1
Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
2,326 acres30.5 mi of trail
Central TrailsSouthern TrailsNorthern Trails
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Sumpter
Sumpter, WI parks, trails & bike paths
About 39% of Sumpter is conserved land, roughly 9,251 acres. There are about 37 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area (30.5 mi), Baxter's Hollow State Natural Area (3.3 mi), and South Bluff/Devil's Nose State Natural Area (1.4 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Sumpter, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Sumpter outdoors
Conserved land
39%
9,251 of 24,052 acres
Trails
37 mi
1 mi per sq mi · 36 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
5
7,954 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
6.2 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 5.2 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Baxter's Hollow State Natural Area
Nature preserve
3,745 acres3.3 mi of trail
Baxter's Hollow Trail
Dog rules not recorded
3
South Bluff/Devil's Nose State Natural Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
2,296 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Devil's Lake State Park
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
1,788 acres0.2 mi of trail
South Shore Boardwalk
Dog rules not recorded
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Peaks in Sumpter
Sauk Hill1,460 ft elevation · In South Bluff/Devil's Nose State Natural Area
Southeast Bluff400 ft elevation · In South Bluff/Devil's Nose State Natural Area
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 9.5 miHorses 6.5 miUnpaved 5.4 mi
- Central Trails2.5 mi
- Southern Trails2.5 mi
- Northern Trails2.3 mi
- Baxter's Hollow Trail1.8 mi
- South Shore Boardwalk0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
9,251 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 131 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths5.2 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes1.0 mi
Courts & fields
- Basketball1
- Beach volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Sumpter
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Park 5,100 acPrivate Conservation 4,098 acState Other or Unknown 1,458 acConservation Easement 245 acAgricultural Easement 123 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter'S HollowPrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 4,018 | Open |
| Devils Lake State Park-IansrState Park | State natural resources | 2,618 | Open |
| Sauk Prairie State Recreation AreaState Park | State natural resources | 2,374 | Open |
| Sauk Prairie Recreation Area 1State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,083 | Open |
| Sauk Prairie Recreation Area 2State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 374 | Open |
| Baraboo Hills Recreation AreaState Park | State natural resources | 185 | Open |
| Baraboo Hills FeePrivate Conservation | Land trusts & nonprofits | 80 | Closed |
History
Historic places to visit
Immanuel Evangelical ChurchIn Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area · Ruins
Ringling Bungalow FoundationIn Devil's Lake State Park · Ruins
Steidtman Farmstead BarnIn Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area · Ruins
The Baraboo RangePlaque
The Land RemembersPlaque
Miller CemeteryCemetery
Otter Creek CemeteryCemetery
Pioneer CemeteryCemetery
Sumpter Hill CemeteryCemetery
Thoelke CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Sumpter and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumpter | 38.5% | 37.1 mi | 5 |
| Merrimac | 30.2% | 35.6 mi | 10 |
| Baraboo | 20% | 9.4 mi | 9 |
| Prairie du Sac | 4.5% | 9.0 mi | 6 |
| Honey Creek | 14.1% | 7.5 mi | 7 |
| Freedom | 10.2% | 0.7 mi | 1 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Sumpter's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 21-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.