Great Headwaters Trails
Building family-friendly biking and walking trails near the source of a Great River
River Trail - Our high-value, priority project!
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. It's one of our county's 1,300 lakes!
Momentum and support are the keys to getting this complex trail built. How complex? Click HERE! Will donations help? Yep!! Click HERE! For a one-page overview of the project click HERE!
HELP US GET OUT THE WORD about GHT's work. Contact us at ghtrails@gmail.org.
Watch for our booths at various events in Eagle River, Conover, Phelps and Land O' Lakes.
Since its founding in 2010, the Great Headwaters Trails Foundation has been closing in on its goal to build 40 miles of biking and walking trails in eastern Vilas County. The system we envision will expand the Heart of Vilas Trail System and connect the towns of Eagle River, Conover, Phelps and Land O’ Lakes, resulting in a connected, family-friendly, hard surface trail system over 110 miles long.
The first leg of the system, the Conover-Phelps Trail, was completed in 2021. The next leg, the River Trail, will connect St. Germain to Eagle River. There are a lot of people that need to be clued in to this important project! Let us know if you want to know more. And let us know if you want to pass the word!
Help us develop more biking and walking trails in eastern Vilas County!

Ride with Leinie continues in 2022
Registration is now open for Ride with Leinie with Dick Leinenkugel, happening this summer on and around the newly completed Conover-Phelps Trail! Ride with Leinie has been a popular summer event for the past ten years hosted by the Wilderness Lakes Trails (WLT) group in Land O’Lakes. When WLT decided…
Read MoreExperience the New Trail!
GHT and the Friends of the Conover-Phelps Trail are happy to be collaborating with the Phelps Chamber of Commerce and Eric Eismueller at Old World Charm Bed and Breakfast to be hosting an open house for the newly completed trail on Saturday, Sept. 4. We invite everyone to come out…
Read MoreGHT named May Business of the Month!
The Vilas County Economic Development Corporation (VCEDC) has named the Great Headwaters Trails Foundation as their Business of the Month for May. The inscription on the award plaque reads, “In recognition of your tremendous commitment to help ensure a fabulous trail system for individuals choosing Vilas County to live, work,…
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