Hike Location: Mirror Lake State Park
Geographic Location: south of Wisconsin Dells, WI (43.56196, -89.80681)
Length: 3.5 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: June 2018
Overview: A pair of loops along placid Mirror Lake.
Park Information: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/mirrorlake
Directions to the trailhead: Near Wisconsin Dells,
take I-90/94 to US 12 (exit 92). Exit
and go east on US 12. Drive US 12 east
one exit to Fern Dell Road (exit 212).
Exit, go right at the first traffic circle and then straight at the
second one. Drive Fern Dell Rd. west 1.5
miles to the signed park entrance on the right.
Turn right to enter the park, and pay the park entrance fee at the park
office, which doubles as the park entrance station. Park in the blacktop lot behind the park
office.
The hike: My first
visit to the Wisconsin Dells came in August 2001. Like most people’s first exposure to the
dells, my first visit focused on the area’s touristy side and included water
ski shows, mini-golf courses, oddity museums, and guided tours. The town sometimes screams tourist trap, as even
the Wisconsin River’s famous and scenic rock ledges are most easily explored on
packed concession boats.
Nevertheless,
the Wisconsin Dells region has a more natural side that can be explored at any
of the area’s several state parks. My
last stop on my first visit was nearby Devil’s Lake State Park, and this hike features another dells area park: Mirror
Lake State Park. 2200 acre Mirror Lake
State Park centers around its namesake lake, which gets its name from its
incredibly calm waters. Indeed, only a
few light rain drops marred the calmness on my visit.
Located on Dell Creek, Mirror Lake
is a natural lake with origins in the most recent ice age. At the end of said ice age, the ice sheets
stopped just a few miles east of here, but glacial outwash blocked the former southeast-bound
course of Dell Creek. Thus, the creek’s
waters began taking the easiest path to the Wisconsin River: northeast through a
pair of gorges. These gorges created
Mirror Lake and nearby Lake Delton, which is located just downstream on Dell
Creek.
Opened in 1966, Mirror Lake State
Park features a nice array of amenities, which include a swimming beach, a
151-site campground, fishing and kayaking on Mirror Lake (the entire lake is a
no-wake zone), 3 picnic areas, and more than 19 miles of trails. Hikers are allowed to use all of the park’s
trails except in the winter when some of them are groomed as ski trails. Though perhaps not the park’s most scenic
hike, the route described here combines two loop trails, the Northwest Trail
and the Newport Trail, that stay near the shore of Mirror Lake and provide a
nice overview of this area’s terrain. Be
warned that the bugs are terrible here: I wore 40% deet bug spray and still
took many mosquito bites.
 |
| Trailhead west of park office |
From the park office, head west
across the park entrance road to find the trailhead for the Northwest and
Newport Trails. This trailhead is marked
only by a brown wooden post, an interpretive sign, and a brown carsonite post,
but the wide two-track grass/dirt trail heading into the woods is obvious. The forest here is a mixture of pines and
hardwoods, most numerously oak trees.
Quickly you reach a trail
intersection where the Newport Trail marked by yellow carsonite posts and the
Northwest Trail marked by purple carsonite posts part ways. This hike eventually uses both of these
trails, but for now turn left to follow the Northwest Trail. Soon you cross one of Mirror Lake’s main
feeder streams on a wooden bridge, and the view down the lake’s long, slender
inlet is the Northwest Trail’s best Mirror Lake view. A bench here makes a nice place to sit and
watch the lake provided you can tolerate the bugs.
 |
| Inlet of Mirror Lake |
At 0.2 miles, the Northwest Trail
splits to form its loop. This hike turns
right to hike the loop counterclockwise.
The trails at Mirror Lake State Park are not blazed, but the colored
carsonite posts appear at trail intersections such as this one. To reiterate, the carsonite posts for the
Northwest Trail are purple.
The trail surface alternates among dirt,
grass, and mulch as the trail heads north on a rolling grade. Although Mirror Lake lies only feet to the
right, the dense forest prohibits any good lake views. Ignore the Ringling Pass Trail as it exits
left and gives you an opportunity to short-cut the Northwest Trail’s loop. I passed a park maintenance staffer cutting
the grassy trail surface with a riding lawn mower in this area.
 |
| Old logging landing |
At 0.9 miles, you reach the trail’s
northernmost point at what appears to be an old overlook or logging
landing. Next the trail briefly joins an
old logging road, as evidenced by some strips of concrete that remain in the
trailbed. Ignore the Wildwood Pass Trail
that exits left, another opportunity to short-cut the Northwest Trail’s loop.
The western arm of the Northwest
Trail features more up and down than the eastern lakeside arm, and numerous
steep ravines are passed through.
Although the park rates the Northwest Trail as difficult, these steep
areas pose more difficulty for skiers than for hikers. At a couple of points the trail splits with a
steeper left option designed for hikers and a more gradual right option
designed for skiers. In both cases the
two options come back together in only a few hundred feet, so you can choose
whichever option best suits your energy and desire.
 |
| Hiking the Northwest Trail |
Near 2 miles into the hike, you
pass through a small prairie that offers this hike’s only deviation from the
woodland setting. Just after a signed
trail exits right for the Fern Dell Trail, a 3 mile loop located south of Fern
Dell Road, you close the Northwest Trail’s loop. Continue straight to retrace your steps to
the Newport Trail junction, then turn left to begin the Newport Trail’s
loop. If you are getting tired, the park
office and your car are a few hundred feet to the right up the path you came in
on.
Marked with yellow carsonite posts,
the Newport Trail heads north on a fairly flat course with Mirror Lake out of
view on the left. At 2.6 miles, take a
brief detour to the left into the developed part of the park. A lakeside picnic area, playground, and
swimming beach are located here, and the open grassy area gives this hike’s
best view of Mirror Lake. Drinking water
is also available here.
 |
| Swimming beach at Mirror Lake |
Back on the main trail, very
quickly you come out near the parking lot that serves the beach area. Turn right, and then almost immediately turn
right again to reenter the woods. The
yellow carsonite posts that continue east along the park road mark the Kilbourn
Trail, which leads to the campground.
 |
| Hiking the Northwest Trail |
The eastern arm of the Newport
Trail’s loop remains fairly flat as it traces near first the campground and
then the park road on the left. Soon the
exit to the park office appears to the left; your car sits in the parking lot
beside the office. If you want to do a
little more hiking, the 0.6 mile Echo Rock Trail is considered by many to be
the park’s most scenic trail. That short
trail features some more lake views but with some rock outcrops, and it starts
near the end of the main park road roughly 1 mile from the park office.
No comments:
Post a Comment