Hello Friends, 

Welcome to the newest section of my blog: All Things Wisconsin! My goal is to highlight all of my favorite things to do in my great state of Wisconsin. This will be the only section that isn’t yarn related.

Up first: my favorite state parks! Pattison State Park, a family favorite. Other parks on my list to eventually blog about: Rib Mountain State Park, Governor Dodge State Park, Kettle-Moraine State Forest, Peninsula State Park, Rock Island State Park, Amnicon Falls State Park…the list goes on. Wisconsin is home to 66 state parks. And we’ve only visited 9. Lots more traveling to do.    

My husband (Isaac) and I share a love of all things outdoors. It’s an interest that helped us bond when we first met back in college. Camping is our all time favorite way to escape and explore the world around us. If we can bring a tent, we will go. Don’t get me wrong, I love hotels but something about sleeping in a sleeping bag, surrounded by the woods while under the stars and the scent of campfire lingering in the air….it’s just magical. 

Isaac and I decided early on that when we were ready, we’d bring the kids camping with us. So, our family camping adventures started in 2016, once we had 2 (of the 3) kiddos. Our eldest was 3 and the middle was 1, at the time. We knew they were young for camping, but we wanted to spark that interest in them at a young age with hopes that they would love it

 

Pattison State Park, located in Superior (WI) is surrounded by 1400 sq ft of forested area and 9 miles of hiking trails. Best known for having the highest waterfall in Wisconsin, Big Manitou Falls (pictured at the top of this post, 165 feet) and Little Manitou Falls, twin falls 31 foot twin waterfall. The campground has over 50 sites (tent and rv friendly) along with a few backpacking sites. The bathrooms are located in the middle of the campground with walking paths leading to them from each section of the campground. While each site is close to the next, trees and brush make wonderful natural fences. Our sites that we’ve had (pictured above) have been perfect for us. Coming soon is my next post where I’ll show you all about how we camp.

Check out https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/pattison/ for more information on Pattison. 

The hiking trails are glorious. Rugged yet refined paths that wind around Interfalls Lake and along the Black River, north to the big falls and south to the small falls. Our first trip, back in 2016, we packed the two kids in hiking packs and tackled the Beaver Trail (1.0mi) down to a CCC bridge that connected to the Little Manitou Falls path (0.5mi). Little Manitou Falls are twin falls that you can hike around or down to. Plenty of people were down in the water that day! The sad part, in 2018 a huge storm destroyed/washed out most of the trails to the little falls. On our recent trip, they still haven’t fixed the path and the trail was closed.  

Just a few weekends ago, we visited Pattison again for a weekend of camping and exploring. Our first stop was the top portion of the Big Manitou Falls Trail (0.1mi). In order to make each hike more fun and involved, we purchased hiking packs for each kid from REI (https://www.rei.com/product/168502/rei-co-op-tarn-18-pack-kids). They each have a different color pack that they get to load up with: water bottles, snacks, and binoculars (sometimes a toy or two). Our kids love having a sense of ownership on the trail with these packs.  

After exploring the top section, we hiked the rest of the Big Manitou Falls Trail (0.5miles, one way). It was warm and muggy out, so the mosquitos were quite vicious since this path is in dense woods. The path, mainly made of small rock, winds its way around the large fall and down, down in elevation. Plenty of pop outs for photo ops. The photo below was made possible by a wooden selfie stand sponsored by Travel Wisconsin (#ScenicWisconsin) and perfect during this CoVID time.    

A huge wooden staircase helps you descend the last few feet to the bottom of the falls, at the Black River. Crazy to think that the river used to be where the staircase is. This section is more rugged than the rest of the path and includes large down trees and a huge rock area before the water. After exploring the water and looking at cool rocks, we hiked the half mile all the way up the path back to our car.   

Pattison will always hold a special place in our hearts. It’s the first campground we camped out as a family and we enjoy visiting when we can. Do you like camping? Let me know below!

xoxo, Lindsey

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