Ice Age Trail – Janesville Segment

Some of the best glacier evidence is found along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail that spans about 1200 miles through the state of Wisconsin.
This review covers Janesville segment of trail beginning at the Rotamar Trail Head to the Mercy Hospital Trail Head.
When I first heard of this trail I was real excited. It sounded like there would be many things to see and discover. I was disappointed to find it was paved. Not the entire segment, not yet anyway but most of it was. I felt that took away from the experience but did not deter me from continuing on the adventure.
Even for this segment, we’ve never covered the whole of it. We usually start at Randolph Rd as that’s where we were staying at the time and ended up at Palmer Park. It’s about 5 miles one way.
I first walked the trail from Randolph Rd. to about Brunswick Lane. This was during the spring when things were starting to pop up. All kinds of plants were coming out of the long winter hibernation trying to stretch as high as they can to reach the sun. I wasn’t too impressed at the point. It just look like weeds.
When spring was about to roll into summer, weather wise, about the end of May or early June, we decided to ride our bikes all the way to Palmer Park and picnic there. We packed up our food and a few snacks with a few water bottles. I wasn’t sure if my little guy G would make it all the way but would play it by ear and make decisions accordingly along the way.
By this time, the plants, trees and everything else was buzzing with life. Wish I knew what they were. There were so many things to see, smell, explore it was all captivating, including for G. The trail exist within the green belts thats cut through the residential housing allowing for wildlife to co-​exist with the community. I admire that. We have seen deer and other animals I don’t know bc I couldn’t get a good look at them. Also along the trail is a spray of colors, beautiful flowers fighting for the attention of the bees and others, spring out at you letting you know summer is here. Part of the trail follows along side a river that you could take a break by. It was nice to cool off a bit there and take pictures. By the time we reached Palmer Park we were famished for food. We sat down to eat in the park. We allowed G to have time to play in the park. This is his favorite park and we have fun playing with him. I wasn’t sure if he would be able to bike back but he did with no problem. I believe the Ice Age Trail kept teasing him and he wanted to see what was around the next bend.
Although the Ice Trail is under National Park Service and there is good information there, you can also get additional information from the Ice Age Trail Alliance…

…who has done much of the maintenance work and providing informative material to the awareness, education and maintenance of the trail to the benefit of all. They also offer several awards programs, one for completing the entire 1200 miles for those of you wanting elitist.