Wisconsin trails · Whisker Lake Wilderness

Whisker Lake Wilderness

A 8.8-mile out-and-back in Wisconsin, with 177 ft of climbing. Reaches Cruiser Lake and other lake destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

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Length

8.8 mi

Elevation gain

177 ft

Difficulty

Moderate

Max grade

11%

Steepest mile

+94 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

0.2 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Horses

yes

Managed by

U.S. Forest Service

Elevation profile

The climbing leans toward the middle third: 46% of the ascent falls between mile 2.9 and mile 5.8. It gives back about 332 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Cruiser Lake (lake)
Camp Thirteen Lake (lake)
Whisker Lake (lake)

Getting there

WHISKER LAKE WILDERNESS access. 45.96201, -88.46622 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:42 a.m., the sun rises at 6:13 a.m. and sets at 7:34 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:05 p.m. (CDT) — 13 h 21 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 17.5-mile round trip takes roughly 6 h 40 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 12:53 p.m. — 6 h 41 min before sunset.