THE RIVER TRAIL will connect Eagle River into the 55-mile Heart of Vilas System and extend the system by 10 miles. St. Germain will become a system hub and the new River Trail will, we predict, become one of the most popular parts of the whole system!

At the place shown in the photo to the right, the 10-foot wide asphalt trail will pass between the pines and the river. That would be the Wisconsin River, This spot is only about 20 miles from the river's headwaters at Lac Vieux Desert, one of our county's 1,300 lakes!

The "River Trail team" includes the River Trail Commission (St Germain, Cloverland and Eagle River) and Great Headwaters Trails. Momentum and support are the keys to helping the team get this complex trail built. How complex? Click HERE to see the detailed design information the Commission considered when it did a site tour of the route in October of 2021. Will donations help? Yep!! Click HERE! For a one-page overview of the project click HERE!

We thank all of you who wrote letters in early June to the Eagle River City Council and all 284 of you who signed the recent online petition supporting the project and applauding Eagle River and its two partner municipalities for pursuing the trail. You may have heard of the puzzling, route-truncating motion passed by the Eagle River City Council on June 13. It overlooked that the River Trail will increase safety for all walkers and bike riders in the STH 70 corridor that connects the Commission members, and has slowed down progress on the project.

To doublecheck the advantages of the proposed route for the River Trail, GHT volunteers studied and issued a report on that route as well as a northern option and a southern option. You can see the findings of that study HERE. At their Nov. meeting, the River Trail Commission unanimously passed this motion, "The River Trail Commission supports the original 'Central Trail Route' and will be asking for the same support from the three municipalities involved in the Commission."

The safety that River Trail will provide is undeniable. You can get details on that by clicking HERE.

You can write to the Eagle River mayor and council members to ask them to revisit their June 13 vote to truncate the River Trail route. Point out the benefits and safety of the proposed Central Route . Send letters to Mayor Jeff Hyslop and members of the Eagle River Common Council, 525 E. Maple Street, PO Box 1269, Eagle River, WI 54521, or email them by clicking HERE.