Ice Age National Scenic Trail
1,200 mi long · in Wisconsin · centroid 78 mi from Madison
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail follows roughly 1,200 miles of terminal moraines deposited by the Wisconsin Glaciation, entirely within the state of Wisconsin. Designated in 1980, it traces the southernmost extent of the most recent ice sheet across the state, passing kettle ponds, eskers, and drumlins shaped by the retreating ice.
- States
- Wisconsin
- Length
- 1,200 mi
- Trail type
- National Scenic Trail
- Network
- National (nwn)
- Centroid nearest city
- Madison, WI · 78 mi · ~2.2 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 44.1916°, -89.5085°
- Official site
- iceagetrail.org
- OSM relations
- 219 sub-relations on OpenStreetMap
Termini
Eastern terminus: Potawatomi State Park, Wisconsin.
Western terminus: Interstate State Park, Wisconsin.
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Ice Age National Scenic Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.