We started near antigo and went north on the RR grade to tipler then over to phelps and land o lakes. The grade is boring but it gets you there in a hurry. Came back through conover, eagle river, three lakes. This was last year and the year before. Both in late january. Always seems to be more snow on the eastern route, prolly cuz of less traffic.
I dont recall if you can go north to crandon and then north to Phelps, or if you gotta hit either the eastern or western routes we took. Maybe whitedust knows if there is a trail south to crandon.