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Length:
2.2 miles
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Surface:
Paved roads with shoulders
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Activities:
Hiking, jogging, biking, pets
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Parking:
Bukolt Park (west), Zenoff Park (east)
Features
Where’s the Stagecoach?
From 1858 to 1872, O.C. Wheelock ran a stage line between Stevens Point and Wausau, about 34 miles to the north. The Wisconsin Stage Company also ran a daily stage to Wausau in 1864. This well-tread route became Old Wausau Road, where the Green Circle now runs. It would typically take a fast team of horses about two-and-a-half hours to travel just 10 miles. That would be about an 8.5 hour trip to Wausau!
Birding Information (Site #7)
The Stagecoach Trail segment is unique to the Green Circle Trail in that it includes three of the best spots to observe the Wisconsin River Flowage above Stevens Point and it’s possible to navigate most of it by bike or auto.
At the south end of the trail lies beautiful Bukolt Park. In spring and fall, warblers and other migrating songbirds sift through the pines, birches, and oaks along the river. Ospreys and Bald Eagles are summer staples and it’s not uncommon to stand on the riverbank and see Purple Martins and all 5 species of Wisconsin’s swallows in the air at once.
Just to the north of Bukolt lies St. Peter’s cemetery and one of the best locations in Stevens Point to see migrating waterfowl. The observation point is reached by walking to the northwest corner of the cemetery where a small knoll provides an elevated overlook of a broad expanse of the flowage. Loons and Horned Grebes are spring and fall regulars as well as large rafts of Ruddy Ducks, Scaup, and other diving ducks. Bonaparte’s Gulls pass in late fall and White Pelicans have been recorded here. Persistent viewing may produce such inland rarities as Surf Scoter and Pacific Loon.
Photo Gallery
