Boom Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors

This is a very easy spot to get lost. Sometimes that's the goal; but if it isn't on that particular day, a GPS, the Trail Run Project mobile app or a compass can be really helpful. Head south to get back to civilization.

This is also a trail on private land, meaning maintenance is sometimes marginal; be prepared for long grass and brush, and rugged footing. This is great if your prepared for it, but highly unpleasant if you aren't.

The easiest access to this trail is from the Wildernest Road/Vineyard Road Trailhead. Head up the Wilderness Trail, following the sings for the archery range. Continue straight past the Hell's Hole/South Loop trails, following a gentle descent into the neighborhoods at the edge of Prairie du Chien.

Continue bearing left at the Camp C/Overlook Trail junction to stay on the Boom Trail. After about a mile, the trail turns northeast, following a draw and Collins Road up a steady, technical climb. Beware the muck! And the horse apples.

Near Collins Road, a junction with the Water Tank Trail may or may not have a sign depending on how the bucks have decided to shed their velvet that year. If you do NOT see a sign and want to stay on the Boom Trail, simply keep left at any junctions. If you want to shortcut the route slightly, you can take the Watertank Trail across some timbered land and cut maybe half a mile off.

NOTE: BOTH JUNCTIONS WITH THE WATERTANK TRAIL ARE A RIGHT TURN; if it seems like you've traveled more than a mile and a half or so, and you see a sign for Watertank, this is likely the second junction. If you take this accidentally or intentionally and end up back at the Boom Trail, turn left to return to the start.

If you stay on Boom Trail, you'll eventually arrive at a junction with the Wilderness Trail/ Hell's Hole; stay on Wilderness Trail to get back to the trailhead.

If you get lost—which is easy to do out here—and end up hitting pavement anywhere that ISN'T the Wildernest Road/Vineyard Road junction, turn right. If you're at the horse camp, it's about a mile back to the trailhead. If you're on the Blackhawk Trail (which will have a sign at the road), turn right, and it's just a few tenths of a mile back to where this whole adventure began.