Northwoods Chapter

LINCOLN COUNTY

Lincoln County lies within the Northern Highlands, once a highly mountainous region. Long before the Ice Age, much of this range had eroded away. The glaciers continued to abrade the higher peaks and fill in the valleys with debris. The Wisconsin Valley Lobe covered most of northern and central Lincoln County during the last part of the Wisconsin Glaciation. A broad band of hilly topography marks the maximum extent of this lobe, which began to recede between 18,000 and 15,000 years ago. Two areas along this ice margin, where the topography often varies by more than 200 feet, are the Harrison Hills and Underdown.

The New Wood areas provide some of the most isolated experiences of the entire Ice Age Trail. The endangered timber wolf frequents these large blocks of forested public land.

The highest point of the Ice Age Trail is atop Lookout Mountain, in the Harrison Hills, offering scenic views to the northwest of a lake and forested landscape and to the southeast of a broad outwash plain.