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 »
Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park
Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - South Unit
Where is Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - South Unit?
Cherokee-South Conservation Park is located at the intersection of School Road and Wheeler Road. From downtown Madison head north on Johnson Street then turn left on N. Sherman Avenue. Follow that to Northport Dr., then take another left on Northport. Go several blocks, then turn right on School Road. Take School Road until it ends, the parking lot entrance is just ahead.
What is it like?
Cherokee-South Conservation Park is near where the Yahara River enters Lake Mendota. Mostly the trails are flat and in the open with vistas of marsh land. There are a few modest hills. The 2.3 miles of trails are groomed for classical skiing only.
Who will enjoy skiing at Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - South Unit?
Beginning skiers will get the most enjoyment out the trails at Cherokee-South. The grooming is very well done and the trails are easy and well marked. The occasional hill and views of the marsh make skiing here more interesting than a golf course.
Parking is available.
How much does it cost?
Free.
Skiing Stories from Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - South Unit
Wrong Place, Wrong Way
I'd been to the Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park in the summer so I thought I knew exactly where it was. When I arrived there were two other cars in the parking lot. I didn't bother to study the trail map before heading out because the city generally marks the trail extremely well. Much to my surprise, I didn't find any trail markings at all. Following some tracks made by other skiers (the trail was not groomed), I end up back where I started. After studying the trail map and discussing it with another skier who is finishing, I head out again. Later I would discover that I was in the wrong location and the map I studied was not for the trails at this location at all. I was at the trail head for the Cherokee Marsh hiking trails which are located at the end of Sherman Avenue. The skiing trails are at the end of School Road.
I must have skied about four miles over the mostly flat and narrow hiking trails, tracked only by other skiers and a few hikers. I did get to see a yellow-bellied sap sucker and had a conversation with a flock of chickadees. Generally when I call to birds they fly away but out here near the river they seemed to be genuinely curious. Overall it was most enjoyable.
Once I realized I was in the wrong place I had to go find the correct location. Let's see, if I had only checked Madnordski before getting in the car. Luckly the address of Cherokee-South was on the trail map and I had a map of Madison in the car.
There were only a few skiers out this warm Saturday morning. I found the trails at Cherokee-South to be freshly and expertly groomed. The skiing was easy and the day was beautiful. There were a couple of women on the trails, one giving lessons to the other. And there were a couple of hikers as well -- wrecking only small bits of the track. Later I would be passed by a pickup truck driving down an unplowed service road.
In no time at all, it seemed, I had skied all of the trails. On my way back to the parking lot I couldn't help noticing that about 200 feet of what was perfectly tracked snow was now gone. Clearly a truck of some sort had just driven onto the ski trial. This made a mess of the trail but I could still ski over it. Obviously the pickup I saw on the service road drove from the parking lot, onto the trail, and onto the service road that crosses the trail. I reported the wrong-way joy-riders as soon as I could. Fortunately, they only trashed a couple hundred feet of trail.
Submitted by Joseph King on January 13, 1996.
