Aldo Leopold Legacy Trail System
Sugar River State Trail

This 23-mile, recreation trail is surfaced with limestone suitable for bicycling, walking and snowmobiling. A one-mile stretch in New Glarus is blacktopped and suitable for in-line skating. North of Brodhead, the trail goes over a replica covered bridge.

Sugar River State Trail Map [PDF 462KB]

The trail crosses several prairie remnants and the Sugar River.
DNR Photo by Joseph Warren

The Sugar River State Trail connects four small communities:

• New Glarus, a village with a pronounced Swiss heritage;
• The villages of Monticello and Albany, which are primarily agricultural; and
• The City of Brodhead, with an economy of farming and small industry.

Historic New Glarus depot at the Sugar River trailhead offers bicycle rentals in season.
DNR Photo

Prairie remnants exist in many areas along the right-of-way. During the summer, a continual change in colorful prairie wildflowers and grasses can be seen.

Lowland cattails and reeds are found in the wetlands; and woods with oaks, hickory, walnut, and cherry are interspersed between the dry prairies and other areas that have been invaded by sumac, willow and elderberry. The diverse vegetation contributes to a spectacular display of color in autumn.

A Wildlife Corridor

Mammals found on the Sugar River Trail include deer, coyote, fox, bobcat, beaver, otter, woodchuck, skunk, mink, rabbit, fox and gray squirrels, chipmunk, ground squirrels, moles and shrews. Many kinds of snakes, turtles, salamanders are found along the trail as well. Almost every bird found in Wisconsin can be seen on the Sugar River Trail, more than 100 different species. The corridor totals 265 acres, but this provides more benefit to wildlife than a block of land the same size, because it gives access to more land along the trail and a variety of habitats.

A National Scenic and Recreational Trail

The Sugar River State Trail, from Bump Road to Exeter Crossing Road, is part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail.The Ice Age Trail is a National Recreation Trail that, when completed, will travel over 1,000 miles of Wisconsin, along the terminal edge of the Wisconsin lobe of the last glacier to cover the state. More than 500 miles of the Ice Age Trail are open to the public now. The trail highlights the many topographic features that were created by the glaciers.

The National Park Service also has deginated the Sugar River Trail as a national recreational trail.

For more information, ask:

Sugar River State Trail
418 Railroad St.
New Glarus WI 53574
(608) 527-2334 (summer)
(608) 527-2335 (off season)