Whisker Lake Wilderness

Located on the Michigan-Wisconsin border, this area takes its name from the large trees near the shoreline of Whisker Lake. These old pines were called "chin whiskers" by locals. Surprisingly, they were unscathed by logging and wildfires, both of which ravaged the region in the early 1900s. Here you'll find rolling uplands falling away to wetlands flooded by beaver activity. Six small lakes and three major streams provide trout fishing that can be worth the effort, most notably Riley Lake, Edith Lake (which is split by the eastern boundary), Wakefield Creek, and the Brule River. The Brule forms the northern boundary and separates Nicolet National Forest from Michigan. Hiking and camping, as in the other forestland Wildernesses of Wisconsin, are unrestricted. Six trails enter from the western side, and two of them exit from the eastern side. The Whisker Lake Trail crosses the entire Wilderness in an east-west direction, a distance of approximately 2.5 miles, with access to the lake itself. There are roughly 9.5 miles of maintained system trail in the Whisker Lake Wilderness. Deer and other hunting is allowed in season, and winter brings snowshoers, ice fishermen and back country cross-country skiers.