Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail
Wisconsin Scenery

Some typical scenery for this part of the trail... This is returning to Sparta from Elroy on the Elroy-Sparta Trail ride that I took in July (2003). I actually did my ride in 2 days since I got a late start the first day so I didn't really ride all the way to Sparta in this case. The ES Trail is about 32 miles so it is 64 miles round trip. It is possible to ride the entire trail in one day but you need to allow enough time for daylight hours (you don't want to get stuck out on the trail at night).

I just loved this wooden old bridge (for some reason). I wish that I had a better quality photo of it with the blowup (full size) version like we have on all of our more current bike trail photo tours.

Here's a close up of my typical view crossing these wooden bridges. Since this is my view for most of the ride (as I looked down) I thought it would be interesting to show this perspective even though it is not a real exciting photograph (and might actually look like a mistake). I didn't actually include the upper part of my handlebars in this photo, which would have shown my bike computer, but I can still tell that this is my old bike based on the older style brake levers.

Back to Wilton and Sparta... You can see hwy 71 from the path at this point and I zoomed in on this sign... I was on the path, not the road, but I think that the mileage signs were pretty close for the path too since most of the path runs near this highway. You often get the feeling that you are out in the middle of nowhere on the ES trail but if you check the map you are almost never too far away from Highway 71 (which is good to know if your bike breaks down and you are unable to repair it on the trail).

Back on the path... You can get used to the scenery, but it never really gets old... it just feels great to be out here. I hope you all get a chance to ride this bike trail at some point. It is a very scenic and memorable ride even without the tunnels... but the tunnels really make this ride unique and a lot of fun too!