2018 Great Lakes Trip – Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
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link:
Wednesday July 18th – Tuesday,
July 24th
Eagle Ridge Campground, Chippewa Falls,
WI
After
traveling west about 100 miles, we arrived at this campground. This campground
is very nice, with a campground host that is the best. After getting settled
in, we drove into Chippewa Falls and checked out the Visitor Center. The
Chippewa River flows through town, providing water recreation for those in the
area. There are also mountain bike trails at a nearby county park in Eau
Claire.
The
next day we drove into downtown Chippewa Falls and went to the visitor center
for detailed information. We also went to the Leinenkugel Brewery for a tour
and beer tastings. What a great, well run business. The Leinenkugel Lodge was
well stocked with a beer tasting bar and products related to the beer and
outdoor activities. The brewery was founded in 1867 and has been in this
location since then. The company was wrapped up in a purchase by Miller Brewery
in Milwaukee, which now is all owned by Molson in Canada. Too bad none of these
great American beers are no longer owned by Americans…
Nearby
is Loopy’s, a business on the river which includes a bar and grill, canoe, kayak and tube outfitter
and shuttle service. We went there on Friday for the Fish Fry and more
Leinenkugel beer! We also had fresh fried cheese curds, YUM. It was all delicious.
Another day we used their shuttle service to drop us on the Chippewa River for
a 6 mile downstream float, then pick us up. The weather was perfect and we took
the dogs for the trip. We were able to stop a couple of times at gravel bars along
the way.
We
visited Lowes Creek County Park on two days for some fun mountain biking. This
is an urban park that is a huge forested area with a creek running through it. There
were numerous mountain biking trails and for the winter sports, ski/snow shoe
trails. The trails were fun and presented some challenges, but we enjoyed them.
The most exciting event was when Kurt rode up a trail and noticed a momma black
bear and her two cubs on the trail. He stopped when she noticed him and then
she stood up tall. He then waited to see how she would react. After a couple of
minutes she went down off the trail with the cubs. Kurt waited a little more,
trying to decide if he should go forward or turn around. She then came back up
on the trail and looked right at him. At that time he turned around and rode
the opposite way. He later saw a ranger and reported the incident, the ranger
had not heard of any bears in the park this year. They really should put up
some bear warning signs. Regardless, it was a fun ride!
Our
last day there we decided to ride a paved trail that winds through the city of
Chippewa Falls, along Duncan Creek and out towards a State Park. After riding
several miles through residential and industrial areas, we finally followed the
trail along the Chippewa River to a downtown riverside park where Duncan Creek
converges. It was not really the ride we anticipated. But we did get some good
exercise.
We
enjoyed our time in this area, but not sure if this is on our “go back” list.
Next heading north to a peninsula on Lake Superior.
