Reverse Tour De Chequamegon Loop

June 19-21, 2026

A three-day weekend on the calendar, a future trip West to prepare for, a new bike to break in before then, and Bikepacking.com all serving as instigators of adventure guided our eyes to the Tour de Chequamegon in north central Wisconsin. Not a race. Just going bikepacking. Maybe it's a vacation? Maybe its better to think of it as something different... vacations are dangerous in their assumptions.

Packing late into the night after a wildly full week, we woke early to finish packing and started the 3.5 hr drive at 8 am. Quiet roads heading out of the Cities north and east, rolling

into Hayward at 10:45 and enjoying an Emergency Brat, compliments of the Hayward Boys Hockey Team, we finished the drive to Moose Lake Campground a little before noon, with a worrisome passing of a road grader and freshly turned gravel all around us.

Departing from the original route description found at Bikepacking.com, we shifted our plan to start from the southern end of the loop at Moose Lake Campground and in the opposite direction (clockwise). This game plan allowed us a low-mileage first day to Roam Base Camp (saunas!) for the first camp, then an opportunity to roll through the famous town of Cable on day two as we headed to East Twin Lake Lake Campground, returning to our truck on day three.

Itinerary Outline:

Day 1: Moose Lake Campground to Roam Base Camp

Day 2: Roam, to Cable, to Two Lakes Campground, to East Twin Campground

Day 3: East Twin Campground, to Clam Lake, to Black Rock Campground, to Moose Lake Campground

Route Links:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 1 Pictures and Happenings:

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Parking the truck at the campground's boat landing, we immediately doused ourselves in bug repellent while unloading the truck and outfitting our bikes. The mosquitos were incessant. But the campground was beautiful, quiet, and the pit toilets amazingly clean. We rolled out around 1pm, escaping the hordes of buzzing, winged syringes, moving quickly to the north and east on fast gravel.

The temps were perfect, the sun held at bay by a veil of clouds, and a slight breeze cooled our skin in the humid air. It felt like rain was possible, and eventually light sprinkles would find us. We wove our way through quiet forest roads, gently rolling through active timber lands, until our route veered us off the road, through a gated entry into a rarely traveled, overgrown stretch of seemingly abandoned, grassy two-track that had no track.

Eventually we intersected with CAMBA singletrack, starting as old-school rooty trails and transitioning into purpose-built with banked turns, rollers, and small rock gardens to negotiate. These adventurous miles were slow, but luckily uneventful, which both of us were grateful for given our decently loaded rigs. Emerging out of the singletrack, we found ourselves in the punchy, never ending section of hills that nordic skiers know well around the Telemark Hill area. Traffic increased in this area, primarily in the form of herds of ATVs and UTVs hellbent on destroying any part of the road that might be considered packed. The climbs and descents became a route finding challenge, weaving left and right from shoulder to shoulder trying to find the least-wrecked gravel that didn't suck all your speed away. Turning left toward ROAM and a sign saying "No ATVs" we breathed a sigh of relief and rolled smoothly the last few miles to camp.

A nap, sauna, and dinner all timed perfectly before the heavy thunderstorms rolled in made for a perfect evening. Tucked into the tent, the skies opened, but the thunder remained distant, and the full canopy of maple leaves filled our ears with a gentle cascade of never-ending percussion.

Day 2 Pictures and Happenings:

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That same maple canopy that lulled us to sleep did a fantastic job with its never-ending drips convincing us that it was still raining well after our 7am alarm went off. Coffee is a strong motivator for some though. Packing deliberately to manage the wet gear, we slowly broke camp, ate breakfast, and prepped our bikes for the day. Just as we prepared to roll out the mosquitos returned in force, despite being relatively chill at camp up till then.

The few miles into Cable packed a decent amount of climbing, but the gravel stayed smooth and our warming bodies made it an enjoyable roll into town. Despite just starting the day's mileage, we locked our bikes up at the historic library and soaked in the Saturday vibes with more coffee and baked goods from Velo Cafe, and found some silly treasures at the adjacent church rummage sale that were worth strapping to our bikes.

Rolling north out of town we were stoked to find the wall of bikes at the Fat Tire festival headquarters; photos were taken. The paved road north to Two Lakes Campground was newly smooth, quiet, and made for easy, beautiful miles. Turning into the campground, we found a beach area with sun and a breeze that kept us bug free and cool as we lazily ate our packed lunch of meat, cheese, and crackers.

Heading east, we entered my favorite stretch of dense maple forest split by a narrow, fast gravel road that gently wound its way under a quiet, sun dappled canopy. Signs marking designated wilderness to the right remain as the only human-inspired memory I have of this stretch. Butterflies danced between and around us, riding unseen rollercoasters of twisting, eddy-filled air.

The perfect road eventually came to a T, joining a larger, more traveled (aka looser gravel) road, with more sun, higher temps, and gifting us each an entourage of deer and horse flies that seemed content to zoom along behind us. Our largest mammal sighting occurred here, unfortunately in the form of a dead black bear along the side of the road. We concluded it had been shot, likely in the last 24 hours given the freshness of its tracks and lack of decomposition or smell.

After a stop at the roadside fossilized Stromatolite that the mosquitos decided went slightly long, we rode the last few miles to the tiny but booked solid East Twin Lake Campground. Campsite #3 looks sweet (for future reference!). Our camp neighbor immediately welcomed us and started gathering firewood for us to use. Settling in, a tiny pocket of sun allowed us to dry our tent and gear while we swam at the boat ramp. It was shallow, but not weedy, and incredibly refreshing.

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Returning from our swim, our neighbor also returned to our site... this time bearing handmade gifts made of birchbark and endless stories. Hailing from Hayward, Steven Naganashe, PhD. and Anishinaabe professor brought grins to our faces with his mix of commentary, storytelling, and flattery. We were both challenged to transport these delicate earrings and canoe safely home on our bikes.

A phenomenal, and slightly spicy, bikepacking dinner of rice, Fritos, dehydrated black beans, Baby

Belle "Toy Story" themed cheese, orange peppers, spicy Thai pepper mix, and cut up summer sausage all wrapped in a tortilla filled our stomachs as the sun began it's late night departure. With clear skies and cooling temps, we stretched out in the tent and read as dusk set in. Loud bull frogs honked nearby.

Day 3 Pictures and Happenings:

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Rising early to a damp morning from a sneaky, unanticipated, evening downpour we were greeted with a fog shrouded lake and blue skies above. Cool temps let us protect ourselves from the mosquitos with layers as we made coffee and oatmeal. The closer we got to finishing teardown and packing the worse the mosquitos got. Hoods up, long-sleeves down, and helmets on, we happily and hurriedly rolled out a little before 8am, escaping the hordes onto smooth, fast, and quiet pavement.

We flew south, enjoying the Father's Day Sunday empty roads and the fact that a routing error while planning had us believing we had more miles than anticipated... turning left out of camp we immediately dropped 6 miles from our day. Passing through Clam Lake, sunny blue skies making roadside flowers pop with vibrant color, we reveled in the easy pedaling. Turning back onto forest roads, we were graced with fast gravel that wasn't torn to shreds by ATVs. The cool, moist air and shaded roads, wonderfully dust free from last night's rain, lulled us into a sense of ease... until stopping. The swarms quickly found us, propelling us onwards through seemingly endless forests of maples, oaks, cedars and bogs filled with tamaracks and spruce, with towering white pines standing like sentinels watching over it all.

We commented on how today felt different. That our bodies seemed to be finding their stride. Shifting to match the grade, eyeing the gravel and wordlessly selecting the best line (swapping to give her skinny tires the better), seamlessly matching pace as the road wove its way onwards, speechless silence enveloped us, the sound of crunching gravel and birds chirping inspiring permanent grins as we rolled along.

Not wanting to donate any further blood (I wish mosquitos couldn't get through bike shorts) we pushed onward to Black Rock Lake Campground and were greeted by a fantastic lunch spot with a quiet boat landing dock to chill on. We soaked up the sun, with a light breeze, and enjoyed the view as we ate PB&J tortilla wraps and any other food that was left, like Fritos.

With only 10 miles left, we made good time back to Moose Lake Campground and our vehicle. Arriving earlier than we anticipated, we hopped in the lake to enjoy one last swim before packing and beginning the drive home.

Endless forests, quiet roads, a some squirrely adventure riding, and lakes to swim in make this loop a pretty amazing backyard bikepacking trip.

Notes & Recommendations For Next Time:

• One of those Thermacell mosquito repellant doodads would have been a sweet addition and well worth the weight.

• Water is plentiful. We each carried 2 bottles and never were wanting for more.

• Tire width: While it seems like overkill, I really enjoyed running 2.25" on my Cutthroat- they tamed the chewed up gravel. The 45mm Riddlers handled decently for Britta, but definitely weren't confidence inspiring at all times.

• The lakes are great for swimming, but shallow, so don't dive off the docks!

• Larger Cable and smaller Clam Lake offer opportunities for food and resupply if needed. We carried all the food we needed, but if you're looking to eat at an establishment these are your two spots. With a little Google Map exploring you could probably find some hidden, northwoods style bar/restaraunt tucked into the woods to enjoy, too.

• The campgrounds were full, so making plans ahead of time is recommended for weekend travel. Weeknights would probably be ok to just show up at. And for those who don't mind camping loosely, there were many places a tent could be set up in the campground that weren't in a reserved spot, but a conversation wi th the camp host would probably be a positive interaction before setting up.

• Cell service is spotty. We did have some service at both camp spots, but it wasn't great.

• Many of the roads are active logging roads, especially on our 3rd day. During the workweek these might be busy and having lights wouldn't hurt.