Many Midwesterns have donned a pair of ice skates and hit the rink or a frozen pond in the winter. But have you ever tried a skating ribbon?
It’s essentially an ice skating trail through the woods. Wisconsin's first skating ribbon opened in the winter of 2025 at the Boulder Junction Winter Park. It's called The Glide. It's 0.8 miles of maintained ice through a scenic trail that visitors can skate at their own pace.
Mary Jones, the executive director of Boulder Junction Chamber of Commerce, equates it to skating on wild ice.
"There are those little bits of hills and dips as you're skating along, but you're in the woods, you're in the forest so you are skating through just the beautiful forested area. It's gorgeous," Jones explains.
So far this winter, The Glide has welcomed over 15,000 visitors. Skating ribbons are common in Canada but this is the first to come to the state.
Boulder Junction Winter Park has a sledding hill and a traditional ice skating rink. It's surrounded by the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest. Where the ribbon is now was an underutilized snowshoeing trail.
"It got a handful of people throughout the winter but we are surrounded by the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest, with much more expansive trails available to us. So the little loop wasn't getting utilized very often and so that's sort of how the skating ribbon came to be where it is," Jones says.
The Glide is free and open to the public 10am - 10pm. There are a limited amount of skates to rent on site. A trail report is updated daily.
Other Stuff To Do in Vilas County
If you're looking for a good place to do some ice fishing Vilas County is home to over 1,300 lakes.
"Some of the local favorites in the Boulder Junction area include Wildcat, High, and Fish Trap Lakes," Amanda Wibel with Travel Wisconsin explains.
Vilas County also has 120 miles of snowmobile trails. If you don't have your own sled, Boulder Marine Center rents snowmobiles for daily use as well as all the gear you need to stay warm and safe on a ride.
Places to Stay
Places to Eat
"Boulder Junction Brewing Company just opened last month. This has been a really long anticipated microbrewery and they're bringing bold fresh flavors to the Northwoods. So you can be one of the first visitors to try their initial round of six original beers that are brewed right on Main Street Boulder Junctions," Weibel suggests.
