Discover Boulder Junction: bike route, Winter Park and nature

For a stay in Boulder Junction, it’s easy to plan your leisure activities around location and season. Nearby is the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest; in town, there’s also Winter Park, Nichols Lake Beach & Picnic Area, and a bike trail system that runs through downtown. This means there’s a range of options, from camping and hiking trails to seasonal park activities and a route that leads into the town center. Which of these is most important to you depends on whether you’d like to experience the area on foot, by the lake, or by bike.

Activities by location and season

Near Boulder Junction, the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest offers campgrounds, beaches, boat launches, and hiking trails. The forest brings together a variety of outdoor activities. When planning your outing, you can choose from hiking, visiting the beach, camping, and activities around the boat launches. This mix makes the State Forest a distinct destination alongside the parks in town.

Winter Park offers seasonal activities: in winter, you can go ice skating, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding. In spring, summer, and fall, the park can be used for hiking, walking dogs, and picnicking. The difference is clear when planning your trip: a winter visit involves different activities than a stay during any of the other three seasons. If you already know when you’ll be traveling, you can choose the park activities that suit the season.

At Nichols Lake Beach & Picnic Area, the lake and outdoor activities take center stage. The facility offers a small swimming beach, full access to the lake, a volleyball court, and a picnic area; it is maintained by the Town of Boulder Junction. Unlike Winter Park’s seasonally changing program, the offerings here include both the beach and lake access, as well as volleyball and picnicking. If you’re looking for a specific place to spend time by the water, you’ll find several recreational options at the same facility.

Bike route and events

The Heart of Vilas County Paved Bike Trail System is a useful landmark for getting around by bike. In Boulder Junction, it runs along Highway M by North Trout Lake and South Trout Lake, leads into downtown, and then heads west on Highway K toward Manitowish Waters. The route can be understood through three reference points: the two Trout Lakes, downtown, and its continuation to the west. This makes it easy to check whether you want to include the town center in your bike plans: the trail explicitly passes through it before continuing west.

The events calendar also has seasonal highlights. The Boulder Junction Block Party is a weekly event from June through August; the Colorama Festival takes place annually in September. The difference is in the schedule: a weekly summer event versus a festival held each September.

Discover more destinations: St Germain, Phelps, Eagle River.

Go to the main travel overview: Vilas County.