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Posted by: java
I have been to Danbury a number of times over the past few years. We typically take the Gandy Dancer trail North into Minnesota to check out the St. Croix State Forest Trails and the Nemadji State Forest trails, too. Last January of few of my friends and I went to Douglas County from Danbury (Wisconsin side), by route of the Fishbowl bar (trail is right there). The trails are almost endless but bring gas!!!! There are two stops for gas on the Minnesota side, Duxbury and Duquette. Duquette is WAY up North. Duxberry is about 25 miles from Danbury. The Gandy Dancer is open all year and the MN trails are open now. The Wisconsin side is more difficult to track down cause Burnett County (Danbury) doesn't have a lot of info except a Summer ATV Trail.
Call 1-800-788-3164 for Burnett County. THe MN DNR will send you maps for a small fee. Contact Douglas County WI about their trails: 800 392 2773.
I planned a weekend trip last year and all counties sent me maps for free except Burnett... Good Luck!
Posted by: java
The trails on the Minnesota side are great. They wind through the woodlands and swamps. There are some areas that are difficult to get through because of the mud but most trails that are untraversable will be over grown. YOu have sand trails of Nemadji forest to rocky terrrain of the St. Croix Forest. YOu can access both forests from the Gandy Dancer ATV/Snowmobile trail right from Danbury. THere are signs right on the Gandy. The Yellow Birch trail accesses the Nemadji State forest. It is quite a ways up the Gandy (North). I believe 25 to 30 miles. DUxbury is only accessible by gravel road from the Gandy Dancer on County Road 141. About seven miles. You can get gas and food there. YOu may have trouble with the game warden and riding on the gravel road, but we haven't seen him in two years. We tend to take it slow in case we see him to appeal to his nobler motives...BR>
I don't know if you can stay in Danbury or not. May want to call the sheriifs office to ask (Burnett County). No place in Duxbury just one general store. Nearest motel I know is in Askov near Interstate 35 on hwy23. The trails won't get you there though. If you are coming from Mille Lacs you may be able to ride the SOO Line all the way to Moose Lake. THere is plenty of places to stay there. THe locals tell me riding in downtown isn't an issue if you are not screwing around. Moose Lake is just North of the Nemadji State Forest and you can hook up with the Gandy from the Soo Line but it requires local knowledge. I had a map drawn for me by a local in Patzu Wisconsin. Go ahead and email me if you want more info carey@startech-comp.com. I would be happy to give you more info.
Posted by: familyman
Java, can you tell me what the trails on the Minnesota side are like? Where can you access them from and do you know of any places to stay or places to eat? I am going to go with one other person and we are both taking our 10 year old sons with us. We are going to start out on the trails around Mille Lacs Lake on Thursday June 12th and ride there Friday also but we are interested in other trails for Saturday. We need to be back in the cities by 9:00 saturday night so we do not want to travel to far away. Any info would be greatly appriceated. Thanks.
Posted by: upnort
Try calling 1-800-788-3164. That is the # I was given and they are sending me info on the area. We have a club ride up there early sept but that will do you no good now.
Posted by: ATVmadman
i used to live in somerset wi and we bear hunted every year in dairyland. and every year we go riding in danbury.
Posted by: DirtyWhiteBoy
Hooter,
You have to have a registered machine to ride the trails in Wisconsin. If you are saying that Texas has no registration, or you have not registered yours, then you have to register them before you can ride here.
You have two options (3 if you register them in Texas) to register in Wisconsin.
1) Fill out and mail in an application for registration beforehand. Be sure and send a copy of your sales receipt so you don't have to pay WI state sales tax on your ATV.
2) Stop in at a WI DNR registration station and get the stickers there. Again, be sure to bring your proof of purchase in your state to avoid tax.
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cs/registrations/atv.htm
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cs/registrations/snowatvstations.htm
Wisconsin accepts most registrations from other states, with exception of Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan I think. Call ahead to make sure if in doubt. Our fines are not pretty.
Posted by: DirtyWhiteBoy
Bummer about the taxes.
Many of our ATV trails are ATV only with no motorcycles allowed. So, you might want to check into that for where you may be planning on going. I know motorcycles are allowed on the Black River Falls trails and the Lafayette county trails though. I am not sure about registering bikes either. I expect they will require a sticker though.
We do have a "fee" happy state, but considering all the recreational opportunity we have I find it acceptable.
Edit: If you had a machine with an accepted registration sticker then you do not have to have it "validated". A person might still want to carry the paper proof of registration with them; just in case. The validation refers to a situaiton where you take a completed registration form to a registration station, in Wisconsin, and "register". You then can ride while carrying that validated form. They must mail you the sticker later like they do for us. I've never registered mine at a station.
I've ridden with the validated form for 3-10 months while waiting for my stickers to come. I just keep the paperwork in a ziplock bag.
Posted by: predatorman1
I am thinking of going to Danbury on the 21st of June. Does anyone know if the trails are open and have a recomendation on where to stay ?
Posted by: predatorman1
I just got back from my trip and it really was a good time. I have a predator, my brother a raptor and a nother friend had a 400 ex. The Gandy Dancer trail is only open north of Danbury. This trail is very flat and rough and straight as a board. You might say boring. the weekend we were out there there were several bikes. There were other trails that we had a lot more fun on. We started at the Fish Bowl bar ( they are very nice there) and took a series of trails. I believe it was 41 to 45 and then on to 5 but the bartender there will give you a map and is very helpful. TWO THINGS 1. It was very dusty, bring a mask or something to put around your face to keep from inhailing all of the dust. 2. These trails are all sand, it can be hard for a younger rider to get control when they are meeting someone on a 10' wide trail. I had a guy about 35 years old that just about dumped it right in front of me. I might reconsider the bike thing. If you go, you need to lead and then signal to coming riders the number of people behind you. We did not figure this out until the 3rd or 4th group went buy us. When you meet, hold up 1 finger for each person behind you. It was a good time, feel free to send me an email with any questions
Posted by: Hooterville
Hey Predatorman, are you still planning a trip to Danbury? I am planning a ride there in August and would love to get your feedback on the trails. I am not real interested in the Gandy Dancer because I believe it is ATV only and my sons will be on bikes. I have seen a sign saying "ATV Route" on a dirt road near the ST. Croix and Namekagan Rivers. This is real close to where we stay and I would love to talk with someone who has done this trail. I think the road was called ST. Croix Trail. I am unsure what county this is in so I haven't been able to find much on-line yet. I would like to hear about your trip.
Posted by: Hooterville
Actually I am not going till August so I have time. I will try the number tomorrow, Thanks. I would love to stay and get in on a club ride but we have to be back before school starts. Are you going near the area I mentioned near ST. Croix Trail?
Posted by: Hooterville
Upnort, thanks for the info. I just rec'd a map for Burnett and Douglas County in the mail.
Predatorman1, in looking at the map, if you started at Fishbowl it appears you were on trail 8 to 41 or 45. Did you happen to make it onto the trail that starts (ends) at Hillside? I am curious about the trail in that area and wondering if it is sandy as well. You are right about the sand being tough on a 2 wheeler, especially for the kids. We went to Natchitoches Louisiana two weeks ago to ride the Kisatchie Forest and it was so sandy my younger son rode on the Raptor with me and my older boy toughed it out but he must have fallen twenty times. They still had a blast.
The reason I want to do this trail is that we have a lake cabin on Little Mcgraw lake and it appears that this trail runs right by the end of our driveway. It would be great if we could ride right from the cabin. I usually only get up there about 1 week a year and even though I have been going for years, have never paid much attention to these trails. We usually stay busy skiing and canoeing. Now that the kids are big enough to ride I bought them bikes and am excited about exploring this area.
I went to the Wisconsin DNR page to check out rules and regs and am a little confused. It said trails are ATV only(meaning no bikes) unless posted otherwise. I cannot tell how this trail is posted. Also, it said you have to have registration stickers afixed to the ATV. It said stickers from another state are good unless the ATV is in the state more than 30 days in which case it must have Wisconsin stickers. I bought all mine in Texas and they have no stickers that I am aware of. Is this a big issue and can I be ticketed? I am headed there in August but will not pull the trailer with 2 bikes and 2 4-wheelers unless I'm sure we can ride legally and with no hassle. (I need to figure out how to get the Raptor, the Artic Cat 400, 2 Yamaha 125's, and a Waverunner on one 18ft trailer).
Any info or feedback is appreciated!
Posted by: Hooterville
Dirtywhiteboy, thanks for the links. Looks like your state is serious about registering these things. Even if they are registered in another state you have to stop and have them "validated" before riding there. I bought my stuff in Texas because the dealer there gave me a better deal. This was about a month ago. When I purchased them I asked about any other fees like a green sticker or something. I was told that Texas does not do that, they only issue a bill of sale. I was told that if I wanted a title I could pay $45 for each machine and they would title them. I chose to do this because I was told that if they were stolen it was easier to get them back if you had a title. I have rec'd 2 titles in the mail so far and expect the other any day. I have no stickers and it sounds like Texas doesn't issue them. I can pay to register them in Louisiana and pay a $65 fee to get a sticker but they will collect tax again. They do this on cars too, even if you have paid sales tax in another state, they will charge you tax based on the value of the vehicle to get license plates here. In my case were talking over $800 that I would have to pay again.
I am still unclear about something even after looking at the Wisc.DNR page. It appears they are only talking ATV's and their description of an ATV seems to rule out motorcycles. I don't know if the bikes have the same requirements. I guess I will have to find a phone number and talk to them in person. The same goes for the rider safety courses. My sons are 8 and 11 years old and the rules talk about the requirements for these age groups but seem to only refer to ATV's and Small ATV's. I havn't found anything about 2 wheelers yet.
I'm glad I'm looking into this a month ahead of time because it looks like this could be a hassle.
Additional comments are welcomed.
