Here's a listing of trails within a 2 hr radius of Madison and a few others our members have enjoyed. Do you have information about these trails you would like to include on this page? Do you know of additional trails that we should include in this list?
Please email us and we'll add it in!
Want to know what the current conditions are?
Check trail conditions here »
The City of Madison, Dane County and the Wisconsin DNR maintain websites with more information on their parks and trails:
City of Madison Parks »
Dane County Parks »
WI DNR XC Ski Trails »
Blackhawk Ridge
The Blackhawk Ridge Unit of the Wisconsin State Riverway
Where is Blackhawk Ridge?
The Blackhawk Ridge Unit of the Wisconsin State Riverway is located west of Madison near the town of Mazomanie. From Madison, take US 14 west to State 78 North (turn right). Take State 78 north for about 6 miles or so until a small parking area appears on your right. The parking area is just south of where State 78 intersects County Y and there is a sign designating park.
What is it like?
Blackhawk Ridge has about 10 miles of trails. The trails are not groomed and are wide enough for two classic skiers side by side.
There is a large warming house (most likely unheated), water and a port-a-potie. These and the official trail head can be found on the top of the ridge. Follow the trail map which will take you up a road to a parking area that is closed in the winter.
The terrain is mostly gentle rolling hills with one significant climb. The trails take you through meadow and wood the latter being a good mix of secondary growth pine and birch.
Who will enjoy skiing at Blackhawk Ridge?
 |
Skiers looking for solitude and beauty will enjoy coming here. The trails are not difficult but you should come prepared to make your own tracks. The overlooks can be spectacular. It is a nice quiet place away from major highways. The plan to increase US 12 to four lanes might change this in the future.
How much does it cost?
A state sticker might be required to park.
Skiing Stories from Blackhawk Ridge
An Experience of Solitude and Beauty
A kind reader, Mike McQuestion, wrote in describing Blackhawk Ridge. His description sounded so interesting, I had to check it out.
Have you ever skied for three hours without seeing a single person? Have you have ever skied on trails that contained only animal tracks? In Canada you say? Today I discovered for myself the quiet solitude and beauty of Blackhawk Ridge which is located right here in Dane County, Wisconsin.
It was a long climb from the parking lot to the trail head but not a difficult one. There I found water, a warming house and a few other buildings. There weren't any trail maps for the taking but I found the trails well marked. From all appearances the DNR has shutdown the place for the winter. Although the warming house is open and there is wood for the fireplace.
The trails where covered with a fresh blanket of fluffy snow. The powder was deep enough to bury my ski trips but so light that it pushed easily aside. Fresh deer tracks in the newly fallen snow would continue to get my attention all day but not until my ski was nearly over would a spot a doe heading into the woods ahead of me.
 |
At the first of several overlooks I find a rope swing. For a few moments I remove my skis and let Tarzan come out to play. I realize that the quiet and the solitude is liberating. The view from the overlook is like a postcard. This is western Dane County at its best and this park lets you drink it in.
Over two hours of skiing here and I'm finding it hard to leave. So I go off on yet another trail. I'm not sure where I am, there don't appear to be trail maps posted in this part of the park. I'm rewarded for my wanderings by the discovery of a prairie restoration area covered in snow. Tall grasses bent over by a thick coat of fluffy white snow make for an incredible sight. Here I find short downhill that is just fun enough to do twice. I try to telemark the curve near the bottom of the hill with no success but I manage to make the turn anyway.
The ski back down to the parking lot is the most thrilling part of the day. There is nothing here that can compare to Indian Lake or Lapham Peak in terms of excitement but the place more than makes up for it in solitude and beauty.
Submitted 26 December 96 by Madnordski.
Back County Skiing, Dane County Style
While I've yet to get out this season, the first good dump we get I know where I'll head: Blackhawk Ridge, on Hwy. 78 near Mazomanie. Once a privately owned cross-country ski area, Blackhawk was purchased by the State some years ago. The plan, admirably, seems to be to let the nearly 1000 acres revert to a more natural state.
There are really two ski areas at Blackhawk. Most heavily used are the several flat to roly-poly loops, totaling perhaps 3 mi, along Hwy 78. They wind through remnants of old farms, through thick, dark young pine groves, past exposed sandstone escarpments. But, to me, the real action is above, on the ridge. Look for the switchback logging road, most of which you'll have to herringbone to get up there. It's a rare day that I find fresh tracks or see another skier up there. Many, I'll bet, panic and turn back when they see this potential neck-breaker. But don't be dissuaded. Turns out there's an easier way down.
Once you've made this purchase you'll have, I dunno, about 5-8 mi. of trails to choose from atop the ridge. None of it's groomed, most of it's flat and incredibly scenic. About a third of the terrain is open. Nearly every time I go I kick up coveys of grouse, wild turkeys, lots of deer and an occasional eagle or fox. The views from the ridge are stunning. Early one morning my skiing buddy Henry and I found ourselves in a near whiteout up on the ridge. We found our way to the restored 19th century log cabin on what remains of the old farmstead. Still on his skis with the blizzard raging, Henry dropped some change in the pay phone and called in to see how the day was shaping up at his office. We then skied on.
I've yet to ski all the miles of trail at Blackhawk in a single day. After two hours or so I generally begin my descent back to the parking lot on Hwy 78. I take the switchback, and manage not to fall about one of every three times. There is an easier way down- just ski the snowbank on the side of the road which leads up to the old farmstead (You'll come about 1/4 mi. E of the parking lot; at the bottom jump on the lower loop trail which will get you back to your car.) But braving the switchback allows you to end your outing with a schuss through the unbroken snow carpeting the gently sloping pine forest.
Back country skiing does demand a little more work, I've learned at Blackhawk, but the rewards are worth it.
Contributed on 25 December 1996 by Mike McQuestion
