Monches segment of Ice Age Trail a splendid hike.
I had heard the Monches segment of the Ice Age Trail was particularly beautiful in the fall, and wow, did it deliver.
With cooler temperatures looming in the week ahead, I took advantage of a summerlike fall day to hike the 3.1-mile segment in Waukesha County.
But not before seeing the colors from above at one of the best spots to do so in southeastern Wisconsin: Holy Hill. Visiting early on a weekday meant I didn't battle crowds, and a clear sky afforded views of downtown Milwaukee nearly 30 miles to the southeast.
Our warm September had muted some of the colors, and the real fall showstopper was waiting on the Ice Age Trail.
I headed about six miles south to the Monches segment of the Ice Age Trail, accessible via a short spur trail from a paved parking lot on E. Kilbourne Road east of Highway 83.
From the trailhead, I followed the wide, wood-chipand-grass path below a power line right of way.
Soon the trail snaked into heavy hardwoods, and I was immersed in a sea of yellow.
The early afternoon sun was like a spark to the maple leaves, setting the forest ablaze in golden hues. With a little bit of lingering green and the offsetting deep brown of the skinny tree trunks, it was a gorgeous kaleidoscope of colors.
I shuffled through ankle-deep leaves along the base of a hill, then crossed a small stream via a wooden bridge.
After passing a hunter — a good reminder to wear blaze orange or at least bright colors when hiking in the fall — I crossed the Oconomowoc River via boardwalks and a bridge.
From there, the trail parallels the river for a bit before beginning a climb through hummocky terrain, all covered in yellow maples.
The forest there is named for Carl Schurz, a Wisconsin conservationist.
Schurz was born in Germany in 1829 and immigrated to the United States in 1852. In 1855, he settled in Watertown, where his wife, Margarethe, started the country's first kindergarten.
Schurz was active in politics and campaigned for Abraham Lincoln, who appointed him as ambassador to Spain. He would later serve as a Union general in the Civil War, a newspaper editor, a U.S. senator for Missouri and secretary of the Interior. He was quoted as saying, "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."
As secretary of the Interior, Schurz advocated for a national forest service. In a time when many thought the country's vast forests could never be depleted, Schurz recognized they could and would be, unless they were conserved.
"The destruction of the forest of this country will be the murder of its future prosperity and progress," he said.
His advocacy led to the Forest Reservation Act in 1891, which President William Henry Harrison used to set aside 13 million acres of national forest. Schurz was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 2001.
A sign at the northern end of the segment on Highways K and Q commemorates the Wisconsinite.
From the northern trailhead, I retraced my steps back to my car for a two-hour hike.
This segment isn't too difficult, although there are a couple of climbs and descents near the northern end as the trail climbs a ridge that once served as the west bank of a river that carried glacial meltwater.
The segment was stunning during the peak of fall color, but it would be a lovely hike in any season (although probably very buggy in the summer), and the views of the Oconomowoc River will be better as the leaves drop.
More information: Part of the Monches segment passes through private land — be sure to stay on the trail in that area, which is marked.
Other sections are open to hunting. Wear bright colors when hiking in the fall.
Getting there: Find a parking lot to access the southern trailhead on E. Kilbourne Road, between Highway 83 and County Highway E east of North Lake.