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, and surprisingly they were unscathed by the logging and wildfires that 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 on the eastern side. The Whisker Lake Trail crosses the entire Wilderness east to west, about 2.5 miles, with access to the lake itself, and there are roughly 9.5 miles of maintained system trail in all. Deer hunting is allowed in season, and winter brings cross-country skiers.