"Cutting across the North Woods from Minnesota to Michigan, hey"

Western terminus: Burnett County, at the Minnesota state line west of Grantsburg (jct. with MN Hwy 70)

Eastern terminus: Florence County, at the junction with U.S. Highway 2/141 near Florence

Mileage: about 247 miles

Counties along the way: Burnett, Washburn, Sawyer, Price, Vilas, Oneida, Forest, Florence

Sample towns along the way: Grantsburg, Siren, Spooner, Stone Lake, Radisson, Winter, Fifield, Woodruff, Eagle River, Florence

Bypass alternates at: none

Quickie Summary: State “Trunk” Highway 70 cuts across northern Wisconsin all the way from Minnesota to just short of the Michigan line near Florence. Long stretches of forest, roadside lakes and rivers, recreational trails, the World's Largest Penny, Snowmobile Capitols of the World, and an array of small towns and vacation destinations line the road from end to end. Truly an "up North" road all the way.

The Drive (West to East): Note: U.S. 53 east of Spooner all the way to Florence has been toured. The portion from Minnesota, through Siren and Spooner will be added shortly!

East of Spooner and the junction with U.S. Highway 53, Highway 70 cuts through vast expanses of forest on its way to Stone Lake (pop. 544), where the forests give way to cranberry bogs around nearby Spring Lake. Stone Lake hosts a cranberry festival every October and is a gateway to a series of lakes that flank this area.

Highway 27, fresh from Hayward, joins Highway 70 for the next 25 miles or so into Sawyer County and threading betweem a series of lakes and winding along the Couderay River, affording sometimes brief but always lovely views.

The kind of scenery along Highway 70 between Stone Lake and Radisson.

Check out Couderay's (population 96) post office, right along Highway 70 & 27. Some of the adjacent buildings have since been abandoned, making for some interesting perspective shots.

Further east, the northern terminus of Highway 40 crosses your path at Radisson (pop. 222 and ironically, there is no Radisson Hotel to be found) before the Chippewa River shoulders up to parallel your way. At Ojibwa, Highway 27 dives southward and Highway 70 forges on along the Chippewa River, which offers excellent canoeing. Further east, you reach Winter (pop. 344), a village whose weather matches its name about seven months of the year. Winter celebrates its location along the Tuscobia Trail, which Highway 70 parallels - though not always closely - for much of this stretch. The Tuscobia State Trail is another of Wisconsin's celebrated rail-to-trail routes, covering 74 miles from Tuscobia to Park Falls. Plant lovers will want to check out the Winter Greenhouse, which features over 1,000 varieties of herbaceous perennials and display gardens including a waterfall.

East from Winter, through Loretta and Draper, Highway 70 heads through the Flambeau River State Forest. This is a long ride filled with beautiful scenery. The tree-lined stretches are broken by river views, including multiple crossings of the Flambeau River. This is a terrific stretch of river with ample canoeing possiblities. Fifield ("a little town in northern WI with more cars than people", as some of their materials say) provides a junction with Highway 13; this is the only place you can stop for gas and services for about 25 miles in either direction. Of course, there are some taverns here and there to keep you company! From Price County, Highway 70 shaves the northwest corner of Oneida County for less than a mile before entering Vilas County and the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. Through this area, the highway threads the needle between a number of lakes before ducking back into Oneida County and heading toward bonafide civilization as you approach Woodruff and its sister towns, Minocqua and Arbor Vitae. This is where you go from vacationers who primarily hunt, fish and hike to vacationers who shop and buy t-shirts.

Woodruff, Minocqua and Arbor Vitae.
One of Wisconsin's most frequented vacation destinations is this stretch of towns surrounded by lakes, forest, and beauty. The presence of Illinois license plates gives you the proper impression that this area is filled with shops, restaurants, t-shirt stores and throngs of families looking to rent lake homes or hang out in the resorts that dot the lakes ringing the area. Highway 70 enters Woodruff (pop. 1,982) past Jim Peck's Wildwood Wildlife Park, the "Zoo of the Northwoods." Over 500 animals, some of whom are roaming, will greet you.

Entering Woodruff, you'll find shopping and fast-food restaurants, as well as the first traffic light for something like 100 miles - the last one was in Spooner, for cryin' out loud! Highway 70 hooks up with the north-south backbone of Wisconsin, U.S. 51, which is the main drag through Minocqua and Woodruff. Minocqua lies to the south along U.S. 51. Highway 70 follows northbound for several miles, which includes a crossing with Highway 47.

Off U.S. 51, Highway 70 goes through Arbor Vitae (pop. 3,153) and threads around a series of - surprise! - lakes. You enter the Town of St. Germain (pop. 1,932), which refers to itself as "In the Center of it All." If you love fishing, hiking, biking and snowmobiling, though, it pretty much is. St. Germain brags that it has some of the cleanest water in the world - probably because it does. While there are plenty of lakes allowing all kinds of boats, some are designed "no motorized boats allowed", making for great swimming beaches. Um, in the summer. In the winter, they pull out the snowmobiles. So much so that the Snowmobile Hall of Fame and Museum (8481 Hwy. 70, 715-542-4477) is in St. Germain, having moved here from Eagle River in 1993. They underwent a 2005 expansion and today house a wide variety of snowmobiles and salutes to racing champions.

	Like a massive "You Are Here" map, this directory in the heart of St. Germain shows you where things are, and also illustrates clearly just how many lakes are around here.
Between St. Germain and Eagle River, Highway 70 parallels the Wisconsin River. It's still relatively slow, lazy river at this point and great for canoeing. And if anyone has a picture along this stretch on a sunny day, e-mail it to us and we'll put it here!

The drive from St. Germain to Eagle River is beautiful any time of year, but during fall colors is especially striking. The Wisconsin River, early on in its journey toward the Mississippi, is often right by the roadside on this stretch of Highway 70. The "Hardest Working River in the World", as the Wisconsin is called, is still in its infancy here. It's great for canoeing at this point, so try Hawk's Nest Canoe Outfitters (715-542-2300) and spend some time floating down to the Rainbow Flowage. They're located right along Highway 70 east of St. Germain.

After Highway 17 comes in from Rhinelander and joins Highway 70, you get into Eagle River (pop. 1,443), one of Wisconsin's most popular vacation towns. It's nicknamed the "Snowmobiling Capital of the World", and competitions are held here throughout the winter months. Extensive trails stretch for miles from the town and around the multitude of lakes in the area. In warmer months, boating is very popular on these lakes... so many area lakes (28), in fact, that the Eagle River/Three Lakes Chain compose the largest number of interconnected lakes in the world. These lakes are frozen a good chunk of the year, obviously, and on the weekend closest to New Years', area firefighters and volunteers cut 3,000 foot-thick blocks of ice from nearby Silver Lake to build the Ice Palace. The Ice Palace has been constructed almost annually since the 1920s and usually stands about 20 feet high, lit up at night with a multitude of colors. Tourists are welcome to check it out and take pictures; just don't build a fire nearby or chip off any ice for your beverage.

Highway 70 through town is also joined by U.S. 45 and Highway 32. Restaurants and motels line the route, and Wall Street, one block north through the heart of town, is where most of the action is. Lining the Wall are shops, confectionaries, bars, restaurants and the Vilas Theater. A good stop for food, drink and even the occasional live band is the newly-opened BBT's (715-477-2313) along Wall Street. Just down is the Country Store, a confectionary with numerous fudge choices, candy, chocolates and ice cream where a "scoop" is half the size of Rhode Island.

Eagle River features lots of fun little stores and, like many tourist towns, a variety of clothing specific to the area is available. The local fishing contingent features its own two cents at left. Meanwhile, ordering one scoop of Blue Moon and one scoop of Chocolate Mint at the Country Store on Wall Street gets you enough ice cream for the whole family. At right, motorcyclists churn through downtown Eagle River on Wall Street as a cool, comfortable (and unfortunately for picture taking, mostly cloudy) evening settles in.

Eagle River is named after the - you guessed it - Eagle River, which flows out of the Chain O'Lakes and into the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin's source in Lac Vieux Desert is only about 15 miles north along the Wisconsin-Michigan border, and it's still pretty small as it flows past Eagle River. Of course, it gains significant size and strength as it flows nearly 400 miles and drops over 1,000 feet on its way to the Mississippi!

East of Eagle River, services are few and forest is all encompassing. The drive is beautiful - especially during the fall color season - and don't be surprised to find wild turkeys congregating along the roadside (interestingly, their numbers seem to thin out during November). Occasional establishments pop up along Highway 70, including Bogart's Oasis, which might have the only HDTV set between Eagle River and Florence. I could see a a football game from the road through the front door. Further east, you cross Highway 55 and Highway 139; all other intersections are small forest roads, since this area traverses the Nicolet National Forest.

	Even with few cross streets, every 10 miles or so you're reminded you're on Highway 70. Trees solidly line the roadway in this area, which is part of the Nicolet National Forest.
High points along Highway 70 provide a view of miles across the forest; this shot looks toward Florence, with Upper Michigan in the distance.

The end of the line for Highway 70 is at the western edge of Florence (pop. 2,319), county seat of Florence County and the only unincorporated county seat in Wisconsin. That doesn't stop the area from having the largest ATV and snowmobile trail system in the state; this place is a haven for those loving the outdoors.

Highway 70, with Highway 101 in tow, comes to an end at U.S. 2 & 141 during their dip back into Wisconsin from the U.P. on the western edge of the Town of Florence.

Upcoming events in places along Highway 70:
Great Northern Beer Festival, Eagle River, June 14, 2008
Stone Lake Cranberry Festival, Stone Lake, October 4, 2008
Eagle River Cranberry Festival, Eagle River, October 4-5, 2008

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