by Katie Cervenka | Dec 22, 2025 | Connect with Nature, Driftless Trail, Preserves
For many, a New Year’s Day hike is a way to reset. It is a way to step outside, breathe deeply, and begin the year grounded in the places that matter most. Across southwest Wisconsin, Driftless Area Land Conservancy offers a growing network of preserved lands and open trail segments where that radiation can take root.
Whether you’re looking for a quiet walk or a more adventurous climb, these places invite reflection, movement, and connection as the new year begins.
Driftless Trail Segments Open for Hiking
The Driftless Trail winds through conserved lands, working farms, woodlands, and ridgelines, offering hikers a chance to experience the Driftless Area as a living, working landscape. Open segments provide meaningful ways to explore the land while honoring the people who care for it.
Knobs Road Segment – 3.9 mile loop
Explore 3.9 miles of rolling oak woods, open pastures, and a working grass-fed beef farm. Hike past hayfields, an orchard, and along a Mill Creek tributary, then climb to the ridge for a breathtaking 360-degree view of the Driftless hills. Perfect for spotting wildlife and enjoying wide-open vistas, this trail combines farmland charm with forested beauty.
Weaver Road Segment – 1.2 mile loop
Take a short but unforgettable 1.2-mile loop north of Governor Dodge State Park, featuring fascinating rock formations and a large, ancient pine relict. The trail opens to spectacular, windswept vistas, perfect for a quick hike that feels bigger than its distance. A great spot for nature lovers who enjoy geology, forest beauty, and dramatic Driftless scenery.
Phoebe Point Segment – 1.1 mile loop
Discover sweeping views of the Wisconsin River, Taliesin, and the Lowery Creek watershed on this 1.1-mile “lollipop loop.” Wander through peaceful forests, pause at scenic overlooks, and experience a trail shaped by a unique collaboration with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Taliesin Preservation. Ideal for photographers and anyone who loves dramatic river valley panoramas.
DALC Preserves to Explore
DALC preserves are protected forever, offering spaces where people can experience the Driftless while ensuring these lands remain healthy and resilient for generations to come.
Erickson Conservation Area – 220 acres
Erickson Conservation Area spans 220 acres with easy, relatively flat trails winding through woodlands, open fields, and diverse habitats. Wildlife is abundant, and scenic vistas offer peaceful moments along the way. The preserve is open year-round and accessible from Argyle Legion Park, making it a great spot to explore on foot.
Sardeson Forest Preserve – 12 acres
Sardeson Forest Preserve offers hilly, rocky trails through woodlands, prairie remnants, and along sandstone bluffs. Hikers can explore a small northern loop or a longer trail circling the property, with red trail blazes guiding the way. A short side trail leads to Roland’s Rock, a scenic overlook with sweeping views of the valley and surrounding hills. Foot traffic only, the preserve is ideal for hiking, running, or snowshoeing.
Please follow all trail rules and respect the land. For detailed maps, trail conditions, and access information, please visit preserve and trail pages on our website.
by Katie Cervenka | Dec 19, 2025 | Conservation, Driftless Trail, Land Protection
Wintergreen property closing. Pictured from left to right: Danni Niles, DALC Board President; Stephanie Judge, Conservation Director; Terry and Susanne Shifflet, Wintergreen property owners; Jennifer Filipiak, Executive Director; and Angie Buelow, Development Director
We are thrilled to share some joyful, long-awaited news! Driftless Area Land Conservancy (DALC) has officially closed on the iconic Wintergreen property in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
This remarkable place encompasses 245 acres and a 15,000-square foot, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired event center perched high above the Lower Wisconsin Riverway. With this milestone, Wintergreen is now protected forever, joining the growing network of lands DALC stewards across southwest Wisconsin.
Overlooking the longest-free flowing stretch of river in the Midwest, nestled beside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Estate, itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wintergreen holds ecological, cultural, and community significance that is difficult to capture in words. For generations, it has been a place of gathering and joy. Once a working ski hill and lodge, Wintergreen welcomed families, students, and visitors who came for snowy winters, sweeping summer views, and a sense of belonging rooted in the land.
Wintergreen lies within the 95,000-acre Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance recognized globally for its ecological value. The Riverway supports many critical habitats and provides habitat for 121 rare animal species, including 17 species listed as glocally threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List.
Wintergreen also serves as a gateway to something larger.
As the future anchor of the emerging Driftless Trail, the property connects people to a growing regional recreation corridor and responds directly to what the community has asked for: greater access to the Riverway and meaningful ways to experience the Driftless landscape.
Looking ahead, Wintergreen has the potential to become a trailhead, a retreat and visitor center, a conservation-focused community hub, and a year-round destination for environmental education, gatherings, and low-cost recreation. It is a rare opportunity to preserve one of the last large-scale community spaces in the Driftless Area and to ensure it remains accessible to all.
For now, Wintergreen will not be open to the public as we take the time to carefully plan for safe public access and recreation. DALC is working with the land itself and with community and business leaders to envision what the event center can become.
The land and the people who care for it are at the forefront of every decision. We will continue to share updates through our website and social media as plans unfold, and we invite you to stay connected by signing up for DALC newsletters to learn about opportunities for public input.
This achievement would not have been possible without extraordinary community support. Many people made their first-ever gift to DALC to help protect Wintergreen. Others stepped forward with their most generous contribution to date. In fact, private donations made up half of the funding needed to protect Wintergreen. Together, you carried this project across the finish line and demonstrated what is possible when a community shows up for the land it loves. We are deeply thankful and truly humbled by the trust you placed in DALC.
DALC staff with Terry and Susanne Shifflet (bottom row, fourth and fifth from the left).
We extend heartfelt thanks to Terry and Suzanne Shifflet for their vision, stewardship, and willingness to permanently conserve this incredible property. Their care and collaboration laid the groundwork for everything that comes next.
We are also grateful for critical funding support from partners including the State of Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Ducks Unlimited, and the Schlect Family Foundation. Their commitment to conservation in Wisconsin made this milestone possible.
Wintergreen is now protected forever–a place shaped by memory, grounded in community, and open to possibility. Together, we are caring for the Driftless Area and carrying its story forward for generations to come.
For press related matters, please contact Jennifer Filipiak, Executive Director, at jennifer@driftlessconservancy.org, (608) 930-3252
If you feel inspired to be a part of Wintergreen’s next chapter, we invite you to support the revitalization of this special place. Your gift will help ensure the land remains healthy, the building remains a community asset, and Wintergreen continues to connect people to the Driftless.
by Katie Cervenka | Nov 10, 2025 | Connect with Nature, Driftless Trail
There is nothing quite like hiking in the Driftless. Crisp mornings, bright light filtering through oak leaves, it is one of the best times of the year to get out and explore this incredible landscape.
As you plan your hikes this season, we encourage you to enjoy the open trail segments and properties cared for by Driftless Area Land Conservancy. These protected lands offer plenty of opportunities to connect with nature and enjoy this crisp weather.
But as fall gives way to winter, it is also the hunting season. To keep everyone safe and ensure a positive experience for all, here are a few tips to keep in mind when hiking during hunting season: wear bright colors, stay on designated trails, keep pets leashed, be mindful of time, and plan ahead.
You can safely enjoy the Phoebe Point and Welsh Hills segments of the Driftless Trail currently! We encourage you to head out, explore a new place, and take in this remarkable region as the seasons change.
For future trail alerts and updates, please visit our Facebook.
by DALC Staff | Apr 22, 2025 | Connect with Nature, Driftless Trail, Preserves
Shinrin-yoku, the practice translated as Forest Bathing, is an activity that invites us to slow down and really connect with nature, the experience that connects us all. It became popular in Japan in the 1980’s during the technology boom. With people working in buildings and cities, the Japanese noticed that people were not healthy and becoming sicker. They started creating places in nature and paid for workers to go out and reconnect with nature. There is plenty of research now that shows that being in nature helps regulate our mind and body connection, boosting our immune systems, and is an integral part of lifestyle medicine.
“Humans instinctively know that when we’re in nature, and we can slow down enough to use our sensory systems, we feel healthier and happier,” Martha says.
Forest bathing is not hiking but the intentional act of slowing down in nature. It starts with the breath, closing your eyes, listening to the sounds around you, acknowledging those who have been on the land before you, and honoring the wildlife, plants, and organisms that call the forest home.
It invites you to notice the smaller natural details like the fungus calling a decaying log home and other parts of the natural world often passed over without a second thought. Walking through the forest like a camera and taking “snapshots” with your eyes to refocus your sight. Continuing, one could consider opening to a possible “treasure” just for you:. Being present and allowing what that word “treasure” means to you on your journey through the forest.
“For me, as I age and move into Elder work, it’s nature and the interwoven experience of being in the awesomeness of this relationship. What is our relationship with the natural world? How can we be kinder, more generous, and have a creative connection? How can we translate that into human connection as well as care for the Land?” Martha shares. “It’s sort of like breathing or eating. The need to return to the chemistry and energy of the forest and the trees. We miss so much when we are hiking and talking. Forest bathing invites us to be present and momentarily step away from the busyness of our lives. It allows us to open our hearts and minds which is truly healing.”
As DALC celebrates Earth Month and the incredible work our community is doing to protect the land, we invite you to explore some of these practices and enjoy an intentional connection at any of our nature preserves or Driftless Trail segments.
You don’t need to go with a guide to experience the benefits of forest bathing, however, if you are interested in connecting with Martha you can learn more at marthayork12@gmail.com.
Martha York, DALC supporter, trained in the lineage of Shinrin-yoku, a form of Japanese Forest Therapy.
by DALC Staff | Oct 1, 2023 | Driftless Trail
After opening the re-routed Weaver Road Segment of the Driftless Trail last year, just north of Governor Dodge State Park, we are excited to announce great progress on two additional pieces of the Driftless Trail. The Knobs Road Segment, north of Ridgeway, is now in the “trial run” phase, open to a limited group who will provide feedback. In October, the Phoebe Point Trail on the Taliesin property, near Spring Green, will open to the general public.
The 2.7-mile Knobs Road Segment can stretch to a four-mile loop by walking Knobs Road in between the trail ends. This trail crosses a property where Dave and Ann Zimrin raise grass-fed beef, sold under the Butler Family Farm label. Hikers will pass through an old orchard, woods, prairies, a wide valley where cows are rotationally grazed, and a mile-long ridge with impressive views and perennial crops. The relatively short hike offers a lot of variety. Stay tuned for the official opening date.
Last year, Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation agreed to co-brand the Phoebe Point and Welsh Hills trails on the Taliesin property as part of the Driftless Trail. Natural landscapes were integral to Mr. Wright’s designs, and from both of these trails, you get sweeping views of the landscape that, in his words, “picks you up in its arms and so gently, almost lovingly, cradles you.”
The 1.1-mile Phoebe Point Trail will be opened in October. It will traverse a slope where prairie and savanna restoration is in progress, then follow a ridge with views up and down the Wisconsin River and across much of the Lowery Creek watershed, including the Welsh Hills. This fall, we will also begin to construct an extension of the Welsh Hills Trail, which has been open to the public for several years.
By the end of 2025, we hope to complete the Driftless Trail from Tower Hill State Park through the Taliesin property. From there, we will route the trail south through the Lowery Creek watershed and begin trail construction on the Blue Mound State Park end of the project area.
As this project evolves, its value for educating people about nature and land management, protecting and stewarding a long conservation corridor, building community, and simply connecting people to this amazing landscape is becoming abundantly clear. We are immensely grateful to landowners who are making this possible by hosting the trail on their property and to volunteers who help on multiple fronts.
Enjoy hiking the Weaver Road Segment and (soon) Phoebe Point Trail by finding trail guides at driftlessconservancy.org/driftless-trail.
Written by Barb Barzen, Community Conservation Specialist
by DALC Staff | Jun 1, 2019 | Driftless Trail
A drive through northeastern Iowa County serves up incredible vistas, bucolic farm scenes, roller coaster topography, historic treasures, and a taste of rural life. We all love what we see out the window. Now stop and think what a hike through this same landscape would give you. Not only could you soak in all of the above up close and at your own pace, you could learn more, get exercise, enjoy quality time alone or with friends and family, and even take it all in on snowshoes or cross country skis.
What started as our executive director’s daydream about a looped hike from Tower Hill to Governor Dodge to Blue Mound state park through the amazing hills and valleys in between has, over the past three years, become a full-fledged proposal and community conservation strategy that DALC is now rolling out.
When completed some 15-20 years from now, the Driftless Trail will be a trail network that connect the three state parks, Trout Creek and Love-Strutt Creek Fishery Areas, Ridgeway Pine Relict State Natural Area, and many beautiful private conservation lands in between. A couple of campsites will allow people to do overnight hikes of 50 miles or more, and multiple small loops will allow for the 1-2 hour hikes many people prefer.
Indeed, wherever the trail wanders, DALC will ensure those areas are managed well. The long-term impact will be an extensive corridor of good-quality woodland, savanna, prairie, and wetland habitat that will allow for movement of wildlife, improve resiliency to climate change, and model land management techniques that trail users can learn from and apply elsewhere.
In addition to involving landowners, the Driftless Trail will engage and energize educators, businesses, youth organizations, health organizations, natural resource managers, and community leaders in the seven towns surrounding the project area: Dodgeville, Spring Green, Arena, Ridgeway, Barneveld, Blue Mounds, and Mount Horeb.
After developing a Concept Plan with assistance from the National Park Service and expertise of our planning and advisory teams, DALC is now incorporating input from landowners and the public into plans for moving forward. As momentum continues to build, more voices are adding their support for the trail:
“The Driftless Trail is exactly what visitors are looking for right now. They are looking for opportunities to get out in nature, to observe wildlife, but also at the end of the day be close to other amenities and attractions. The Driftless Trail makes all of that possible,” notes Anne Sayers, Deputy Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
If you’d like to support or learn more about the project, contact Barb Barzen at barb@driftlessconservancy.org
