The woods and fields tremble with
special kind of hush only a thick layer of white Wisconsin snow brings. Trees stretch thin, dark branches as high into crystalline sky as possible. Rounded white hummocks soften ground as far as eye can see, poked here and there with quills of dried autumn grasses. No road, no trail, no intrusive noise of civilization. This is snowshoeing in Wisconsin.Wonders of wildlife “You can go anywhere you want,” says Dick Thiel, Department of Natural Resources wildlife educator at Sandhill Wildlife Demonstration Area in Babcock. Unlike speedier winter sports, snowshoeing doesn’t require a groomed trail for a good time. “Brush, marshes, and foliage aren’t impediments in snowshoes.”
Snowshoes are easy to use, too – practically no training required. According to John Heusinkveld, assistant director of Tomahawk’s Treehaven, a field campus of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, “There are only two snowshoe criteria: snow on ground and time.”
Both Treehaven and Sandhill are perfect spots to experience joys of snowshoeing in Wisconsin. Treehaven consists of 1,400 acres of rolling terrain, glacial ridges, ponds and streams abutting an additional 800 acres of undeveloped land. UW students use area for summer field training, but DNR training and various public programs take center stage rest of year.
Sandhill’s 9,000 acres got its name from series of low, undulating sandy ridges crossing it. It lies within bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin, a large and flat marshland covering part of Wood County and six adjacent counties. Workshops at Sandhill aim to develop skills in outdoor activities such as winter camping, wildlife photography and wildlife watching. Snowshoe classes usually start in early December.
Both Sandhill and Treehaven provide great wildlife-watching opportunities, especially on snowshoes. Thiel suggests following animal tracks at Sandhill to get an idea how an animal spends its day. Since snowshoes can go just about anywhere, a novice tracker can follow animal’s eating habits, where it drinks, where it deposits scat, and even where it beds down. Common Sandhill animals include deer and porcupine. Both black bears and fishers call Treehaven home. The quietness of snowshoes has enabled Thiel to catch sight of bedded-down deer and birds perched just above his head.
The skinny on snowshoes Snowshoes, a Native American invention later used by French voyageurs, once consisted of a wood frame laced with rawhide strips. They came in four different shapes: • Alaskans. About 48 inches by ten, with a long, narrow outline, Alaskans are almost as long as skis. Good for swift movement over crusted snow in open terrain. • Michigans, or Maines. With same general dimensions as Alaskans, Michigans come to a teardrop point behind heel. Perform well in a mixed environment of field, forest, and brush. • Ojibwas. Two “tailed” Ojibwas offer superior mobility in both prairie and forest brush. • Bear Paws. Rounded on both ends, Bear Paws are smallest snowshoes at thirty by ten inches. Excellent in brushy conditions, especially for a small person.
