The cool thing about the Parks on the Air program is that it’s deliberately designed for a great amount of flexibility. One of those features is that you can take advantage of activating two or more park entities at once when their borders overlap. I love the two-fer and will actively search them out. When a park hosts three or more entities, all the better.
That’s the subject of this week’s video: How I ACTIVATE Three POTA Parks all at Once! which is the alignment of the Tuscobia State Trail, Wild River State Trail, and Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Northwestern Wisconsin. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/imCpw3ahwFY
Thousand-Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail: https://amzn.to/4l1KH8g
KJ6ER Challenger 20M-6M OCF Halfwave Vertical: https://bit.ly/KJ6ERChallenger
Chameleon SS 25 Stainless Steel Whip: https://chameleonantenna.com/2yyzp0
Chameleon SS Insulator: https://chameleonantenna.com/y0zoam
LDG 4:1 RU-4:1 Transformer: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ldg-ru-4-1
My quest of the Two-fer (and more)
Two-Fers, when two Parks on the Air entities overlap, is a pretty common occurrence. The easiest way to find a Two-Fer is a follow a State or National Scenic Trail and look for spots where it crosses other POTA entities like state or national parks, forests, trails, or wildlife areas. Setting up at those intersections lets you activate both entities at the same time, netting double the contacts.
I recently read an online post from a newish POTA activator wondering if there was some type of list or database of the Two-fer locations. Unfortunately there is not. That would be a demanding process to accomplish automatically, or would require a large community effort to post their their favorite two-fer spots.
As a starting point, I am thinking of making an interactive map of Two-Fer locations where the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, US-4238, intersects with other park entities. I figure this would be a good starting point and at the very least create a foundation for others to map out state and national trails and highlight great multi-park spots.
Why the Ice Age Trail? It’s an entity that I am familiar with, and living in Wisconsin, it’s a park that I frequently activate. In my years of activating this park, I’ve collected many good little spots to set up, and would love to share my knowledge with others. Doing this exercise may also unearth some Three-fers or more park intersections along the trail.
The two-fer is common, but the three-fer is more rare. It’s rarity increases as we add more entities. So far in the state of Wisconsin, I have found three Three-Fer combinations and one Four-fer. With 342 entities statewide, I’m curious of how many more are out there.
For those wondering what they are, here’s my list so far:
Tuscobia State Trail, US-9816
Wild River State Trail, US-9819
Ice Age National Scenic Trail, US-4238
45°34’19.1″N 91°45’35.1″W
Located in Northwestern Wisconsin near Rice Lake, this is the subject of this week’s video. There is ample parking and a vault toilet on site.
Lodi Marsh State Wildlife Area, US-4304
Lodi Marsh State Natural Area, US-4255
Ice Age National Scenic Trail, US-4238
43.282279, -89.547161
Lodi Marsh is south of Lodi and North of Madison, WI. The natural area is a subset of the wildlife area and the Ice Age Trail runs through the two. The IAT Robertson Trailhead is where you want to park, but this parking lot is not in the natural area. You will have to hike about 500 feet or so up the trail in order to be in the natural area and the three-fer.
Sugar River State Trail. US-9814
Badger State Trail, US-9766
Ice Age National Scenic Trail, US-4238
42.742135, -89.579247
These three park entities intersect at the trailhead in Monticello, a small community south of New Glarus, Wisconsin. Ample parking and a historic depot that is open in the summer months.
Albany State Wildlife Area, US-9830
Sugar River State Trail. US-9814
Badger State Trail, US-9766
Ice Age National Scenic Trail, US-4238
42.739068, -89.577422
The state’s only Four-fer (that I’ve found) is located a bit south of the Monticello trailhead of the aforementioned three-fer. I list these separately because in order to activate all four parks, you will need to hike or bike 1/4 mile south of the trailhead until you get to the intersection, or Wye, in the trail. This Wye is located in the Albany State Wildlife area where all three trails intersect before they diverge in different directions.
Finishing Up
When I get my Ice Age Trail two-fer map complete, I will share it with the community. If you have any favorite two-fer locations along the IAT, please leave a comment or drop an email. I’d love to hear them.
February has been a rough month for me, the weather hasn’t been the best and for some reason I ended up with two colds back to back. I am fortunately on the upswing and am looking forward to the meteorological start of spring on March 1st.
We’ve got a really cool product review coming up next week, I’m sure you will enjoy it. I’ve been having a fun time with the item and can’t wait to share it.
I hope to catch you in the log soon.
Michael
KB9VBR
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