I’m on vacation in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. I wrote about driving/climbing up Rib Mt. near Wausau, Wisconsin. Rib Mt. is 1,942 feet above sea level and 741 feet above the nearby valley floor. For a long time, it was thought that this was the tallest point in the state of Wisconsin, but geologists have determined that that honor goes to Timm’s Hill, approximately 44 miles to the northwest of Rib Mt.
Timm’s Hill also has a high tower that you can climb and get a fantastic view. The tower has 88 steps. The hill does not rise as far above the valley floor as Rib Mt., but you can see for 30 miles on a clear day. While Rib Mt. is a State Park (that cost me $11 for a daily pass), Timm’s Hill is a County Park with free admission.
The County Park features “…a boat landing, fishing pier, picnic tables, grills, swimming beach, play equipment, vaulted toilets, and nearby trails for mountain biking, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and skijoring. The trails are multi-use and non-motorized, including 9 miles of looping trails near Timm’s Hill County Park which connect to the National Ice Age Trail and Rib Lake Trails.”
There were a couple of terms there I was not familiar with. Skijoring is a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse, reindeer (in Norway) a dog (or dogs) or a motor vehicle. It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring, meaning “ski driving”. I was also not familiar with vault toilets. My first thought was a vault is where you keep the money – would you keep your money in a “vault or vaulted toilet”? I would imaging not may burglars would think to look there for the money.
What may sound a little strange is the “boat landing, fishing pier and swimming beach”. You can walk from the tall tower – the highest point in Wisconsin – to a beautiful lake in less than 5 minutes. It’s 160 feet below the hill, but a very short distance down a set of steps.
Despite the fact that we were on the highest point in Wisconsin, the wind was dead calm at midday. The sun was bright and warm with a few scattered cumulus clouds. This was the view looking north from the parking lot of the nearby “Hill of Beans” restaurant.
Vehicle access is May to October, with walk-in access from November to April. It’s a little off the beaten path, but it’s a fun place to visit and it’s free.
