Trails: Duck Creek and Newton Blackmour Trails in Wisconsin
Start: Oneida Indian Reservation Trailhead at a Convenience Store.
Route: Ride west to New London and back.
Distance 65 miles round trip.
Weather: Sunny. Temp: 50-70 degrees.
Low Elev 740, Hi Elev 820. Feet Ascended: 600
Trail Material: Crushed Limestone
Rating: Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down.
What I thought was going to be an asphalt trail turned out to be an unpaved trail. Happily the limestone surface turned out to be smoother than the bumpy asphalt trails in Minnesota.
The disappointing part of this ride was it looked like workers had recently mowed down all the trailside vegetation taking with it everything that might have been in bloom. Then there was the Rifle Range next to the trail which was very noisy and unsettling. Plus some of the trail was gouged by a huge snowmobile machine that had recently traveled down the trail. Even more disappointing was getting to the end of the trail in New London and seeing it dead end out in the middle of nowhere. For that reason, I give this ride a thumbs down rating. Was a bit windy since a cold front had just passed through but I planned this ride so I'd have a tailwind on the way back and that worked out very well. It was actually a really nice wide trail for the most part so I also give the trail itself a thumbs up rating. I'd ride it again but just not after such a massive trailside mowing.
Highlights of this trip: The two trails which connect together are long and straight and very flat. Duck Creek trail has a lot of closed canopy. Newton Trail has lots of open canopy. I thought the ride was going to be all boring but there was some change in scenery now and then. Like from roadside to farmland to swamp and an occasional creek or river crossing. There were several small towns along the trail.