Northern Highland American Legion State Forest
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
12,414 acres25.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Sugar Camp
Sugar Camp has 1,372 acres of parks, 634 for every 1,000 residents
23% of Sugar Camp’s land is conserved, about 12,793 acres. The biggest trail networks: Northern Highland American Legion State Forest (25.7 mi). 13% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
23%
12,793 acres · of 88.6 sq mi of land
Trails
42 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
1,372 ac
634 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
1.2 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
35
1 beach · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Sugar Camp?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sugar Camp have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sugar Camp is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sugar Camp’s overall grade.
Conserved land23% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (42 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4BPark land634 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,372 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A+Parks close to home13% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 76%
LessMore
Water is 9% of Sugar Camp’s area (9 of 98 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 21%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Northern Highland American Legion State Forest, with 25.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Tara Lila LLC Ripco Road Unit
Nature preserve
779 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Tara Lila LLC Sundstein Road Unit
Nature preserve
263 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Thunder Lake Wildlife Area
Managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
123 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 5 parks & preserves
Northern Highland American Legion State Forest12,414 acres · 25.7 mi of trail · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Tara Lila LLC Ripco Road Unit779 acres
Tara Lila LLC Sundstein Road Unit263 acres
DirectionsThunder Lake Wildlife Area123 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Rice Lake State Natural Area122 acres · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Who protects it
12,793 conserved acres
23% of Sugar Camp’s land. Water is left out: Sugar Camp has 88.6 square miles of land and 9.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Sugar Camp’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources14,046 ac
County41 ac
State Resource Management Area · 12,471 acState Conservation Area · 1,372 acState Recreation Area · 208 acForest Stewardship Easement · 36 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 36 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Legion State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 12,344 | Open |
| New Wood Wildlife Area 1 State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 965 | Open |
| Statewide Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 160 | Open |
| Scattered Forest Lands State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 123 | Open |
| Scattered Forest Land - Nw State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 123 | Open |
| One Stone Lake Hemlocks/Little Rice Lake Sna State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 120 | Restricted |
| Thunder Lake Wildlife Area State Recreation Area | State natural resources | 82 | Open |
| Sugar Camp Hemlocks State Natural Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 81 | Restricted |
| Natural Area State Conservation Area | County | 41 | Restricted |
| State Owned Islands State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 5 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
8 places to go in Sugar Camp
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Sugar Camp
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Sugar Camp
1 playground without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Sugar Camp
2 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Sugar Camp
Wisconsin River 1In Northern Highland American Legion State Forest · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsWisconsin River 2Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsWisconsin River 3In Northern Highland American Legion State Forest · Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
DirectionsDisc golf in Sugar Camp
Sugar Camp Disc Golf CourseTown of Sugar Camp
DirectionsTrails & water
35 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Arbutus LakelakeBaggs LakelakeBass LakelakeBog LakelakeBurnham LakelakeChain LakereservoirColumbus LakelakeCranberry LakeDam LakereservoirDeer LakelakeDenton LakelakeEcho LakereservoirHaven LakeIndian LakelakeJennie Webber LakelakeKathan LakelakeLake AidennlakeLily Bass LakeLily LakelakeLittle Rice LakeLong LakelakeLost LakelakeLynn LakelakeMill LakelakeMinnow LakelakeOatmeal LakelakePickerel LakelakeSand LakereservoirSilver LakelakeStone LakereservoirSugar Camp LakelakeTamarack LakelakeTim Lynn LakelakeWalters LakelakeWisconsin River
Biking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Soccer
3Baseball
3Softball
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Sugar Camp: May and August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 27 | 38 | 51 | 65 | 74 | 77 | 75 | 67 | 53 | 38 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.1 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 4.4 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sugar Camp →
Next door
Sugar Camp and its neighbors
Sugar Camp has the most mapped trails of the 7 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar Camp | 23% | 0.5 | 634 | 13% | A− |
| Three Lakes | 26% | 0.1 | 1,405 | 26% | B+ |
| Lincoln | 3% | 0.2 | 325 | 29% | B− |
| Newbold | 44% | 0.2 | 1,239 | 50% | A− |
| Cloverland | 40% | 0.9 | 6,842 | 68% | A+ |
| Pine Lake | under 1% | 0.5 | 5 | 19% | C− |
| Stella | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sugar Camp
Where can I hike in Sugar Camp?
The longest trail networks: Northern Highland American Legion State Forest, 25.7 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Sugar Camp is conserved land?
23% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Wisconsin town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Sugar Camp’s trails?
Northern Highland American Legion State Forest and Tara Lila LLC Ripco Road Unit don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sugar Camp?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sugar Camp?
132,172 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sugar Camp or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 12,998 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sugar Camp have?
Ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Sugar Camp neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →