NEWS RELEASE * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * AUGUST, 2001
 

Autumn Perfect Time To Enjoy Nature's Majesty Along Northern
Wisconsin's

Autumn is a perfect time to enjoy nature's majesty across
Northern Wisconsin!

Eagles soar, loons wail plaintively, geese head south, deer turn their
tan coats into winter ones, and the leaves make colorful costume
changes, too!

In the fall in Wisconsin's Northwoods, tourists and locals alike search
out the fiery reds, oranges, golds and yellows of the hardwood forests,
the bright red sumac on hillsides and meadows, the golden-brown reeds
of the wetlands, and multiple greens of the fir trees.  Northern
Wisconsin is where the terrain is garnished with ribbons of glittering
streams and dollops of blue glacial lakes at almost every turn.

Some come to Northern Wisconsin to savor world class fishing, biking,
golf, and special events.  Others seek the silence.  Some like the
quiet bustle of small towns where the locals are as unspoiled as the
surroundings.  Yet others shop for cranberries, wild rice, antiques, or
gifts.    

No matter your motive, there's plenty to do in an array of outstanding
Northern Wisconsin destinations offering tons of activities for fall
fun.  Piles of maps, brochures, and tourism information are readily
available to guide your way.

* Taylor County, Wisconsin  What could be more perfect
than enjoying a whole county full of glorious fall colors and
activities?  For example, take a drive along Rustic Road #1, the first
official rustic road in Wisconsin, winding through 5 miles of
outstanding forest glacial topography in Taylor County, Wisconsin?  Or,
search out the County's marked and mapped fall color tour?  

But that's not all!  Taylor County (located in northcentral Wisconsin,
just north of a line halfway between Eau Claire and Wausau), boasts a
167,000-acre segment of the Chequamegon National Forest; the
17,000-acre Taylor County Forest; the 7,900-acre Pershing Wildlife
Area; and Taylor County is just across the Price County line from
Timm's Hill County Park, which offers spectacular fall views because it
is the highest point in Wisconsin.

Taylor County also boasts major segments of the Wisconsin Ice Age
National Scenic Trail, and the scenic 26.1 mile Pine Line Rail Trail
recreational biking and snowmobiling trail snaking through the glacial
hills between Medford and Prentice. 

Other scenic areas of Taylor County include many forest and rural
roads, rivers, creeks, woods, farms and fields.  Gilman, Wisconsin, at
the West end of Taylor County, boasts 4 unique bridges in its area;
Medford has a beautiful walking bridge and trail along the river right
in town; and Rib Lake, Miller Dam Flowage, the Black River, and some 90
other lakes in Taylor County proffer some of the best fishing in
Wisconsin. 

Mosey over to the 3rd Annual High View Bluegill Fishing Contest on Lake
Esadore Sept. 2, 2001; and set your compass for Gilman, Sept. 7-9,
2001, for the Annual Western Taylor County Fall Festival, garden
market, plus piles of delightful activities.   

* St. Germain, in northeastern Wisconsin, is surrounded by
dozens of quiet, colorful trails, roads, paths and lakes just off of
Highway 70 between Eagle River and Woodruff/Minocqua.

This quiet northwoods community boasts a handicapped-accessible nature
trail close to town, as well as dozens of trails and roads to bike,
hike, and slow-drive the area's colorful areas, many of them detailed
on the new VAMBASA (Vilas County Area Mountain Bike Association) maps,
available from the St. Germain Chamber of Commerce.  Or, gather some
driftwood, a popular activity on the Rainbow Flowage.

St. Germain's annual Fall Fest & French Trader Days, Saturday,
September 22, 2001, features historic "host," Jean Francois St.
Germaine imparting rich and fascinating stories of fur trade and
voyageur days.  A huge "Taste of the Northwoods" put on by area
restaurants and food purveyors is also planned this year, plus a huge
arts & crafts show, and much more.  

Known as the "Home of Colorama" St. Germain would naturally hold an
annual Colorama Celebration!  This year, it's September 29, 2001,
featuring wild game sandwiches and chicken BBQ, fresh-baked pies, and
pie-baking contest, along with a huge arts & crafts show.  Fisherpeople
will be happy with the angle that Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6 & 7, 2001
are the dates for St. Germain's 12th Annual Catch & Release Great
Wisconsin Musky Tournament on 10 fantastic St. Germain-area lakes.

One colorful fall drive in the St. Germain area is to take County
Highway J south from the center of town toward Highway 47, winding past
the Rainbow Flowage, which has numerous view-points and picnic grounds,
as well as a State fish hatchery along the way.  Another leafy-looking
idea is to take smaller roads off of Highway 155 north of St. Germain
on the way to the nearby community of Sayner, Wisconsin, or any of the
roads in the entire St. Germain area.

*Eagle River, in northeast Wisconsin, embraced by the
world's largest chain of 28 freshwater lakes and adjacent to the
Nicolet National Forest, is a top, year-round Northwoods destination,
and the sparkle of fall is no exception.

In addition to all the wonders of nature surrounding the area, take a
self-guided tour of the historic boathouses and buildings on the Eagle
River Chain; visit The Trees for Tomorrow Natural Resources Education
Center, where exhibits, tours and classes spotlight Wisconsin's
pristine environment, and be sure to pop into Eagle River's Historic
"House of Memories" on the Trees for Tomorrow grounds.

Eagle River's 21st Annual Cranberry Fest, October 6 & 7, 2001, will
feature 12,000 pounds of fresh cranberries, all kinds of foods made
with cranberries, including the world's largest cranberry cheesecake,
cranberry bake-off, cranberry marsh tours, cranberry items and gifts,
farmer's market, antiques, Bog Bridge Tournament, 275 art & craft
exhibits, family entertainment, music; plus healthful walk, run, or
bike fitness events.

And, if you have children along for the trip, and the weather is rainy
or cold during your leaf-color adventure?  Head to the <bold>Northwoods
Children's Museum in Eagle River -- small in terms of population
served -- and huge in terms of offerings and success!  There's always
something going on at the Northwoods Children's Museum!  All kinds of
displays and changing activities -- from Northwoods forest-fire
spotting to surrounding yourself with a huge bubble, computer
activities, craft workshops, and much, much more.  

Numerous hiking, hiking, and driving trails circle the Eagle River
area.   (See centerfold map in Eagle River's Vacation Book, available
from the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center, and
also check out the VAMBASA, Vilas County Area Mountain Bike and
Snowmobile Association, trail map).  Take any trail or road in the
nearby Nicolet National Forest or Northern Highlands State Forest for
colorful surprises at every turn.
 
 

In Boulder Junction, in northeast Wisconsin, in the same
general area as Eagle River and St. Germain, bikers go batty over a
marvelous series of mapped bike trails called the Boulder Area Trails
System (B.A.T.S.), while anglers revel in  lakes teeming with trophy
musky, lunker walleyes, northerns, trout, bass, and panfish.

Voted "Friendliest Small Town in Wisconsin" by readers of Wisconsin
Trails Magazine; and boasting the title, "Musky Capital of the World,"
be sure to spend some time on Boulder Junction's model main street when
you're done with the outdoors.  It's called "THE place to shop in
Northern Wisconsin!" 

Events throughout the year in Boulder Junction include community
dinners, pie baking contests; fishing competitions (The 24th Annual
World Championship Musky Classic is September 8-10, 2001, in Boulder
Junction); colorama and fall harvest celebrations (The 8th Annual
Colorama Arts & Crafts Fair in Boulder Junction is September 16, 2001;
and the 41st Annual Colorama Dinner in Boulder Junction is September
23, 2001); antique shows; strawberry social; arts & crafts fair;
wildflower walks; woodcarving and quilting events, family programs
(Harvest Fest with kids' games, food, pumpkin parades and hayrides is
October 7, 2001); and of course, Holiday celebrations.

* For four generations, Lakewoods Resort & Conference
Center, in northwestern Wisconsin, near Cable, has nestled along
the shores of 3,400 acre Lake Namakagon in the midst of the 844,000
acre Chequamegon National Forest.  

Lakewoods' Forest Ridges Golf Course boasts wildlife and birds in such
abundance, you might expect a golf foursome to include a deer or eagle.
Non-golfers walk the course for its magnificent scenery, flowers,
forest, streams, wetlands and overlooks.  

Many, many forest roads and trails surround Lakewoods, but just a
breeze east of Lakewoods, "Garmisch Road" offers a colorful canopy
along its two-mile length.  Also along this road, visitors can stop at
the Forest Lodge Nature Trail, an adjunct of the Cable Natural History
Museum, grab a trail map, and enjoy a short nature hike through forest,
bog and field.

*Devil's Head Resort, Ski, Golf & Convention Center
nestled in the beautiful Baraboo Hills, about an hour north of Madison
at Merrimac, also boasts spectacular fall experiences. Devil's head
added 9 new golf holes, called "The Glacier," in the bluffs this past
summer, for a total of 27; and Devil's Head also has several kilometers
of trails for mountain biking, hiking, and cross country skiing.  Go to
the top of Devil's Head's slopes in any season and gaze for miles over
the Wisconsin River Valley!

Apple orchards and wineries dot the area.  On County Road DL, just west
of Devil's Head, Parfrey's Glen Nature Preserve, a narrow canyon with
stream, wildflowers and birds, offers delicate fall experiences.

Also a breeze west of Devil's Head, Devil's Lake State Park has a
wonderful road ringing its imposing glacial terrain.  In the park, rock
climbers scale bluffs, while scuba and skin divers ply the deep, clear
lake.  For a real kick, cross the Wisconsin River at Merrimac on the
free Merrimac Ferry, part of Wisconsin's highway system.

*Another extraordinary venue for fall viewing is the "new" Granite Peak
Ski Area at Rib Mountain State Park in Wausau.  The 700-foot high
mountain boasting spectacular skiing and snowboarding in the winter, is
a perfect spot to view multi-colored leaves for miles in every
direction.  Even the drive into Rib Mountain State Park offers the
sumac, maples, and oaks and their bright, scintillating colors that
touch your senses!

* For another special fall outing, scope out the heights and sights of
Highbridge Hills DevelopmentGranite Ridge Golf
Course, new northern Wisconsin vacation home and golf course
complex, some 15 miles south of Ashland, at Highbridge, Wisconsin.

"On a clear day, you can see forever" at Highbridge Hills!  At least
you can have spectacular views of Lake Superior and the surrounding
forest areas.  High atop a ridge, both the golf course and the home
development area feature custom-built and affordable Finnish-supplied
log homes, aimed at retirees, families, vacation home owners, and
tourists.

The new Granite Ridge 18-hole, 7200-yard championship golf
course will be ready for play  in Spring, 2002.  A full range of
on-site amenities planned for Highbridge Hills/Granite Ridge include
clubhouse, community center, swimming pool, and trails for year-round
use by golfers, bikers, hikers, x-c skiers, and rollerbladers.

Finally, rain or shine, hot or cold, for your fall "outing" you may
want to stay "in" an area resort that offers a swimming pool and other
indoor amenities, like Lakewoods Resort on Lake Namakagon at Cable;
Devil's Head Resort at Merrimac; or one of the fine motel/hotels with
indoor swimming pools in Eagle River, St. Germain, Boulder Junction, or
Taylor County.