Perkinstown Motorized Trail

The Perkinstown Motorized Trail is a 20-mile two-way corridor in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, running through Taylor County southwest of Medford, Wisconsin, approximately 45 miles east of Eau Claire and 30 miles west of Wausau. The trail is designed as a point-to-point connector rather than a loop system: the northern terminus anchors at the Chippewa Recreation Area on the shore of the Chequamegon Waters flowage, a reservoir popular for fishing and paddling that gives the northern trailhead a genuine resort-lake character, while the southern trailhead at State Highway 64 provides the highway-accessible entry point with parking, a vault toilet, and an information board. Between the two endpoints, the trail traverses rolling terrain through a mix of woodlands and wetland lowlands typical of Taylor County's glacial landscape: stands of northern hardwoods on upland ridges, tamarack and spruce in the bogs, and wooden bridges over the numerous small streams draining this lake-rich region. ATVs and UTVs up to 65 inches wide and off-highway motorcycles are all permitted on the full corridor; the two-way designation means riders travel in both directions on the same trail rather than a one-way loop, requiring awareness of oncoming traffic on narrower sections. The trail also serves as a snowmobile corridor in winter. A $5 day-use pass or $30 annual pass is required; Wisconsin non-resident trail pass required for out-of-state machines.