Day 3, Sunday 13 September 2026 - Sparta to Ironwood
Sleep, Blessed sleep! Slept 9 hours in that comfortable Best Western, had waffles for breakfast, and hitting WI-27 at 0815. Sky is cloudy with occasional sprinkles and temperature is 59. Terrain is low wooded hills. I pass Cataract, Re-Pete’s Bar, then Black River Falls. The falls are dammed; the Ho-Chunk (aka Winnebago) rez is near by.
WI-27 takes me through several long stretches of forested land; I see my first paper birch about 5 miles north of the Falls. Next up the road is Merrillan, pop. 562. One of its older buildings houses the Depot Hotel & Saloon. A bit farther up I pass a sign for Doc’s Bunkhouse, an RV resort. A deer ‘playhouse’ stand has a chimney. I realize that I’m on US-12 as well as WI-27, that runs but the speed limit is still 55. Just past Humbird, three Amish buggies cross the highway at rapid trot.
I say “farewell” to US-12 at Augusta, home of the Buggy Wheel Apartments. At Cadott I see a sign that reads, “Horses 4 Sale – Singlefooted.” Cadott reminds you that it is on the 45th Parallel, half-way between the Equator & North Pole. Cornell, pop. 1500, hosts Been Doin’ It Construction Mootridge Brew Pub; the temperature has dropped to 55.
Heading on north toward Ladysmith, I pass Vic’s Vision Rustic Metal Art; his large metal critters are rusty as well as rustic. A round barn house graces a woodland intersection a bit along the road. US-8 crosses WI-27 at Ladysmith, a busy town of 3,000. A hardware store uses a full-size billboard to proclaim itself HQ for deer hunters. Wisconsin’s deer-hunter culture looks to me to be more pronounced than is Missouri’s; even the dummy sitting in a landlocked canoe with his dog is orange-clad.
Hills here are farther apart, with apparent wetlands in the intervening valleys; I look for signs of beavers at work but see none. There’s a sign for Exeland, an ideal location for romantic cast-asides?
I say “farewell” to WI-27 at Ojibwa after 140 miles. WI-70 takes me to Loretta, where I begin a 40 mile run on lightly-traveled Count Road GG. I keep watching for wildlife but see only a lone jake. 10 miles in I pass well-named Rustic Road; 6 miles more & I pass through a stretch adopted by Deerslayers Hunting Cabin. And a hen turkey with half-grown poults:
I’m seeing a touch of fall color in the woods as I move into a hillier area. I pick up WI-77 at Bad River town Mellen, center of some serious forest-based industry. A new set of high-current power lines is going in next to the road; they’ve cleared a lot of right-away but saved the logs for use. I’m entering the Iron Belt Heritage Area. Montreal, base on the architectural style of so many identical homes, must have been a company town.
I reach Hurley (WI) and cross the Montreal River into Ironwood (MI). It’s only 1 P.M.; my room at the Quality Inn won’t be ready. What’s to do? A waterfall-hinting trip down to Black River Harbor!
To find the waterfalls, I must pass ski areas. First is Big Powderhorn; next is Copper Peak, a specialist in that peculiar Nordic discipline of ski jumping – this is the top of one the jump towers.
I eagerly pull off at the sign for Potawatomie and Gorge Falls. The walk to the 1st overlook is short, with a few stairs to navigate. Access to the remaining falls is closed, so I settled for a few shots of Potawatomie.
The road ends at a USFS fee day-use area. I paid no fee because that senior Pass I bought 20 years ago at Ft. Larned, price $10, is still good. A CCC-made suspension bridge crosses the river just above its mouth.
The harbor has a breakwater that provides calm waters for boaters and beachgoers
The harbor is protected from Lake Superior’s fury, but trees in the picnic area are not. Quite a few trees received significant damage fairly recently – and November’s not here yet!
Finally made it back to my motel, unloaded, then drove back to Wisconsin to save about 20 cents/gallon. The family restaurant I’d spotted earlier doesn’t serve supper, so I settled for a BK chicken sandwich. Meh.
Tomorrow: Depending on weather, visit another set of falls, visit a mountain lake overlook, and end up near Calumet.
For the day 273.1 miles, for the trip 817.9.
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