I finally had the opportunity to ride the Great River Trail (GRT) in Wisconsin last week and it did turn out to be a pretty “great” ride ~ although it would have been nicer if I had left a little earlier so I did not have to rush so much to try to get back before it got dark.

Lake Onalaska as seen from the Great River Trail

OK, the “great” in the trail name actually refers to the Great River ~ the Mississippi, of course ~ that flows near or next to the trail in some places. The most scenic part of this trail, in my opinion, is where it runs next to Lake Onalaska which forms the widest part of the Mississippi River.

This trail is 24 miles, one way, and runs from the town of Onalaska (on the southeast end) to the town of Trempealeau and through the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge (at the northwest end).

I actually started my ride on the Lacrosse River Trail (LRT) in West Salem, Wi. which is about 7 miles east of the GRT. I have wanted to ride all 4 of the bike trails that run from Reedsburg, Wi. to the Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge for a long time now and, with this ride, I have ridden all 4 trails. I have ridden the entire distance of all of these trails now ~ approx. 100 miles at different times ~ with the exception of the Lacrosse River Trail where I only rode the 7 miles on this ride to get to the GRT.

You can get the details, maps and first hand ride photos of all 4 of these west central Wisconsin Trails from our Wisconsin bike trail articles on any one of these trails.

For example, see The Great River Trail home page (here) for the latest updates and photos on this trail and/or maps and descriptions of the other 3 connecting trails that make up this 100 mile route through west central Wisconsin.

A cyclist and friend of mine had ridden, photographed and written about the Great River Trail back in the Fall of 2006. You can find his ride story and photos along with the latest photos and updates from my recent ride via the Great River Trail link above.

Lake Onalaska near sunset

I enjoyed my ride on the Great River Trail last week although, as I mentioned above, I did not leave quite enough time to ride the distance that I had planned (64 miles both ways) and I had to rush more than I would have liked and ended up riding the last 5 miles or so in the dark (with no bike light, of course)

Fortunately, the trail itself was in great shape (very flat and well groomed) and was straight and flat so it was not as bad as riding a poorly maintained or more difficult trail in the dark.

I have included photos in this blog post of Lake Onalaska from early afternoon and at sunset from the pictures that I took on this ride. It can be a little difficult getting early evening photos of Lake Onalaska from the trail since you are looking west and right into the sun.

For a more detailed update and/or for the full Photo Tour of this ride see the Great River Trail link above or see The Great River Trail Photo Page 3 (here) to go directly to the photos from this May, 2014 ride.