Howl Adventure Center Making Bayfield Wisconsin Biking Fun and Affordable

August 15, 2021 | Explore the Shore
Tag:  Explore the Shore > Stories > Biking Bayfield Wisconsin

Bayfield Wis -- Howl Adventure Center, Howl Downtown and Dreamcatcher Sailing are all one business.  Owners John and Mary Thiel started Wolfsong Adventures in Mushing, Dreamcatcher Sailing and Wolfsong Wear in 1998 and it has all become Howl in the past several years.  Our long-time guide and captain, Jen Dale, took over Wolfsong Adventures in Mushing in 2018.  Howl continues to be involved with the dogs, who now live a few miles down the road from the original kennel.  Trips are still booked through Howl.

The latest in our ever-changing business was the addition of Howl Adventure Center in 2018.  Howl Adventure Center is located just south of Bayfield on 10 acres and includes a full service bike shop, clothing and gear sales, and an extensive demo center.  The site has demo trails for single-track mountain & fat biking, XC skiing and snowshoeing. All demos are free! The trails are all entry level with optional features for experts as well.  This makes it a great place to try any of these activities for the first time!  We believe that the best way to shop for gear is to try it.

Howl Adventure Center welcomed Adventure Club Brewing in 2019 with our nephew, Matthew Gerdts as brewmaster and proprietor. Matthew was formerly the brewer at One Barrel Brewing in Madison, WI.

John and Mary along with their family, live in Bayfield.  Thanks to our dedicated staff, supportive community and loyal customers for helping make all this so much fun! 

The Howl Adventure Center offers a great deal of services from bike rentals, camping gear, electric bikes, men's clothing, women's clothing, kid's bikes, base layers, outdoor gear, and socks and shoes.  

Nonetheless, we took the opportunity to rent city/hybrid bikes at $35 per day for each bike.  The bikes cost a total $119.70.  The rental's included 3 LIV hybrid bicycles for a 24-hour rental.  

In short, we took the bicycles from the Howl Adventure Center from Bayfield Wisconsin on to the Ferry that carried us to Madeline Island.  The Howl Adventure Center is 1.7 miles to the Madeline Island Ferry landing.  

Upon entering the Madeline Island Ferry line, you're asked to spend $7.00 per child, plus $7.50 plus each bike.  

Once on Madeline Island, we took the 6.6 mile ride to Big Bay State Park

As we approach Big Bay State Park, we see a great deal of private beach properties. There are at least a dozen private beach properties before you reach Big Bay State Park.  

Berrier Beach is the first attraction you'll find in Big Bay State Park.  The park is exactly 6.6 miles from the Madeline Island Ferry.  We landed upon Big Bay State Park Beach.  

Bay View Trail is 1.4 miles from the parking lot, and we took to the trail to explore more of what the beach and state park have to offer.  Bay View Trail is a groomed trail that allows you to hike into the best part of the island.  There are various areas that include trails that walk out into the peninsula.

Madeline Island's Big Bay State Park was a beautiful area to explore.  Nonetheless, we took our adventures further into the island and rode to the end of the peninsula.  6.8 miles later and we hit the very end of the island, and found a dirt road - Big Bay Road led to School House Road and N Shore Road - both of which are dirt roads.  After reaching the very end of the peninsula.  We took N Shore Road back towards the Madline Island Airport.  

Zero traffic was found, there were no bikes or cars.  We simple took the bikes back towards the Madeline Island Museum.  In total, we traveled 24 miles on Madeline Island.  The mobile app we used was RunKeeper, and helped us track our travels.  In total, we traveled a total of 33 miles between Madeline Island and Bayfield.  

Upon arrival, we ended up at the Madeline Island Ferry Line, we had traveled a total of 24 miles.  We had arrived at 7:30PM.  This was a 2.5 hour trip that took us 24 miles and included a both biking and swimming.  

Madeline Island Ferry Line Schedule

Whichever schedule you choose, you can get back to Bayfield Wisconsin without any issues.
We took the 7:30PM Ferry back to Bayfield Wisconsin and were in time for a great dinner with our favorite restaurant; Manypenny Bistro.  

CONCLUSION

Whichever type of biking adventure you choose; Bayfield Orchard Fruit Loop, Red Cliff - Little Sand Bay Loop, or the Madeline Island Loop, you cannot go wrong with your choice.  

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Explore the Shore
225 E Lynde Ave
Bayfield Wisconsin 54843
skoden@visitchequamegon.com
www.VisitChequamegon.com 

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