and a crazy weather winter so if you see there are trail concerns or missing/down signs please send us a private message or visit our website sawyercountyalliance.com and on the home page “report a trail issues”. Our volunteers can’t always be in all places at once so there may be things they are not aware of.

 

Trails and routes within the LCO Reservation:

YES – you can ride through the LCO trails and routes – although they are modified – please keep reading…

We’ve finished signing the modified route system in the reservation- some are temporary until we can install taller wood posts.  We still have more signs to put up but what we have finished so far is clear and should be easy to follow.

Trail 777; both segments between Gurno Lake Rd and Green Lake Rd are temporarily closed until LCO finishes rehab work on them – there is a temporary bypass route we just signed for use: on CTH NN from Green Lake Rd to Gurno Lake Rd.  Green Lake Rd is the gravel road that you come onto from Trail 3 in the LCO Loop, and after you cross the bridge over Osprey Creek. Just ride it down to CTH NN.

Other CTH NN road users will not yet be used to ATV traffic, so use extreme caution entering/exiting this roadway and riding on it.

All other routes within the reservation that used to be open ARE still open other than the list of closed LCO routes below:

  • CTH E from CTH K south to Reserve Rd
  • Gurno Lake Rd from Larsen Road west to CTH E
  • Indian Lake Rd from CTH E and east to the first trail 777 access
  • CTH NN beginning at Chief Lake Rd and south to CTH N
  • CTH CC from CTH NN/N/CC to Conger Rd

YES, you can get to businesses all along the southern portion of the Chippewa Flowage’s west side and Blueberry Lake- although it’s a longer ride now. Instead of the convenient road route from Conger Rd to Chief Lake Rd, riders will have to trail ride a loop down Trail 9/Devil’s Lake Rd/Larsen Rd to get from one area to the other.  I guess that’s what an off-road vehicle is for, so enjoy the ride through the woods!

YES, you can ride on CTH K from the Grindstone Creek Casino all the way through Northwoods Beach and to CTH KK!  Even though largely within the reservation, LCO is allowing ATV use on the Northwoods Beach neighborhood roads, as well as side roads off CTH K from Northwoods Beach all the way to Kidds Road.

NO, you cannot ride CTH K from the Casino to the Grindstone Creek Casino!

YES, you can ride CTH E heading north from CTH K all the way to Williams Rd where the route continues.

NOTE:  Town of Bass Lake (SE of Hayward around LCO and Grindstone Lakes) recently opened all town roads to ATV use and installed signs making it legal.

The town of Bass Lake extends into the LCO reservation boundaries – and Bass Lake town roads within the reservation are NOT open to ATV use unless marked with ATV route signs (exception-you can ride Northwoods Beach and to Kidds Rd as mentioned above and these roads will not be specifically marked for ATVs).

This may be confusing for riders so LCO is ordering ‘NO ATV’ signs and will be installing these on some roads for clarity’s sake. Unless you are in the Northwoods Beach area (CTH K between Grindstone and Lac Courte Oreilles Lakes), just make sure you ride on roads marked with the ATV route signs when in the reservation and you should be fine.

oh…bring the bug spray, the biting insects are rampant this year – and we just are finally seeing dragonflies!

Please contact the Chequamegon National Forest’s District Recreational Info at 715-634-4821 for additional questions.  For the Flambeau State Forest call 715-332-5271.  

Non-Resident Trail Passes are required for ATVs.  (WI residents do not need a trail pass but are required to display their registration sticker.)

State law requires ATVs to always operate with headlights on.

Sawyer County allows the use of Side by Sides on ALL ATV TRAILS, including those in the Chequamegon National Forest.