I recently biked out and back on the Military Ridge State Trail to Governor Dodge State Park. The Military Ridge Trail is a shorter 40-mile rails to trails bike route, but I took my time to stop and take in the scenery along the way.
I don’t fit the stereotype of a “cyclist”. I don’t wear spandex and don’t track my pace with a GPS, because biking isn’t a race to me. My bike touring would be better described as “bike wandering”. It took me 4 days to ride to Governor Dodge State Park and back.
Two state parks
There are two amazing state parks the trail intersects, Blue Mound State Park and Governor Dodge State Park. Both have nice state park campgrounds and Blue Mound also has a quiet bike campground right off the Military Ridge Trail that is only for hiking-in or biking-in, therefore it’s not busy or noisy.
Blue Mound State Park is the highest hilltop in the entire Driftless Area of Wisconsin. It towers 1000 feet over the nearby Wisconsin River just 11 miles away so it is prominently visible from anywhere in the area. I have to admit I got off and pushed my bike to the top. But the views are rewarding once you are up there.
Governor Dodge State Park is classic Driftless. Rolling hills, prairies, and valleys fill one of the largest state parks in Wisconsin. There are two manmade lakes in the park as well as a waterfall at one end of a small canyon in the park so there is a lot of Driftless topography to explore. The park has over 40 miles of trails.
The Military Ridge Trail connects the state parks as well as small towns with mom and pop restaurants. So there are alternatives if you don’t feel like eating the camping food you packed. There’s also hotels for when the weather turns nasty, which it did for me quite a bit on this trip.
The Don Q Inn
In Dodgeville, I took refuge from the stormy weather at the Don Q Inn instead of sleeping in a tent. It’s a unique hotel that is hard to miss with a C-97 cargo plane out front. Before the military surplus plane was purchased by the original owner of the hotel, Don Quinn, it was used by the Ford Motor Company in a 1978 Mercury Cougar TV commercial with Farrah Fawcett. The plane is open to explore inside and still has Farah Faucet’s autograph on the fuselage. The Mercury Cougar logo from the commercial is still painted on the nose of the plane.
The aircraft’s one-way final flight was in to the Dodgeville airport which used to be adjacent to the Don Q Inn. It was quite a feat of piloting to land the large cargo plane at the small town airport. The runway was just a few feet wider than the wheels of the plane and the wing had just 20 feet of clearance from an airport hanger. It went off without a hitch with two experienced pilots. The story about the daring C-97 landing at the small town airport made headlines around the Midwest.
The plane is not the only unique thing about the Don Q Inn. They have themed rooms available –everything from an igloo room to a moon landing room. In the lobby there is a collection of vintage barber chairs. To top it all off, the owners are wonderful people. My stay at the Don Q Inn was a highlight of the trip. It turned out to be the silver lining to a rainy trek.
Follow along for more stories
The Military Ridge State Trail is just one of many rails to trails bike trails in the Driftless Area. I’m planning on exploring the rest of them over the next few summers. To follow along on these and future adventures subscribe to my newsletter.
Ice Age Trail book
If you haven’t seen it already check out my book from my hike of the entire 1200-mile Ice Age Trail.
