All trails, including the Ice Age Trail, are open to hiking. Leafless trees and underbrush offer hikers spectacular views of kettle holes, eskers and rugged glacial terrain not visible in the thickness of summer. Hawk and turkey sightings are numerous. Bow deer and small game hunting pressure is low. Ice anglers are impatiently awaiting their season.
All water is open with patches of thin ice.
Snowmobile and cross-country ski trails are neatly trimmed and mowed, waiting for the first snowfall of the season. Winter campers are enjoying quiet solitude and warm campfires at the Mauthe Lake Recreation Area campground, which is open year-round. Campers are reminded that reservations for summer camping will not be accepted if postmarked or hand-delivered before Jan. 10, 1997. Another successful fall wild turkey hunting season concluded recently. Although the harvest rate was less than in 1995, hunters seemed well satisfied.