Wisconsin trails · Horseshoe Lake
Horseshoe Lake
A 9.5-mile out-and-back in Wisconsin, with 166 ft of climbing. Reaches Horseshoe Lake and other lake destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 48% of the ascent falls between mile 6.4 and mile 9.5. It gives back about 313 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Horseshoe Lake (lake)
- Sunken Camp Lake (lake)
Getting there
Forest Trail 421 access. About 58 min drive (21 mi, 8 of them unpaved) from Ashland. 46.65795, -91.17834 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:50 a.m., the sun rises at 7:20 a.m. and sets at 6:20 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:50 p.m. (CDT) — 10 h 59 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 19.1-mile round trip takes roughly 7 h 14 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 2:34 p.m. — 3 h 45 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- Lakeshore Trail — 16.7 mi
- Sea Caves Trail — 16.7 mi
- Buckskin — 24.5 mi
- North Country National Scenic — 24.7 mi