River Trail

For more than a decade, residents and officials in the Eagle River-St. Germain area have been informally discussing a biking and walking trail to connect those municipalities as well as Cloverland and Lincoln and extend the nationally recognized Heart of Vilas Trail System. The 2018 formation of the River Trail Commission and its partnership with Great Headwaters Trails sets the stage to make that connection happen.

The River Trail will be a paved, off-road trail for people of all ages to use on foot or on bikes. At its western end, the trail will start on the northwest corner of Hwy 70 and Cty O where the bike-ped trail coming out of St Germain now ends. It will head east from there for 10 miles, ending at a Riverview Park trailhead in Eagle River. This will connect Eagle River, the Three Eagle Trail and the Town of Three Lakes into the 55-mile-long Heart of Vilas walking and biking trail system (it’s the burnt orange line on the areawide map on the back page).

The River Trail will be close to the Wisconsin River for much of its route. It will include parking and waysides to enhance recreational opportunities already presented by the river, like fishing, boating and tubing.

The 10 foot wide asphalt trail will also give residents along busy Hwy 70 near Eagle River a safe place to walk or bike into town, providing a convenient way to visit neighbors, get to worship, and go to businesses.

Overall, the River Trail will add a convenient amenity for community members, and a powerful draw for visitors and for people considering the area as a place to settle down. It will also be good economic news for private property owners and businesses.

• The River Trail Commission will build and operate the biking and walking trail. The Commission is composed of supervisors from the towns of Cloverland (Joe Spitz) and St Germain (Jim Swenson), and an alderman from the City of Eagle River (Ron Kressin). The Town of Lincoln can join at any time but has so far declined. County supervisor Holly Tomlanovich and County Recreation Supervisor Todd Bierman regularly attend Commission meetings.
• Great Headwaters Trails (GHT) is a local nonprofit working with the Commission in the same manner that it had worked with the towns of Phelps and Conover, raising all the funds needed to build their bike-ped trail. GHT also provides volunteer engineering services and public information about the project.
• MSA Professional Services completed a detailed Feasibility Study for the project in January of 2020. The study is based on MSA field work done in 2018 and a conceptual plan that GHT had developed. That plan was reviewed favorably by the DOT and DNR and local stakeholders. The study has also facilitated further coordination with the DOT and DNR, as well as with stakeholders of all sorts.

Planning a worthy addition to the Heart of  Vilas Trail System

The River Trail will cover the 10 miles between the current terminus of the Heart of Vilas Trail System in St. Germain (Point A above) and the area around Riverview Park in Eagle River (Point D.)

Planned to meet the standards set by the Heart of Vilas Trails, most of River Trail will be a 10-foot-wide, off-road, paved path staying as far from the traffic on STH 70 as possible. The goals are to provide a safe and convenient place for recreation and transportation.

Riders and walkers will stay on Old Highway 70, a mildly traveled road away from the current STH 70, to get from St Germain to where the first stretch of trail begins (Point B). The trail will run south of STH 70 near the river from there to a crossing near Zeman Road (Point C) to the north side of STH 70. From there on the River Trail will cross the Wisconsin River on a separate non- motorized bridge north of the current highway bridge. It will stay north of STH 70 all the way to Riverview Park. In this eastern stretch of the trail it will be as much a place for people to walk as for people to ride bikes.