The Tuscobia Trail

The Tuscobia Trail. . , The Tuscobia State Trail represents the history of the railroad in the development of northern Wisconsin. The route was first conceived as a rail line in 1899, but construction did not end until 1914. The Chicago and North Western Railroad ran on the line between Tuscobia and Park Falls hauling timber from the logging operations in the region. By the 1940s, the railroad was in decline as automobiles became more common and logging slowed. The line was abandoned in 1965. Before the trestles and bridges were dismantled, Hulda Hilfiker promoted her vision of converting the 74 mile rail line into a recreational trail. Hilfiker persuaded area land-owners, and eventually Governor Warren Knowles, to embrace her idea. On February 17, 1967, the state of Wisconsin purchased the corridor to create what was then only the second rail-to-trail conversion in the state. In 1984, a segment of the trail was designated as part of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail., Hulda and her husband, Ernest Hilfiker, operated the nearby Tuscobia Cheese Factory. Hulda’s desire to keep the corridor open for public use was rooted in her love for the natural beauty of the area, the majestic stands of white pine with an understory of horsetails at the creek crossing. She enjoyed walking to her favorite place on the trail, where a 358-foot timber trestle once carried trains over Tuscobia Creek., Today, the Tuscobia Trail corridor is a remnant of the time when the railroad was the primary economic driver in the region, enabling logging, agriculture, and later the tourism and service industries.