Lake Wissota State Park
Lake Wissota State Park is located near Chippewa Falls, north of Eau Claire, in northwestern Wisconsin, and borders Lake Wissota. It includes a small beach (and a beach house with changing rooms and toilets), but the swimming area is quite small. Many people bring their boats here and enjoy the lake on a hot day. If you’re staying overnight, the family campground is nicely nestled among pine trees.
Horse trail continuing from the Lake Trail and leading to the Park’s Office.
There are several trails to explore, I didn’t get to hike them all on my visit… a good excuse to go back! To be honest, they’re not always well marked, but here are the ones I explored, hiking over 8 miles over the weekend:
To see a video of this Wisconsin gem, click here!
Lake Trail
This is an easy and shaded trail that goes alongside Lake Wissota, offering several opportunities to see the lake. It is also THE place to be to watch the sunset.
On top of the overlook and a few benches that gives you a view from up on the bluff, there are a couple of staircases to go down and see the sunset from water level.
The trail is marked as 1.4 miles long, one way. It seamlessly connects to a horse trail that will eventually lead you to the Park’s Office on the north end, and if you go all the way to the south, you can use this trail to get to the beach.
This trail is easily accessible from the Family Campground.
Eagle Prairie Trail
This is a very open and exposed trail in the prairie, on a nice day it is great to observe the flowers and maybe see some wildlife, but it is to be avoided on a really hot day.
However, if you’re spending the night camping at this State Park, I highly recommend going to the Eagle Prairie Trail at night to observe the stars and watch the moon rise.
This trail is marked as half a mile long, and connects to the Red Pine Trail on the north, and the Staghorn Trail on the south.
Staghorn Trail
This two-mile loop is the best trail to explore on a really hot day because it is almost entirely in the shade.
It crosses a horse trail but is well marked. You might see a snake, and you’ll hear many birds while walking here.
You can access it from the group campground, from the Eagle Prairie Trail, or from the Jack Pine Trail.
Jack Pine Trail
This very short trail is similar to the Staghorn Trail, connecting it to the Lake Trail and allowing you to get to the beach house.
For a full map of all the trails from the DNR’s website, click here.
Another great thing about Lake Wissota State Park is that it’s only a half hour to drive to Brunet Island State Park, if you have enough time, I definitely recommend going there!