The Driftless Area Land Conservancy (DALC) is taking on the years-long process of constructing a 50-mile trail in the Driftless region of Southwest Wisconsin that will eventually connect Tower Hill, Blue Mound and Governor Dodge State Parks.
The Driftless Trail will takes years to complete, but several sections are finished, and more are planned in the future. Many volunteers have already put in hundreds of hours helping to build trail. There are currently three segments open for hiking:
- 3.8-mile Knobs Road segment, nine miles southeast of Spring Green
- 1.1-mile Weaver Road segment, six miles north of Dodgeville
- 1.1-mile Phoebe Point segment near the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center in Spring Green
The Driftless Trail will expand public access to this unique region of the state where there was no glacial acitivity. Currently, about 97% of land in the Driftless area is privately owned, so building this trail will involve the participation of private landowners. DALC is working with landowners to protect their land and make it accessible through conservation or trail easements, which are voluntary, legal agreements that limit how their property can be used.
“If you want to save a landscape,” said Barb Barzen, the land conservancy’s community conservation specialist, “you’ve got to let people fall in love with the landscape.”
According to Barzen, nearly 500 acres of land are now protected that likely would not have been if it weren’t for the trail. In addition to providing hiking opportunities, the protected land will also be critical for protecting migration routes for wildlife along the Wisconsin River.
Read more in articles by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Wisconsin Public Radio.
Photo by Madeline Heim.
