A Fun Bikey Day Trip

Some time ago I learned of a boardwalk near Madison, Wisconsin that billed itself as "the longest inland boardwalk bridge built solely for non-motorized transportation in North America."  Dane County, where the boardwalk is found, says the boardwalk is a mile long.  Well, of course I knew I would have to some day ride my bike across that boardwalk so it went on my list.   And then, the opportunity arose to take that ride.  Happy day!

This marvelous boardwalk is found on the Lower Yahara River Trail.  Before going I checked the map to see what else of interest was along the trail.  I found that the entire trail is only 2.5 miles long, much shorter than I like to go when I'm out riding.  But Dane County has a whole bunch of state, county, and city trails that interconnect so putting together a longer ride wasn't hard at all.  At the west end of the Lower Yahara River trial you can move onto the Capitol City Trail without missing a beat.  The Capitol City Trail is 17 miles long but I wasn't going to do the whole trail.

The eastern trail-head for the Lower Yahara River Trail is located in McDaniel Park in McFarland, WI.  So that's were I went to start.

At the beginning of the trail, which is only a dozen yards from where the boardwalk bridge begins, I stopped for a quick picture and then took off across the bridge.

Just a little jog at the beginning and then it went out around Lake Waubesa, actually, it curved around the northeast part of the lake, between the lake and some train tracks.  I was hoping a train would go by, the information I saw said it was an active track, but no train.

As soon as the bridge ended the trail went into some woods, part of the William G Lunney Lake Farm County Park.

One of the points of interest I had found was an observation tower.  It wasn't right on the trail, I had to go a half mile or so off on a side trail to get to it.

This tower was different from the usual towers found in state parks and recreations areas. This tower was patterned after a castle turret. Pretty slick, I thought.

Instead of being an open, wooden tower, this one was enclosed, a short hike up some stairs but no view as you go up and up to the top.

That was okay, though.  It was a cool climb, 40 steps to be exact.

I had the top all to myself for the first little while.  Eventually, though, others came.  It wasn't surprising considering what a nice day it was and what a popular trail this was on. There were plenty of others out enjoying the trail and wonderful weather.  At the top you could look around and see quite a ways.

The tower had a nice view out across the country-side.

This was looking back in the direction I had come to get to the tower.  Coming down and getting back onto the trial, I soon came into the Capitol Springs State Recreation Area.  About a mile after the tower I came to the end of the Lower Yahara River Trail and moved onto the Capitol City Trail.  The next point of interest I had planned on stopping at was an observation deck out in the middle of some wetlands.  This observation deck was in the Nine Springs area, a bird observation area.

Unfortunately, when I got to the spot in the trail where you turned to go out to the observation deck, there was a sign that said it was closed to bikes.

I suppose I could have walked my bike out, or left it and walked out without it.  But the boardwalk out to the deck was narrow and long, and there wasn't much space at the junction, and no bike rack, so I decided not to go out.

However, sitting there on the bench where the walk-way out to the deck  began was a little painted rock.  Painting rocks with positive, uplifting messages have become pretty popular recently.  I was hoping I might stumble across one while out on my ride.  And, sure enough, there it was!  Cool!  So I  left it there and continued on my way.

I had studied the route I planned to take ahead of time but I still had to stop a couple of times to figure out where I was and how to get to where I wanted to go next.  Not long after the observation deck was one of those places.  But pretty soon I was back on my way.  As I continued on, Capitol City Trail winds around the southwest part of Lake Monona. This lake is bigger than Lake Waubesa.

My next stop was Olin Park, at a place called Olin Park Vantage.  When I got there I found out right away why it was called that.  The vantage point was at the top of a hill in Olin Park where you could see out across the lake, including to the downtown part of Madison, which includes the state capitol building.

Continuing on I followed the Capitol City Trail until I came to North Broom Street.  At that point I left the trail and turned west, going along North Broom Street.  I kind of stair-stepped my way north and west until I came to West Washington Avenue.  Then I turned north and headed up the hill toward the capitol building.  Lots of cars, people, traffic lights, and a big hill.  The going was slow but before long I arrived at the south steps of the capitol building.  That had been the goal for the "turn-around" point before heading back.

There was a big farmers market there around the steps; I thought about looking around for a little while.  But all the stalls were cramped and crowded, and there were a lot of people.  And I had a bike I would need to keep out of the way if I were to browse.  So I skipped it and started back.

I had seen that there were several one-way streets as you approach the capitol building so I decided not to take exactly the same route back.  Besides, I wasn't entirely sure I could find it.  All these streets looked the same.  So I went straight out West Washington Avenue until it intersected with North Broom Street.  I was glad I did.  As I was waiting for a light, a "Pedal Pub" went rolling by.  They were laughing, drinking, and pedaling, making their way slowly up the street.

They looked like they were having a grand time. I was glad to see that behind the bar was one person serving, and another person driving, while all the guests pedaled, moving the rolling pub forward.  A very interesting contraption.  I thought it interesting, and probably a real good idea, that everyone was wearing seat belts.

The ride back always seems to go faster than the ride out.  Maybe that's because going out it was all new territory and coming back you've seen it all before.  Anyway, before long I was back at the beginning of the boardwalk at Lake Waubesa.

Right at the beginning of the boardwalk is a small observation deck, a turn out with a bench, so I stopped and enjoyed the view for a few minutes.  Yes, I was tired and this was taking a rest.  But it was also a very nice day and the lake looked nice.

Right to the side of the turn-out was a gap where boats would pass back and forth from Lake Monona and Lake Waubesa.  They were fun to watch.

But the day was wearing on and I needed to get back so pretty soon I was back on my bike for the last mile across the boardwalk and to the park.  It was a good ride.  It was 16.8 miles long and parts of it had been pretty strenuous, particularly getting up the hill to the capitol building. I even had a chain issue at one point that I had to stop and take care of before continuing.  But all in all, it had been a good ride and I was glad I had gone.  So I crossed another place off my list and had a fun time!