Skaters can glide through northern Wisconsin forest on new ice skating ribbon

For the members of the Boulder Junction Park Board, the new skating ribbon in their town’s Winter Park has been their “Field of Dreams.”

Named “The Glide,” the ice skating trail weaves through nearly a mile of the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. Since opening, it has attracted more than 4,900 visitors from around the globe, from California to Spain. Videos of skaters soaring down the trail through rows of tall pine trees have taken off on social media. The response from skaters and tourists has been more than the community members of the small town of roughly 1,000 people expected.

“I think there’s a bit of romance involved in this whole idea of skating in the woods,” said park board member Steve Weber.

The idea for the trail was first inspired by a similar ice skating trail in Arrowhead Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, along with the desire to repurpose an old cross-country ski and snowshoe trail in Boulder Park that wasn’t getting much attention from visitors.

In February 2024, the park board started researching and planning. In the winter, a crew of volunteers used a water tanker to freeze the trail, and they opened it on Dec. 23, not expecting many visitors.

“We did no advertising. We just built it, and out of nowhere, people started showing up,” Weber said.

Cassandra West of Sandwich, Illinois, and her family decided to try the Glide out while staying at their nearby cabin. West said she had recently started ice skating again after more than a decade, but had just been skating on a patch of ice she shoveled out on Pine Lake near the cabin. But when she saw posts online showing the Glide, she thought it looked interesting.

They rented skates from a local outdoor recreation shop, Coontail, and practiced first at the ice rink at the park before heading out onto the Glide, which she said was unlike anything else in the area.

“It’s different than just going somewhere and skating around in a circle on a little oval ice skating rink,” West said. “You’re going through the woods and wrapping around, you’re in the trees and it’s lightly snowing. It is very magical.”

Skaters of all ages and abilities have been out to try the trail. Members of an area group that calls itself the Wild Ice Skating Explorers, who skate using Nordic ice skates, blades that attach to cross-country ski boots, on unconditioned ice and frozen lakes, have been enjoying the Glide. The local high school cross-country ski team has also been using the ribbon to practice when there isn’t any snow.

“We all started skating on our local ice rinks when we were kids. And as we age, we tend not to do these things anymore. So you see literally people of all ages out there, you know, polishing off their ice skates that may be quite old, 30 years old, trying to do it,” Weber said.

“I think the average person just enjoys the ability to stroll — glide, if you will — through the forest,” said Dennis Duke, another member of the park board.

The loop features a number of curves and some inclines, providing a good mix of challenge and leisure for skaters. Benches are set up along the way amid the towering pine trees, and crews have strung up lights along the trail for nighttime skaters. The longest run skated so far is 23 miles, and the record speed for completing a loop is three minutes and four seconds.

Because the park board members weren’t expecting the Glide to be as popular as it has been, there have been some bumps along the way. The parking at Winter Park could use some improvement, they said, and they’ve had to order more portable toilets than usual for the season. The park board members also thought they’d need to maintain the trail less often, but they are putting in hours of maintenance almost every morning to keep the ice thick enough and smooth enough for the visitors. That has been made easier with a Zamboni ice resurfacing machine they purchased with a grant from the Boulder Junction Community Foundation.

“It’s all a great problem to have,” Weber said. “Our local businesses have appreciated all the people that have come to town, and so it’s been a very good thing for the town.”

The Glide has been particularly helpful during a season that can be slow for northern Wisconsin. Winter tourism has slowed in recent years as the region has had low levels of snow. But the ice skating ribbon doesn’t rely on snow, just freezing temperatures, so it’s been more resilient than other winter recreational activities.

In the coming years, the park board hopes to expand the trail and make upgrades to Winter Park, such as improving parking and making the park’s pavilion more usable for visitors. But for now, community members are relishing offering something new to the area.

“A lot of people have taken ahold of this, and they’re enjoying it in ways that we could have never imagined,” Weber said.