Camping on Elroy Sparta
 

Hi,

I plan on doing an extended weekend biking Elroy Sparta and perhaps some of the other connecting trails. I am going to camp there with my girlfriend and possibly some friends. I was just wondering if anyone here has done that and what their experience has been, if you had anything to suggest. I was thinking perhaps we'd stay at the campground in Wilton or maybe Wildcat Mountain. I am thinking it might be best to keep our bikes on my roof rack while we're not riding them to keep sand out of the gears. Any tips are much appreciated. We have road tires that aren't the absolute thinnest but also not much thicker, I'm hoping that will be sufficient.

Thanks

You would ride the trail, then drive to Wildcat Mountain, eh? That would be quite a ride on bike is some pretty hilly country.

Google the cities along the trail and you should be able to come up with some campgrounds spread out.

The trails are generally shale and not too bad to ride on.

Several times, when the kids were small, we stayed at the Tunnel Trail Campground. It is right on the trail so you just bike from your site. There is also a campground on the Elroy end of the trail, State run if I remember correctly. Showers available there, too.

Ive biked the 4 trails a few times this year.

The bugs along the trail are absolutely awful this year, especially at the free campgrounds (I didnt stay the night at that campground, but stopped there on a break and talked to a couple who did, they had an awful time)

When i went i actually started in Reedsburg and stayed at a hotel near Lacrosse overnight.

If you looking for some more info on the trail i keep a blog about the trails in Wisconsin.

Here is my page on the '4 Trails Area'
http://bartsbiking.com/?page_id=65

Here is a blog post from my trip a month back.
http://bartsbiking.com/?p=775

The campground in Elroy has showers. It also borders a wetland and skeeters can be an issue. But that is where I've always stayed. Just bring your Off and a good tent and you'll be OK.
I think that Tunnel Trail Campground is expensive. I would stay in a motel instead. There is a motel in the next town south of Elroy that looked like it would be a good place, and it is just off the trail.

I lived in Elroy back in 1976-78 when the trail was new and the first in the nation. Over the years I heard that various trails were combined. This is the first I have heard of a campground in Elroy.

I need to head down there for old time sake and ride the trail again. Maybe after the first frost though. That would help with the bugs.

I rode the Elroy Sparta trail this weekend - first time in two years. The trail is crushed limestone, but really it is compacted dirt with stone mixed in - sometimes as hard as concrete. Road bike tires would work ok IMO - 23's may be too narrow, but 25's and up should work OK. That is unless the trail is wet.

There were several campgrounds along the route - I have never stayed at any. I just rode from Sparta to Elroy and back. I had no issues with bugs - but it was just that one day, and I was typically moving.

Thanks for the tips on the bugs. I was pretty much just looking for campgrounds with showers. It looks like the other one in wilton might be a decent option. http://www.elroy-sparta-trail.com/wilton.htm

It does look good! It is not right on the trail, but a sign points the way from the trail.

I rode it Sunday, left Sparta at 9am, had lunch in Elroy, and got back to Sparta about 4:30. My sister had 23's on her bike. I lowered the pressure in her tires to 90psi, but I would still recommend at least a 25 if not a 28 for the surface of the trail.

Just checked our bikes. My girlfriend has 25s. My front tire says its a 23, but my rear tire isn't marked. I got it replaced a couple weeks ago though, and I recall the mechanic handing me a 25 and telling me it'd be better than a 23. If I get around to it I'll get a new front tire before we go there, which is coming right up.

I went for a ride tonight and part of it was on the Badger State Trail, which wasn't entirely paved, so I think I should be good if they're similar.

If I remember right, I think Wilton is the one where they did a Sunday morning pancake breakfast.... But that was 15yrs ago or so that I was last there.

Last weekend was the weekend I went to the Elroy Sparta trail. We stayed in Wilton at the village campground I mentioned above. As CPcyclist mentioned, they do the pancake breakfast. Showers are a quarter for 4 minutes, so I'd suggest bringing 2 quarters per shower. The pancake breakfast was $5 for juice or coffee, 2 sausages and all the pancakes you can eat, on Sunday. The campground has a portion that is all RVs packed in super tight, and another portion that is more spread out with just tents. If anyone wants to see my pics they're over here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/116288651905699248553/ElroySpartaTrail?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNnGp7bim97hVQ&feat=directlink

The campground is very open, unlike the DNR campgrounds I'm used to staying at. Given the options, I think this might be the best bet if you're staying in one place. We did the whole trail, went to Elroy on Saturday and Sparta on Sunday. Almost made it to the long tunnel on Friday but turned back.

Funny thing happened.

Once we decided to turn around and ride back to camp the first night, I told my girlfriend "go on ahead, I'll catch up" because I wanted to hit the lap button on my garmin and I wasn't sure how it worked. She took off, and eventually I got going again. I was screaming down the trail when I saw her sobbing, holding her bike with her back turned to it. She said "get it out, get it out" and I thought something got stuck in her eye. It turned out a squirrel tried to run across the trail, but wound up getting caught in her spoke. Needless to say it was dead. I guess thats a word of caution though, I wouldn't think you'd have to watch out for stuff like that.

Great story!! Poor squirrel - did you fry it up? Squirrel on a Stick! :lol:

Nice pictures! Looks like you had a great time!

To be honest I've always wondered what squirrel tastes like, and I was able to prepared deer meat previously. I didn't have a knife on me, but if I did I'd like to think I would have been adventurous enough to boil it with the sausages we had that night.