Ice Age Trail Alliance protects two strategic properties for future Trail.
The Ice Age Trail Alliance closed on a 76.08-acre property along County Highway H in Chippewa County. Now known as Otter Lake Preserve, the property contains a creek and high-relief hummocky glacial topography, including several small ice-walled lake plains along the Perkinstown Moraine. Continue reading
Join the Dane County Chapter on Saturday, October 14, 2023 for the annual Dane County Hike-A-Thon!
Choose between 2 hike options:
See below for hike details!
Either way, you’ll get a shuttle, refreshments, some swag, and you’ll get closer to completing the Mammoth Hike Challenge!
We ask that each Hike-a-Thon participant make a personal gift of $50 per individual or 1st member of a household, $25 for 2nd adult in the household. Children under 18 accompanied by an adult are $10.
All proceeds from the Hike-A-Thon will go towards the Dane County Land Protection Fund, which allows quick action when a land protection opportunity arises, providing funds to pay for critical, time-sensitive costs related to land acquisition, such as appraisals, land surveys, and other fees.
All participants will receive a shuttle from their car to the start of the hike, and refreshments during and after the hike.
15-Mile Hikers: Meet at Badger Prairie Park Shelter #1 at 7:30 am for check in.
5-Mile Hikers: Meet at the Badger Prairie Park Shelter #1 at 11:30 am for check in.
There will be two aid stations along the with water refills and lots of snacks: Bosco and Prairie Moraine parking lot.
LOCATION: Badger Prairie County Park, Link to Google map
PARKING: Badger Prairie Park Shelter #1, Link to location on Hiker Resource map
After your hike, join Dane County Chapter volunteers at the Badger Prairie Park Shelter #1 for grab and go sandwiches provided by Millers & Sons Grocery, soda, beer, hot apple cider and other drinks, and snacks to refuel after a long hike.
Make plans to enjoy local businesses in the our Trail Community of Verona.
The Ice Age Trail Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your gift as part of this event is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Thank you sponsors for supporting the Dane County Hike-A-Thon:
Your commitment impressed the trustees of Prairie Springs: The Paul Fleckenstein Trust so much they decided to increase their match from $120,ooo to $200,000! Thanks to your generosity and that of Prairie Springs: The Paul Fleckenstein Trust, the Alliance will be able to protect and preserve additional land across the state.
It’s an area where moraines once collided, resulting in amazing glaciation and hummocky terrain. It would be a hiker’s dream to traverse. But right now, the Ice Age National Scenic Trail currently runs along roads. With your help, this will change.
Another commonality among these properties? The Alliance purchased them using matching grant funds awarded from Wisconsin’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
The Connors Family has a strong commitment to “close the gaps” in the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The purpose of the Robert & Victoria Land Resource Fund is to facilitate land acquisition by the Alliance to host and permanently protect the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. The fund offers the resources needed to act quickly when land protection opportunities arise.
On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the United States Senate voted 73-25 to pass the Great American Outdoors Act to permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and make a substantial investment in addressing the deferred maintenance backlog on our public lands.
The passage of this bill will help address priority repairs in our national parks and on other public lands by directing up to $9.5 billion over five years to address maintenance needs within the National Park System and other public land agencies. It will also fully and permanently dedicate $900 million per year already being deposited into the LWCF, our nation’s most important conservation program for land, water, and recreation areas for all Americans.
As you turn your face to the sun and head out on a hike, be on the look out for these woodland beauties:
In an historic victory for public lands and close-to-home recreation, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was permanently reauthorized yesterday, March 12, 2019, as part of a sweeping public lands package signed into law by President Donald J. Trump.
The legislation, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House (363-62) and the Senate (92-8) last month, was signed yesterday during a ceremony that included LWCF champions. The culmination of a year’s-long effort by Congressional champions on both sides of the aisle and by stakeholders across the country to preserve the unique character of this program. Continue reading