Cathedral Pines State Natural Area — Attraction in Town of Townsend

I really enjoyed Cathedral Pines past years we have visited while camping. So yesterday, it was the first stop of the day! Between worrying about the dangling trees overhead off the main road and with the trails being so badly maintained we continued on... We got to the main opening part of the trail. Seeing all the dead trees stripping their bark which has now made the area pretty hard to walk. I went over a dead tree log, slipped and landed on my ankle. Being carried out of the woods, now laying in bed with a broken fibula bone. I'm beside myself with questions. Why did we have to go there, why wasn't this beautiful area maintained, etc. I really hope this area gets the care and maintenance it needs. I wouldn't tell you not to go, but hike at your own risk. Closest hospital (very small rural one) is...

Cathedral Pines is way off the beaten track, but worth your time to enjoy the quiet back roads and one of the few places in the upper Midwest to find old growth forest. It’s not a park with facilities for doing anything but following the short, wood chip path through the ancient pines. There are a handful of parking spaces. An interpretive sign explains how this small group of trees escaped the logging frenzy of the 1880s and 90s. A woman convinced her lumber magnate husband to save the pines, which were difficult to get at, in order to preserve their sacred,...

Kinda a short hike on the main trail, looked like there might of been other trails coming off of it at one time, but a tornado we had a while back kinda made a mess back there I'm thinking, but they have the main trail well kept and across the road is a very nice little kettle lake like you would see in the Kettle Moraine state forest that's worth checking out as well which adds to the interest of this site, as for finding it they have it marked as a wildlife viewing area on the main road near Lakewood that will lead you back to a one lane gravel road on the right where...