I Tempted Fate On An Old Forest Road And Found An Abandoned Wisconsin Fire Tower

If you want to get away from it all, there’s a road in Wisconsin that will help you escape. There are endless unpaved roads in Wisconsin’s county, state, and National forests that lead to some remote and beautiful Wisconsin places. In Washburn, I traveled a loose, sandy route and discovered a relic of another era – the Washburn Fire Tower in Wisconsin.

Washburn is a gorgeous city of around 2,000 in Bayfield County.

The community is perfectly situated between the deep blue waters of Lake Superior and endless tracts of wild forests. I stayed right in town and found it was the perfect base camp to experience the area.

There’s a lot to enjoy in Washburn, including some pleasant beaches, restaurants and shops, but if you want to experience a wild place, you can find that too.

I drove west of Washburn on County Highway C and soon found myself in the forest – there are many forest roads that intersect with the county highway.

A local advised me to use caution. It’s good advice, as the definition of “road” can vary.

While many forest roads are packed dirt and gravel, others are steep rutted tracks that are littered with loose rocks. The conditions of many unpaved roads can also change dramatically after a rainstorm. Once you get into the forest, you can lose cell service pretty quickly. It's places like this where an app like AllTrails Plus, which allows you to download maps for offline use, comes in handy.

I decided to proceed very carefully.

My Subaru’s A/T tires can handle a little dirt and sand, the car has some ground clearance, and I carry a few emergency supplies, including traction boards. But at the end of the day it’s a small AWD crossover – not a 4WD truck. If I got stuck, I'd likely have to sort it out on my own.

I took it easy, and the Subaru did fine on the forest roads. The drive was gorgeous. I used some paper forest maps to navigate – I heard there was an old fire tower in the forest.

The tower was built in 1951 and has not been used in many years. I drove to an area near the tower but decided to use my drone for the last stretch – the route I considered taking up was more of a trail, and it looked pretty sketchy the day I was there. But the drone captured some great views of the old tower. It was the perfect end to a beautiful forest drive.

The Washburn Fire Tower in Wisconsin is a popular destination for ATVers, and it’s also you can explore on foot. Here’s where to find more Wisconsin adventures.