Medford (Wisconsin)

The county courthouse at 224 S. 2nd St. is a handsome building with a metal dome. Main Street has old stores in various styles, including some with interesting arches in the second story. East Perkins Street has some nice historic homes - Craftsman and other styles - as does East Broadway.

The Kuse Preserve is an old farm on the northwest side of Medford where visitors are free to look at the old buildings, walk the trails and enjoy the plants and birds.

The highest point in Wisconsin is in a range of hills 28 miles NNE of Medford. After a hike up the hill, you can climb an observation tower to look out over the surrounding forested hilltops. This is a good spot for viewing leaf color in the fall.

The Pine Line trail runs north out of Medford for 26 miles on the abandoned bed of the Wisconsin Central Railway. It threads its way past forests and bogs, and through quiet little hamlets like Whittlesey and Chelsea. The gravel surface is suitable for mountain bikes, ATVs and horses in summer - snowmobiles in winter. Don't worry about traffic; it's generally lightly used.

Miller Dam is a 2400-acre man-made shallow reservoir on the Yellow River, mostly in the Chequamegon Forest, regularly a good place for panfish, bass and northern.

Chelsea is a 91-acre lake 13 miles north of Medford, regularly popular for ice-fishing.

This is a one-hour hike on a ridge above a lake, a half mile each way, mostly level except for some elevation change at the end. The trail follows the top of a sandy esker deposited by the last glacier, so it's a good hike when every other trail is muddy, and it would be hard to get lost on this trail. The trail is about 22 miles northwest of Medford, at Mondeaux Flowage. Get there from Medford by taking WIS-64 west 5 miles, then CTH-E north 14 miles, then FR-1563 east three miles. Then to find the trailhead from the dam, go west a couple hundred yards up the hill to the parking lot at the top of the ridge. The trailhead is across the road from the parking lot, marked as the Leopold Trail. This is a nice hike at any time, but on a clear fall day with bright leaves against blue water it can be glorious. Late in the day is also good, when you'll probably see wildlife swimming around the lake at the end of the trail.

Another charming short hike is the one-mile loop to Jerry Lake, an undeveloped small lake nestled in the forest. You can reach the trailhead from Medford by taking WIS-64 west 4 miles to CTH-E, then E north 5 miles to CTH-M, then M 7 miles west to Sailor Creek Road/FR-571, then one mile north to the sign for Jerry Lake on the west side of the road. For the shortest loop, follow the trail behind the sign west a couple hundred yards to the lake. Follow the trail to the left (SW) along the lake, then up over the ridge back out to the road. Then walk the road north back to your car. This hike can be extended by following the Ice Age Trail on the other side of the road, where you'll cross the Yellow River after a mile and then come out to CTH-M after another mile. That extension is not a loop; you'd backtrack to Sailor Creek Road.