Old Highway 131 Trail

Jackie Yocum

Located between the villages of La Farge and Ontario in southwestern Wisconsin, sits the 8,600-acre tract of public land known as the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. The history, resources, administration, and recreational diversity make the Reserve a wholly unique place. The entire Reserve is rich in natural and cultural resources. It is an ecologically significant landscape of Wisconsin that includes maintained pollinator corridors and represents the histories of the Hoocak (Ho-Chunk) Nation and state of Wisconsin.

During the mid-1900s, the federal government began a flood control project. The farms along the Kickapoo River were purchased, and their inhabitants relocated, to make way for a dam and reservoir. The project faced many challenges and was highly controversial. In 1996, federal legislation directed the US Army Corps of Engineers to transfer 1,200 acres of land to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in trust for the Ho-Chunk Nation and the remaining land to the State of Wisconsin, creating the Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

Now, Kickapoo Valley Reserve has an extensive system of trails for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy non-motorized sport trail use. One of these trails, designated a National Recreation Trail, is the Old Highway 131 Trail. Open seasonally to bikes, equestrians, hikers, snowshoers, cross-country skiers, bird watchers, geocachers, and others, Old Highway 131 Trail is a favorite among the outdoor community.

With its rich history and cultural significance, Old Highway 131 acts as a statement of resilience, community, and resolve. The trail is located on the ancestral homelands of First Nations people, including the Ho-Chunk Nation. The earliest known township maps show that the corridor of the trail had frequently been used for traversing the river valley. And to early European settlers, what is now the Old Highway 131 Trail once connected small lumber and farming-dependent communities along the Kickapoo River.

Today, the Old Highway 131 Trail exists as a greenway for non-motorized public use. The asphalt trail with an adjacent natural surface bridle path lends itself to many outdoor activities and visitors of all experience levels. Old Highway 131 is ideal for children learning to ride a bike, gentle cross-country skiing, exercise, star gazing, and soaking up nature in a secluded setting. The trail also serves as a main access to over 50 miles of natural surface shared use trails within the Reserve.

A local citizens board operates both the trail, and the Reserve as a whole, to maintain its invaluable access to nature and the connections it builds between the community and its rich history.