Rib Lake Area Information

AREA TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

*Rustic Road #1: Originally laid out in 1895, Rustic Road Number one became the first official rustic road in Wisconsin. Dedicated in 1975, this road became one of the first roads in the nation to be preserved for its rustic and scenic characteristics. Rustic Road is gravel winding for approximately five miles through the glacial terrain with a complete maple leaf canopy.

*Timm's Hill County Park: From Rib Lake turn east on Hwy 102 to County Trunk C, then turn left (North), then follow signage. Timm's Hill is Wisconsin's highest point- 1,951.5 feet above sea level. Climb the observation tower, hike the trails and enjoy the picnic area.

*Lakeview Tourist Park: Overlooking Rib Lake is Lakeview Park, which has camping facilities available. Also in the park is a closed-in shelter with a kitchen for community events and private gatherings. Two volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, and playground equipment are available. New bathrooms and shower facilities along with sewer, water and electrical hookups are also available in the park.

*Rib Lake: Rib Lake has tremendous walleye fishery, 2 boat landings, and 2 piers to fish off of.

*Ice Age National Scenic Trail: The Rib Lake segment offers beautiful hardwood forests which welcomes 4, 7 or 12 mile hikes during the spring, summer and fall or cross country skiing in the winter. Enjoy hiking or skiing past many lakes and historic logging camps on this moderate trail.

*The Ice Man "UGH": Located on main street in front of the old village hall of Rib Lake, is a carved statue of the area mascot from the poem.

POINTS OF INTEREST

*Kennedy Lake: Named for JJ Kennedy. He founded Rib Lake in 1881 and moved to Idaho in 1902 to search for more pine for his saw mills.

*Sheep Ranch Creek: This trout stream is named after a large sheep ranch operation established at the turn of the century. At this time when deforested hills were thought to provide sheep pasture.

*Jaycee Trail: This non-motorized, multi-purpose recreation trail is blazed with green paint and maintained by the Rib Lake Jaycees. Over eighteen private landowners have given their permission to use this popular trail. The trails are groomed for Nordic and Skate Skiing as well as snowshoeing. Each February this is the site of the State's finest ski outing, the Hinder Binder.

*County Forest: This is a portion of the 17,400 acres of Taylor County Forest. It is open for public use, including hunting.

*East Lake: This beautiful undeveloped lake presents excellent opportunities for wilderness camping. East Lake is one of many glacial "pothole" lakes formed following glaciation when silt surrounded a chunk of ice. After the ice melted the resulting hole filled with water.

*Crevasse-filling Ridge: This long, sinuous hill was filled by debris, creating a crevasse in the glacier. The IAT follows several crevasse-filled ridges.

*Deutsches Wiedervereinigkeits Brucke or "The German Reunification Bridge": This bridge was constructed on October 1989, the date of German Unification. The bridge commemorates the German tradition of hiking on forest paths which gave rise to the Ice Age Trail movement. This bridge, as well as the entire Ice Age Trail, is maintained by unpaid volunteers from the High Point Chapter of the IAT. Additional volunteers and supporters welcome to join by contacting P.O. Box 339, Medford, WI 54451

*Thums Trail Parking: This parking lot was generously donated by the Thums family and serves as the hub of the ski trail network. The trail system is groomed at this point for both diagonal and skate skiing.

*Klingbeil Cabin: This trailside shelter was a model log cabin moved here from Medford, Wisconsin and donated by the Klingbeil Lumber Company, Inc.

*South Harper Lake Beach: This beach and boat landing provides public access to a popular swimming and fishing lake.

*McGills Pine Camp: This exceptionally well-preserved campsite was a logging camp established in 1885. Earliest loggers took only the choice white pine. The camp well, outlines of the bunk house, cook shanty and root cellar are clearly seen. The camp well was a hand-dug hole in the ground surrounded by a modern fence. Please leave all artifacts for others to examine.

*Baumann's Brucke: This bridge is named for Jerry Baumann, an IAT volunteer. Nearby is a pine rampike. High winds snapped the white pine off in 1989. Because white pine is naturally rot resistant, the rampike may stand for one hundred years.

*Camp Six: This is the site of Camp Six, a logging camp operated by the Rib Lake Lumber Company in 1905. The remains of the earth and rock foundations for the log structures are still visible.

*Andrew Olson Farmstead: Rock foundations are all that remain of this once thriving dairy farm typical of the hundreds that have been reconverted to forest.

*Spirit Lake Dam: This small dam maintains the water level on the beautiful Spirit Lakes. The dam replaced an earlier wooden logging dam which was the site of the last log drive in Price County. In 1910 Ole Peterson drove logs down the Spirit River to Tomahawk.

*Active Beaver Dam: The beaver dam, pond and lodge are easily seen here from Rustic Road #1. Beavers have continuously occupied this site from at least 1965. The beaver pond is now in excess of ten acres.

*Ritchie Lake: Named after an early pin logger. White pine made up perhaps ten percent of the original virgin forest. Many of its stumps are still visible and sound today, over one hundred years after their logging.

*Logging Road: This six mile logging road is graveled and open for non-motorized use, including mountain bikes.

*Snowmobile Trail: This trail follows the route of the Rib lake Lumber Company railroad which operated from 1901 to 1948.

*The "UGH" Trail: A 5 mile hiking and biking trail along Rib Lake starting at Ice Age Park.