Review Date
March 21, 2012

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Peter ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
What a trail! Visited this area last July on a rafting trip and turned out the biking was the best part.

Lots of technical decents and climbs. A great challenge for begginers and advanced alike. Jumps, boulders are all avoidable which made for a blast of a day with our party of 6. Lots of singletrack that weaves through forested areas and opens up to a valley of snapped tree trunks from a tornado that ripped throught the area a few years back. Bring plenty of water, insect repellent and watch out for ticks! Always ride with a helmet and enjoy.

Recommended Route:
Follow trail route, trails are easy to follow with a map and trail heads are visibliy marked.

Review Date
July 19, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Bobby12many ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Some of the best single track I have ever ridden in Wisconsin. Not the most technical or the aerobically challenging trail system, Nicolet Roche offers just enough of both to keep your heart pumpin but still wanting to eat up more and more miles.
The beautiful area of the Nicolet Nat'l Forest offers a great rolling terrain that is littered with boulders ranging from the size of a watermelon, to the size of VW Bus. The trail builders have done an incredible job of utilizing these boulders wherever imaginably possible on the trails and have drawn up some great lines (from scratch, mind you) through, over, and around boulder fields that snake and undulate over the rough woodlands. I found myself turning around and re-riding many of the boulder-lines over and over as they were just too damn fun to explore and who knows when I will be able to get back up to The NicoletRoche for some quality mileage

Recommended Route:

Ride it all and come back for more!

I parked on Campground Rd off of WW and rode from that southern spur and around the loop.

More mileage can be had with various connecting routes to nearby campsites, etc.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
9 Mile
So. Kettles

Review Date
May 31, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: bruisertwo ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Awesome awesome trail. The best I have ever ridden. challenging on the lungs but good for the body. this trail has everything you could ask for. Downhills, uphills, big rocks, easy trail riding, scnic ridges, jumps, technical riding, lots of banked corners. Special thanks to the builders of the trail because they know what they are doing

Other recommended trails in the same area:
The trails behind the Bear Paw resort are fun and very well mapped out

Review Date
August 29, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Reviewed by: Walt Dizzy ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail is great (no exaggeration) at the south end, worth a ride at the north end, but is difficult to navigate, especially across the tornado damaged middle.

The first problem is the trail heads. The north and south trail heads both are marked with signs (trail map) made from an 8.5x11 inch piece of paper. Not very easy to see from a car, especially if you don't have a passenger. Also, the parking areas are not close to the trail heads.

To find the south end, take Hwy WW east off of Hwy 55 south of Langlade. Take the exit for Boulder Lake US Forest Service Campground north. The trail head is roughly in the middle of the sweeping curve to the east. Didn't see it from the car? Neither did I. Park at the boat landing, then ride back about 0.7 miles from the road intersection back to the trail head.

If you can't find someone to show you the way across, ride from the south trail head (much more polished and fun), then the north end if you want more miles (OK, but it is somewhat punishing). I spent several hours trying to find my way across the logging roads that cross the tornado damaged area in the middle without success. I finally managed it by taking a GPS mark at the south end of the north section, then navigating to the mark from the south side. It took me 30 miles of riding (including the part N. of Hwy 64) and from 9AM to 6:30PM to figure it all out. Good luck! I will attempt to post my GPS route on http://www.fattireguides.com/.

Recommended Route:
To find the south end, take Hwy WW east off of Hwy 55 south of Langlade. Take the exit for Boulder Lake US Forest Service Campground north. The trail head is roughly in the middle of the sweeping curve to the east. Didn't see it from the car? Neither did I. Park at the boat landing, then ride back about 0.7 miles from the boatlanding turn off back to the trail head.

To find the north trail head, start at the Hwy 55 intersection and drive east on Hwy 64. Note your mileage. Go 3.3 miles and find a logging road on the south side of the highway. There is a small trail map mounted on a post. Park your car along side the logging road. Ride past the roads splitting to the left, and to the right staying on the center section. 130 yards (0.07 mi) from the sign, on the left side of the center logging road is the trail head. It is marked with a tiny, hand sized picture of a bike, plus a brown plastic stake. There are additional pieces of pink flagging tape, but since the loggers also use pink flagging tape, it doesn't help much. There is an additional segment of trail to the north of Hwy 64, directly across the road from the trail head sign.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Smokin' Spoke. Take a map, or better a GPS unit. You will need it.

Review Date
July 27, 2009

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: nathan kniss ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The Nicolet Roche trail is one of those trails that not many know about, but if word got out more it could quickly become one of the most sought after riding destinations in northern Wisconsin. I live a short fifteen minute car ride from the trails, and it is one of my favorite rides.
On these trails you get every kind of terrain there is. From rolling smooth single track, to roots like crazy, to rocks all over the place, to fast pedaling winding through red pines, to a great new section called MOAB (Mother Of All Bolders). There are tons of bolders to ride. You really get it all!
The only problem right now is that a few years ago a tornado went through a big chunk of it, and unless you know the right people it is hard to know were to go when you run into the tornado damage. Work has been started to reconnect the north and south end of the trail. Loggers are still in the process of cleaning up the area, but there are ways to get through.
I highly recommend this ride to anyone looking for another technical trail to challenge their skills. Directions to the north trail head are as follows. Go east on hwy 64 from Langlade 3 miles you start looking for a dirt road with a small map posted on the south side of the road. Go straight down that road about 500 yards and you will find the trail on the left. There is also some great new single track straight across hwy 64 that goes north about 2 miles. Try these trails you will love it!