Bike Winona to Milwaukee

Winona-Milwaukee

This trip crosses Wisconsin. The first third is practically all on bike trails, as is the last third. The middle portion is mostly on small roads with a few steep hills.

In the past I have taken Amtrak from Milwaukee to Winona and bicycled back. Unfortunately there seems to be no guarantee that Amtrak will transport the bike. Baggage service to Winona was discontinued several years ago. Some coaches have storage rooms capable of carrying a bicycle, but there appears to be no way of knowing in advance whether the train will be equipped with one. I would be interested in hearing any recent experiences.

Winona-Reedsburg From Winona, cross the Mississippi. Turn east on highways 35/54 to the very small settlement of Marshland. (A grant was recently announced for a "Great River State Trail - Winona Connector to provide linkage between Minnesota and Great River State Trail in Buffalo County".) At Marshland, on the south side of the highway is a small parking lot and the northern terminus of the Great River State Trail. Follow this trail to Onalaska where it connects to the La Crosse River State Trail. Continue east on this trail to Sparta and the connection to the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. Take this trail to Elroy, where it joins the "400" State Trail. Follow the 400 to the old depot in Reedsburg.		Buffalo County Map Trempeleau County Map LaCrosse County Map Monroe County Map Juneau County Map
Reedsburg-Baraboo Reedsburg starts the on-road portion of this trip. From the depot, take any city street north to 8th Street. Go east on 8th Street, which becomes Reedsburg Rd. and county K. Turn south on Lake Virginia Rd. Jog briefly east on highway 23/33 (wide shoulder), turn south on Abelman Rd, and east on highway 136 through Rock Springs. Continue south on county DD and east on county W to Baraboo (city map).		Sauk County Map

Baraboo-Lodi This map shows the route along the bike path leading south east from Baraboo, around the south end of Devil's Lake (very steep hills). The route (map) continues across the Merrimac Ferry, and along highways V and J to Lodi. The ferry normally operates from April 15 through November 30.		Columbia County Map
Lodi-Madison From Lodi, go west on Highway 60 (Water St.), south on Riddle Rd (becomes Springfield-Lodi Rd, west on Black Hill Rd., and south on Springfield-Lodi Rd to its intersection with US 12. Then follow the bike path along US 12 to the Pheasant Creek Trail in Middleton. Take the Pheasant Creek Trail east, but get off at Parmenter St. Take Parmenter south to Hubbard. Follow Hubbard east until it ends at Old Middleton (Elmwood). Go southeast on Old Middleton. At EuClaire Ave, pick up a marked Madison bike trail leading east parallel to the railroad tracks. A mix of trails and streets leads to the university. Little Transport Press publishes its Capitol City Bike Map, with maps of both Madison itself and the surrounding area in Dane County. It can be ordered on-line or purchased at many area bike stores. There is also a Madison bike map available free from local bike stores, but, in my experience, stores often run out. Dane County also has a map, but it has not been updated in some time.		Dane County Map
Madison-Waukesha From the university, go east on University Ave, then south on Mills St. to the Southwest Bike Path. Follow this path east until it ends. Take the Isthmus bikeway north east and then south east to its end at Cottage Grove Ave. Go east on Cottage Grove Ave (county BB), south east on Vilas Rd (not to be confused with Vilas Hope Rd), and east on Clark Rd to Cottage Grove. Click here for a map (pdf) showing these connections. From Cottage Grove to Waukesha, follow the Glacial Drumlin State Trail. (West map and east map). The trail is unpaved from Cottage Grove to Dousman. It is paved between Dousman and Waukesha.		Jefferson County Map Waukesha County Map
Waukesha-Milwaukee Between the end of the Glacial Drumlin State Trail on the west side of Waukesha and the New Berlin Trail on the east side, the bicyclist must traverse the somewhat confusing streets of Waukesha. Several years ago, Waukesha placed directional signs but they have faded and some have disappeared. Here is a map showing the connection between the two routes through Waukesha. The paved New Berlin Trail runs from the eastern edge of Waukesha to Greenfield Park in Milwaukee County. Waukesha County no longer has trail maps on its web site, but the trail is shown on the Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin map. Traffic on the cross streets can be heavy. At Greenfield Park, the route joins the Milwaukee County Oak Leaf Trail. The fastest route to Lake Michigan and downtown Milwaukee makes use of the Hank Aaron State Trail (HAST). To get to the HAST, go north on the Oak Leaf Trail to Washington St. Go east on Washington until it passes through a tunnel under some railroad tracks. After passing through the tunnel, go north to Schlinger Ave. Go east on Schlinger to 94th Court. Go half a block north on 94th Court to the western end of the HAST. Plans are to extend the HAST west until it intersects the Oak Leaf Trail, but these await the reconstruction of the Zoo freeway interchange. This trail runs all the way east to 6th St. At 6th street there are blue signs that direct you to Lake Shore State Park. (There is one error in the signs: just before 2nd St, a sign directs you north on an alley that is blocked off at its northern end. It is better to proceed to 2nd.) Following these signs leads to the park, the Summerfest grounds, Discovery World, and the Milwaukee Art Museum.