The Northwoods might be Wisconsin's best-kept cycling secret. Within easy reach of Eagle River you'll find a flat, family-friendly rail-trail, one of the Midwest's great paved trail networks winding lake to lake through the pines, and real singletrack for the knobby-tire crowd. Here's our host's guide to the bike trails near Eagle River — where to ride first, where to go next, and how to build a pedal-powered cabin weekend.
Start here
Where should you ride first?
The easy answer is the Three Eagle Trail, the flat, smooth path that links Eagle River and Three Lakes. It rolls through pine forest and wetlands — with boardwalk stretches where the trail floats right over the marsh — and because it's an out-and-back, you can make it as short or as long as the crew feels like. Kids do fine on it, cruisers do fine on it, and it's the kind of ride where you stop as much for the scenery as for the rest.
Go early and you'll likely share the trail with more deer than people. It's also lovely on foot — we covered it in our area guide — but on two wheels you can do the whole thing and still be back at the dock by lunch.
The paved network
What's the Heart of Vilas County trail system?
A short drive north and west of Eagle River is something special: a paved, largely car-free trail network that strings together the lake towns of Vilas County — St. Germain, Sayner, Boulder Junction, Manitowish Waters and more — with dozens of miles of smooth riding through pine forest and past chain after chain of lakes. Locals call it the Heart of Vilas system, and it's the closest thing Wisconsin has to trail-town touring: pedal a while, stop for ice cream, pedal on.
St. Germain & Sayner
The closest gateway from Eagle River. Roll out from St. Germain and the trail threads lakes and pines toward Sayner at a pace made for families.
Boulder Junction
The hub of the network — trails radiate out of town in several directions, and the ride out along the lakes is a Northwoods classic.
Manitowish Waters
The quieter western reach, skirting water much of the way. Pair it with a slow lunch in town and call it a day well spent.
Knobby tires
Where can you mountain bike near Eagle River?
Mountain bikers have real options up here. Razorback Ridges, near Sayner, is the local classic — a big web of rolling forest trails that ski in winter and ride all summer, with loops from mellow to leg-burning. Farther west, the purpose-built flow trails at WinMan have made the area a genuine mountain-bike destination and are worth the drive for a full day. And if gravel is more your speed, the Nicolet National Forest east of town hides endless quiet forest roads where the traffic is mostly chipmunks.
Plan it
When's the best time to ride?
The riding season runs roughly late spring through mid-fall. Early summer brings cool mornings and green tunnels of forest; September and early October turn every trail into a fall-color ride — arguably the best cycling of the year. Whenever you come: helmet, water, layers, and in early summer, bug spray earns its keep. If you're not hauling bikes north, rentals are available seasonally in and around Eagle River and the trail towns.
Pair your ride with the rest of a Northwoods day — a swim off the dock, a supper-club dinner, a fire as the loons start up. That's the whole point of biking up here: the trail is only half the ride.
Where to stay for a biking weekend
Both of our cabins make an easy base for the trails — The O.G. on Lake Arbutus and The Grandy Dandy on the Sugar Camp Chain, each with room to store bikes, a lake off the dock for the post-ride swim, and a hot tub for the post-ride legs. Summer and fall weekends book ahead.
Good to know