Wisconsin’s Northwoods region is a slow-paced travel treasure box of backroads, small towns and summer idylls.
Way Up North
The Northwoods is an ecological region, stretching across Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. But it’s also a way of life, defined by connection to nature and small town living—or, to be less poetic, lakeside lounging and clutch ice cream stops. Spanning over 1.5 million acres across northern Wisconsin, the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is a landscape filled with quiet lakes, winding rivers, hardwood ridges and stands of towering red and white pine. This is classic Northwoods country—where loons call, paddlers slip through tannin-dark rivers and wildlife still moves easily through the connected corridors. Good Sam campground Gathering Place Resort & Lodge can be found in tiny Birchwood (pop. 400; “the Blue Gill Capital of Wisconsin”). Namekagon Lake Recreation Area is a family-friendly campground nestled amongst hemlock and hardwood, alongside its namesake lake at the headwaters of the Namekagon River.
THE DRIVES
Northern Wisconsin is veined with country roads and storied highways. U.S. Route 2 is a key eastwest connection, a stretch of a legendary national route that has its origins in the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway auto trail. Approaching from the south, Highway 53 leads to staples like the Leinenkugel’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls (“where the Northwoods begins,” according to Wisconsin novelist and Wildsam contributor Nickolas Butler) and Garmisch USA, a classic lakeside resort in Cable.
HARDY HOMETOWN
Hayward, a vital Northwoods crossroads, has long been a gathering place for anglers, paddlers and storytellers drawn to the region’s lakes and forests. The town sits near the headwaters of the Namekagon, part of the federally protected St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, where canoeists drift between pine-covered banks and quiet sandbars. Downtown still feels proudly old-school Northwoods. Days start at Robin’s Cafe, and anglers swap tales beneath the towering fiberglass Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame muskie. Come winter, Hayward is the national epicenter of cross-country skiing, where thousands gather for the American Birkebeiner race. But let’s not think about winter right now.
