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You are here: Home / Archives for Seasons

Seasons

Glorious Range of Spring Activities for All

April 12, 2011 by Naomi K Shapiro Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Spring

Whatever type of travel experience you prefer, you’ll adore northern Wisconsin’s forests, lakes, rivers, meadows and wetlands in the spring and early summer.

That’s when trillium carpet the forest floors, marsh marigolds rest in roadside waters, and columbines nod from rocky settings. That’s when you can pluck wild leeks and other edibles to spark your menu…

That’s when you’ll see and hear loons, eagles, and Great Blue Herons, enjoy the glorious sounds of hundreds of songbirds, and maybe spot a pileated woodpecker.

And, because the trees and plants fill in slowly, the wildlife, not as shy in the early season, are more viewable; and because there are fewer people around, your chances increase to see fawns, or tiny, black bear cubs following mom across a road.

In northern Wisconsin’s thousands of lakes and streams, the fish will have spawned and are hungry. This is a good time to teach yourself or a kid to fish. Dozens of bait shops and fishing guides will happily provide you with information, lessons, maps, and encouragement.

And, while you might need a pair of rubbers in case it’s muddy, the hiking, biking, golf, wildlife watching, and picnicking opportunities will be wonderful — before the bugs come out (except for ticks which get active as soon as it gets warm).

Many northern Wisconsin communities, areas, attractions, and resorts share the bounty of wonderful outdoor and indoor activities; local warmth; and an understanding of what you’re looking for. And of course, it’s the time when accommodations are more modest, with special promotions and packages.

The Eagle River area (in northeast Wisconsin, about 220 miles east of the Twin Cities), has mapped trails winding past some of the 28 lakes surrounding the community; an Historic Boathouses & Buildings self-guided waterway tour; and maps to excellent roads and trails through the nearby Nicolet National Forest. In the Eagle River area, you can even throw your golf clubs in a boat and cruise to several courses!

On your visit to Wisconsin, you may want to stay at a resort that has an indoor swimming pool and restaurant facilities, with the wealth of outdoor activities and nature just a step out the door.

Another great way to savor Wisconsin’s wildlife and scenery is to take a cruise.

And if it rains, visit one of northern Wisconsin’s excellent museums:

Eagle River’s new Northwoods Children’s Museum lets kids of all ages “play” forest ranger, catch and identify pretend fish, raid the period-clothes-hamper, blow a giant bubble, and many other interactive activities. Eagle River also boasts a new Historical Museum located at the Trees for Tomorrow Natural Resource Education Center, itself offering year-round nature seminars and workshops. Finally, Carl’s Wood Art Museum in Eagle River has welcomed thousands of visitors over the years to its collection of woodcarvings, memorabilia and whimsy.

Nobody said you HAD to wait until fall to take a fall color tour! Since the guidebooks exist, and the markers are up, get a brochure from the local Chamber of Commerce, and follow the signs to an area’s interesting sites, scenes, and natural highlights.

Northern Wisconsin resounds with golfing, hiking, biking, picnicking, ATV, antiquing, fishing, and shopping opportunities; as well as lots of events, parades, celebrations, fishing tournaments, and special activities throughout the season. Call ahead for schedules, events, information, and opening dates.

Although each area has a unique “flavor,” they share a common, almost elegant attention to nature, wildlife, scenery, and relaxing, and have a welcome mat out for visitors like you.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Spring

Ideas for Fall Visitors to Eagle River

October 16, 2010 by Ray Smith 3 Comments

Eagle River Wisconsin in Fall

For fall enjoyment, the Eagle River Area of northeast Wisconsin offers road tours weaving around her Chain of 28 Lakes close into town; a historic boathouses and buildings waterway tour; and maps to beautiful trails in the nearby Nicolet National Forest.

Eagle River’s “Road Trips” map indicates points of historical and general interest; parks for picnics and shore lunches; marked public boat landings, canoe portages, camping/trailer sites; marinas; and the map also keys to wildlife, fun stuff to do along the way, and places to eat.

Another favorite of fall leaf-lookers to the Eagle River area is a visit to the Heritage Drive Scenic Byway just 8 miles east of Eagle River. The byway offers outstanding fall foliage of mixed hardwood and pines, indicates historic points including Indian archaeological sites, and military routes from the Civil war; plus hiking, picnicking, giant hemlock trees, nature trail, and an interpretive center.

More adventurous fall visitors, may wish to take the mapped, self-guided waterway tours on Eagle River’s Chain of 28 Inland Lakes, which encompass dozens of magnificent turn-of-the-century boathouses brimming with history and unique architecture. (Includes boathouse featured in the movie, Omen II; a boathouse that served as a chapel for Our Sisters of Mercy, Sunset Point; boathouses that still harbor antique boats and artifacts; and boathouses significant in Eagle River’s tourism & industrial development).

For the waterway tours, Eagle River offers a fold-out locator map with photos, descriptive, and historical information about the boathouses.

Best Ways to Take in Fall

Wonderful museums, unique, special shopping and antiquing, picnics, watchable wildlife, forests and flowers, restaurants of every description, and a mind boggling litany of special events featuring the rich multi-cultural heritage and history of the area, including the, voyageur/trading, logging and mining heydays, and events like the Annual Cranberry Festival that draw people of all ages from all over the world, year-after-year.

Fish for walleye, northern, muskies and panfish on the chain of 28 Lakes. Every type of lunker gamefish, fowl, and seasonally hunted animal. The finest you’ll ever experience. Guides, equipment, advice. . .all there, all the time, especially in the glory of fall!

Hiking, biking and nature: Nicolet National Forest, Sylvania Wilderness; Trees For Tomorrow Environmental Center; Canoeing on the Wisconsin and Deerskin Rivers; Fish Hatchery and walleye rearing ponds.

Tour cranberry bogs and the winery.

Unique, quaint, special shopping, antiques, and food products. Cranberry Specialties; Original Cranberry Glassware; candles, cookbooks, potpourris, etc.

Fine gifts and collectible items; galleries and gifts, from wildlife art to cookbooks to wood accessories. Eagle River’s range includes major bakery, small bakeries, specialty candy stores, and a local cheesecake enterprise that serves national markets!

[Image: Courtesy of Flickr user kla4067]

Filed Under: Fall

Wisconsin Autumn Realities Exceed the Fantasies

September 18, 2010 by Naomi K Shapiro Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Fall

Autumn in northern Wisconsin. Breezes blow cooler. The moon and stars seem brighter. Days shorten. Harvests are bountiful. Crowds are gone. Leaves turn colors. Wisconsin’s exquisite beauty and pristine environment beckon. And the colors dazzle!

It’s time to drive, hike or bike amid thousands of colorful acres of Wisconsin forests, meadows, and wetlands garnished with glittering streams, rivers and glacial lakes. It’s time to watch eagles soar; see wildlife cavort; and listen for the call of the loon.

Pick a road, path, or stream in any of these areas for elegant, fiery reds, oranges, golds and browns, plus watchable wildlife, birds, world class fishing, biking, golf, shopping, and antiquing.

Stop for fresh cranberries, wild rice, antiques, or gifts at area shops. Seek silence, or the quiet bustle of small towns, where the locals are as unspoiled as the surroundings.

There are so many northern Wisconsin destinations to savor in the fall…

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Fall

Fall in Northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods Is…

October 18, 2005 by Ray Smith Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Fall

The ever-so-slight nip in the air, bringing mists at dusk and dawn.

The unrelenting beauty of orange and red and yellow wherever you look or peek or stare. . . as the trees change.

The smell of acorns, wild mushrooms, and drying leaves, as you crackle along a forest trail.

The moon. . . the brightest and clearest saucer, as it reflects its magic on everything, accompanied by the haunting howl of a timber wolf in all its magnificence.

Cattails puffing their brown seeds and white fluff.

Darkening coats and large antlers of the deer as they cavort and compete toward the upcoming rut.

The sounds and sights of branches being rubbed. . . and the bugling of the elk as they cavort and compete towards the upcoming rut.

Ravenous black bears gorging on berries and nuts as they prepare for hibernation.

The sights and sounds of a thousand-million birds gathering, then flocking, then speeding off in great groups towards southern warmth.

Singing camp songs and half-sleeping on someone’s shoulder as a wood fire boils and bubbles the coffee.

The pine trees becoming the greenest thing left anywhere.

Trophy musky coming up from the depths to seize the huge suckers and jerkbaits as in no other season.

Cold, driving rains that portend what’s ahead, while adding life and purity to the aquifers.

Long hikes, with the forest revealing all the things no longer hidden from view.

Owls swooping as they search the clearing meadows and wetlands for voles and mice.

Scampering squirrels storing as many nuts as they can find, chirping at one-another frenetically.

That’s fall in Northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods.

Come and be part of it all.

Kids, families, seniors, singles.

©2005, Creative Brilliance Associates. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Fall

Summer in Northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods Is…

June 22, 2005 by Ray Smith 2 Comments

Northern Wisconsin Summer

Wobbly-legged spotted fawns with big brown eyes.

Foxes, bears, elk, porcupines, and so many others. . . raising their young.

Undecipherable fragrances wafting on soft breezes.

The “smack” of your line as you hook into a lunker bass, musky, northern or walleye.

Brats and marshmallows toasting over a wood fire, the sparks painting the sky, and the smells enriching your soul.

Sunsets against a darkening azure horizon, in shades of red, pink, and purple that Titian could never match.

Billowing clouds as soft as marshmallows. Crackly thunder and lightning. Pelting warm rains.

Flowers and ferns, plants and trees. . . intermingling and entwining into perfect gardens.

Droves of forest where light filters through, spotlighting mushrooms and insects and things on its floor.

Diving loons. . . Soaring eagles and ospreys. . . And a thousand-million birds singing.

Tubing and boating. . . The laughter of kids on a sand beach. . . The snores of adults relaxing and smiling and forgetting every day cares.

Music and theatre and events and celebrations and history and pow-wows and parades and shopping. . . and dripping ice cream cones, and peanut brittle and fudge and lemonade and fish boils. . .

And wanting to come back again and again, because you’ve only scratched the surface. . .

That’s summer in northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods.

Come and be part of it all.

Kids, families, seniors, singles.

©2005, Creative Brilliance Associates. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Summer

Spring in Northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods Is. . .

March 26, 2005 by Ray Smith Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Spring

The crystal drips of shimmering water as snow castles and ice melt.

The scampering of small wildlife as they smell the air and feel the sun’s warmth.

Birth and buds. . . the renewal of EVERYTHING — flora and fauna and people.

Trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit springing out of the soft earth to quickly gain the sun that the forest will soon hide.

The smells of a thousand flowers and grasses and trees as they explode in rebirth.

Leaves and trees that have fallen and become part of the earth, renewing the floor of the forest in a mulch of strength and food that no fertilizer will ever match.

Deer munching the new, rich grasses on hillsides.

Black bears stumbling and yawning as they emerge from their winter’s sleep, two or three tiny black balls of fur following and bawling, announcing the renewal of their kind.

The first red-winged blackbirds.

Untold numbers of nests in all shapes and forms. . .everywhere. . .as the birds return and set up housekeeping.

The walleye spawning. . . the bass spawning. . . the northern and musky spawning. . . the panfish spawning — as the waters warm and the reeds and weedbeds absorb the sun.

Frogs bellowing and croaking. . . loons calling. . . eagles and ospreys soaring.

The bogs and wetlands filling with lichen and fern, binding together in a patchwork of life for the dragonflies and mosquitoes, and a thousand insects unnamed.

Water pouring from waterfalls and filling springs and glacial lakes and aquifers with a purity that quickens all life.

Rains enriching the soil and calling forth life with a softness.

That’s spring in northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods.

Come and be part of it all.

Kids, families, seniors, singles.

©2005, Creative Brilliance Associates. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Spring

Winter in Northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods Is. . .

January 14, 2005 by Ray Smith 1 Comment

Northern Wisconsin Winter

Rosy cheeks.

Cozy retreats and roaring fires.

Snowmobiling.

Cross-country and downhill skiing.

Snowshoeing, mushing and hiking.

Ice fishing. Ice skating. Sleighriding.

Hot mulled cider.

Wildlife.

The sublime silence of snow-covered forests.

The shimmering glisten of billions of ice crystals on frozen glacial lakes. . .and so much more.

That’s winter in northern Wisconsin and the Northwoods.

Come and be part of it all.

Kids, families, seniors, singles.

©2005, Creative Brilliance Associates. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without written permission.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Winter

Ode to Christmas in Northern Wisconsin

March 10, 1998 by Naomi K Shapiro Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Snowmen

(With a nod — or glare — to El Nino, who seemed to be causing some warm weather the winter of 1997-1998)

“T’was the night before Christmas and all through the north…

Resort owners were wond’ring what snow would be worth…

The snowmobiles were lined by the trailways with care..
In hopes that the snowbase soon would be there…

When up in our woods there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk and said, this shortfall will matter…

Unless we can keep those snowmobiles humming.
We’ve got to do something to keep people coming.

Our snow is in New Mexico!
And the responsible party is El Nino.

We’ve got to plan and promote and open our mouth
To keep our profits from going south!

We’ve got to do something to save our dough,
So let’s plan great things on the ice, not the snow.

So plan we did, and here’s what we’ve gotten…
Activities on ice… on Lake Namakagon.

Treasure hunts, speed runs, fishing, and more.
Scavenger hunts, prizes, and fun are in store…

So come to northern Wisconsin, there’s always good reason.
Packers, Cheeseheads, great recreation all season.

May your winter be merry when you spend it here…
In particular, in Wisconsin’s north tier.

And you’ll hear us exclaim as we behold this great sight…
Merry tourism to all… we made lemonade from our plight.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Winter

Northwoods in March

March 16, 1997 by Ray Smith Leave a Comment

Northern Wisconsin Spring

Last year, in March, in northwestern Wisconsin, this is what some people recorded:

  • Seeing the first bald eagle.
  • Seeing the first robin.
  • Seeing the first chipmunk.
  • Pussy willows blooming.
  • Trees tapped for maple syrup.
  • Skunks emerge from dens.
  • Red-winged blackbirds.
  • White-throated sparrows.
  • Hawks return.
  • Redpolls at feeder.
  • Went skiing for the last time.

Compare these observations to some of the general things that happen in northern Wisconsin in March as noted in the Cable Natural History Museum 1997 Phenology Calendar:

  • Bald eagles returning and courting, eating mainly winter-killed deer.
  • Male, red squirrels can be seen chasing females over the snow.
  • Mars is at opposition to the earth and is visible all night. We pass Mars every 2 years.
  • March 20 is Vernal Equinox — The first day of spring.
  • Chipmunks are beginning to come out of hibernation. They ate stored seeds all winter, but will now also eat mice, eggs, insects and small snakes. They have to look out for a mob of predators, including most hawks, owls and mammals.
  • Male red-winged blackbirds return before females. They will be establishing territories and starting to build nests in cattail marshes in mid-April when females return.
  • River otters giving birth in dens near lakes or streams.

[Image: Courtesy of Mike Crowley; available for sale at his website Life in the Northwoods]

Filed Under: Spring

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