Forest County to three lakes trail advice

[dfattack]

My group wanted to ride from Tipler (Meeting at the Whitetail) south on trail 7 to just south of Newald where we would pick up a trail that runs west through Argonne and Hiles and eventually on to three lakes. We rarely ride this area and due to snow levels everywhere we wanted to venture out into some new territory.

Concerns are fuel stops (enough of them) and the quality of the fuel. We got a bad tank of fuel in a small town just east of this area last week and don't want to run into that again.

What is the trail # that runs west through Argonne and Hiles?

Is there Gas in Newald? I see on the trail map online that CJ's bar is supposed to have fuel but google earth streets view doesn't show any pumps outside.

Hiles appears to have a small BP station (according to Google earth) and shows fuel on the forest county trail map online. Is this station still there?

what is the trail # from Hiles to three lakes?

Any advice on this route from those who are familiar with this area would be great. Thanks

 

[harvest1121]

They do have gas its a little pump in the back of the building. We have been riding the area the last 2 weeks never have an issue finding gas. Some of the best trails you can ride. I thinks the Hiles station is closed but the pumps work. So just gas. We had a Viper and Sidewinder no issues running out just ride and enjoy. I would fill up in 3 Lakes

 

[moviper]

The bar in Newald has 87 for 3.50. I don't remember seeing any gas in Hiles.

 

[snobuilder]

The gas station in Hiles is open.
The trail from Argonne to Hiles goes through the ball field. Don't know a number. Eds in Argonne is awesome. The new owner of the Pine Lake bar in Hiles is doing a good job as well.
Have the chicken sandwich.
Once north of Hiles take the first intersection straight. That will ho to 3 lakes.
There is also another trail some miles north of there that will also take you west.

 

[dfattack]

The gas station in Hiles is open.
The trail from Argonne to Hiles goes through the ball field. Don't know a number. Eds in Argonne is awesome. The new owner of the Pine Lake bar in Hiles is doing a good job as well.
Have the chicken sandwich.
Once north of Hiles take the first intersection straight. That will ho to 3 lakes.
There is also another trail some miles north of there that will also take you west.

Thank you for the replies.

Do you think it's possible to make it from the whitetail in Tipler to 3 lakes (via newald, argonne, Hiles) on one tank of gas? I'm riding an Apex XTX. Also, was considering stopping at Bonnie's in 3 lakes for late lunch/early dinner. Any comments?

 

[dothedoo]

Thank you for the replies.

Do you think it's possible to make it from the whitetail in Tipler to 3 lakes (via newald, argonne, Hiles) on one tank of gas? I'm riding an Apex XTX. Also, was considering stopping at Bonnie's in 3 lakes for late lunch/early dinner. Any comments?

Yes....probably not even 100 miles...and you can always get fuel in Hiles if needed.

 

[snobuilder]

Yes you can make it to 3 lakes as mentioned.
No worries about fuel at Hiles BP station. We get it there a couple times a year.

 

[Tracker]

Are you guys aware that the Argonne Forest and the town of Argonne Wisconsin is an experimental area number 441

https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/naturalareas/index.asp?SNA=441

Description
Argonne Experimental Forest features the largest contiguous tract of old-growth hemlock hardwood forest on drumlinized ground moraine. These types of protected rich mesic hardwood forests are very scarce in northern Wisconsin and on this landtype (Argonne Outwash Plains). Situated on a gently sloping, unpitted outwash fan is a northern mesic forest dominated by sugar maple, hemlock, yellow birch, and basswood. Sugar maple is reproducing best but basswood seedlings and white ash saplings are also present along with occasional ironwood poles. The shrub layer is sparse with widely scattered leatherwood, and elderberry. Characteristic herbs include oak fern, ground pine, wood ferns, rosy twisted stalk, Canada mayflower, running club-moss, lady fern, and sweet cicely. Only minor amounts of downed logs, snags and tip-ups are present but numerous residual den trees (especially hemlock and yellow birch) add significantly to the stand structure. Also present are pole hardwoods that grade down into a remnant hemlock dominated forest with pockets of upland northern white cedar. This is surrounded by a good to excellent quality conifer swamp, which has several rare species. The conifer swamp (northern wet forest) is dominated by black spruce, tamarack, and white cedar. Understory species include Labrador tea, leather-leaf, balsam fir, yellow bluebead lily, false mayflower, creeping snowberry, Canada blueberry, and sphagnum. Rare species include small round-leaved orchis, sparse-flowered sedge, and northern bog sedge. Several old raptor nests were located within the mesic forest. The extensive habitat of Argonne Experimental Forest supports uncommon boreal bird species such as boreal chickadee and gray jay. In addition, the rare three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus) has been seen in the conifer swamp. Other birds include broad-winged hawk, blackburnian warbler, and scarlet tanager. Argonne Experimental Forest is owned by the US Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.

 

[dfattack]

Well no i was not aware of that thanks for the info tracker.

Thanks everyone for your help!

We rode the trails today as planned and Hiles is the place to top off. I actually had a half a tank coming from the Whitetail in Tipler so definitely could have made it to Three lakes. I could have made it home to Spread Eagle from Hiles believe it or not, but topped off in Caspian since I don't like to run it too low while alone at night. All trails were in good to great shape except for trail 7 down from trail 2 all the way to the Newald area and trail 2 in Iron County. Trail 2 from Iron River to George young spur is fine but from That junction all the way to the bridge where Florence (blue OX ) trails start was super choppy and even potentially dangerous in spots where drifts haven't been cut down. Not too bad but for a newer rider could be a little tricky. As usual the Florence trails I have ridden in the past two weeks have always been in great shape. Hats off to the Florence groomers!

 

[snobuilder]

Well no i was not aware of that thanks for the info tracker.

Thanks everyone for your help!

We rode the trails today as planned and Hiles is the place to top off. I actually had a half a tank coming from the Whitetail in Tipler so definitely could have made it to Three lakes. I could have made it home to Spread Eagle from Hiles believe it or not, but topped off in Caspian since I don't like to run it too low while alone at night. All trails were in good to great shape except for trail 7 down from trail 2 all the way to the Newald area and trail 2 in Iron County. Trail 2 from Iron River to George young spur is fine but from That junction all the way to the bridge where Florence (blue OX ) trails start was super choppy and even potentially dangerous in spots where drifts haven't been cut down. Not too bad but for a newer rider could be a little tricky. As usual the Florence trails I have ridden in the past two weeks have always been in great shape. Hats off to the Florence groomers!

Glad it went well.
Just an fyi.....trail 7 or the NST from the MI border on down for aprox. 20 -30 miles is Florence Co.
On most busy weekends we find that the trail improves once we get south into Forest Co.

 

[lt250rfd]

Well no i was not aware of that thanks for the info tracker.

Thanks everyone for your help!

We rode the trails today as planned and Hiles is the place to top off. I actually had a half a tank coming from the Whitetail in Tipler so definitely could have made it to Three lakes. I could have made it home to Spread Eagle from Hiles believe it or not, but topped off in Caspian since I don't like to run it too low while alone at night. All trails were in good to great shape except for trail 7 down from trail 2 all the way to the Newald area and trail 2 in Iron County. Trail 2 from Iron River to George young spur is fine but from That junction all the way to the bridge where Florence (blue OX ) trails start was super choppy and even potentially dangerous in spots where drifts haven't been cut down. Not too bad but for a newer rider could be a little tricky. As usual the Florence trails I have ridden in the past two weeks have always been in great shape. Hats off to the Florence groomers!

Thought 2 was chopped up pretty good where your talking Saturday, can't imagine how it was yesterday. That was the only section of trail we hit that was rough Saturday.

 

[dfattack]

Glad it went well.
Just an fyi.....trail 7 or the NST from the MI border on down for aprox. 20 -30 miles is Florence Co.
On most busy weekends we find that the trail improves once we get south into Forest Co.

Yes, you are correct. For some reason trail 7 in florence hasn't been maintained this year as well as trail 2 has in Florence. Same with Iron County Trail 2 from Bridge west to George Young. Usually it's much better. Who Knows what's up. Nobody to groom, broken groomer...who knows

- - - Updated - - -

Thought 2 was chopped up pretty good where your talking Saturday, can't imagine how it was yesterday. That was the only section of trail we hit that was rough Saturday.

It was rough. I've seen worse but some places were dangerous if you weren't paying close attention.

 

[440_chazz]

Once north of Hiles take the first intersection straight. That will ho to 3 lakes.

Or if you want a forearm workout go right. HAHA