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Richard Bong State Recreation Area
Fun for All Seasons
How to Get There
Maps ?
Once designated to be a jet fighter base, Richard Bong State Recreation Area is fittingly named after Maj. Richard I. Bong, a Poplar, Wisconsin, native who was America's leading air ace during World War II. The project was abandoned three days before concrete was to be poured for a 12,500-foot runway. Local citizens had the foresight to protect this open space for future generations. In 1974 the state bought the land and it became the state's first recreation area.
A recreation area differs from a state park or forest in that it offers additional activities not traditionally found in state parks. Appropriate to its name, Bong offers an area where visitors may fly hang gliders, ultra-light aircraft, hot air balloons, and model airplanes and rockets. Bong also has spaces to train both hunting and sled dogs, train falcons, ride an ATV trail, go land sailing, horseback riding, and hunt in season. All activities are kept separate from each other through special use zones.
The recreation area encompasses 4,537 acres of rolling grassland, wetlands and scattered woodland. Richard Bong State Recreation Area is open year-round and has 41.1 miles of trails including:
16.3 miles of hiking trails
1.6 miles of interpretive nature trails
10.3 miles of off-road bike trails
17.7 miles of horse trails
14.7 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails
10.3 miles of trails for snowshoeing
11.6 miles of snowmobile trails
7.1 miles of all-terrain vehicle trails
A new boardwalk enables people with disabilities to get a close-up view of the wildlife area.
It features signs about the wildlife you're likely to see.
There are two regular campgrounds with a total of 217 campsites, 54 of them with electric hookups. Six group campsites can accommodate 150 campers.
There is a permanent naturalist on duty at Richard Bong Recreation Area, and a variety of nature education programs are offered year-round. The Molinaro Visitor Center has displays and exhibits about the history of Bong, plant and animal life, and other features. A slide/tape program is presented in the visitor center auditorium, and two self-guided nature trails wind through grasslands and woodlands.
The recreation area has a boat launch (electric motors only) and an accessible fishing pier and shore locations for fishing for panfish. There is a 240-foot beach with a bath house.
Other accessible facilities include an urban fishing pond, three hunting blinds, and three campsites. All picnic areas have accessible picnic tables. Buildings and most shelters are accessible as well.
Fun for all seasons
Spring is a transition time at the recreation area. Spring is the premier birding time. The earliest migrants?red-winged blackbirds?show up the end of February, but new winged visitors arrive throughout the spring: grackles, cowbirds, meadowlarks, killdeer, snipe, bluebirds, ducks, and swallows each one in progression. Ducks and geese begin to nest in the area's wetlands in March and April, and warblers pass through in May. Yellow-headed blackbirds, bobolink, and upland plovers are among the uncommon species seen here.
Spring is also the time when the air is filled with song -- chorus frogs, coyotes, song sparrows, cardinals, snipe and others. The first green appears as the new leaves of spring wildflower show themselves. It?s a great time to bring the binoculars and hike the trails in search of the first signs of spring.
If the weather permits there are plenty of activities to do at Richard Bong State Recreation Area during the spring. It?s often windy, so it is a great place to bring a kite, with plenty of open space to fly it.
In the summer, the recreation area offers swimming at a sand beach, fishing, and picnicking at four different picnic areas. There are horseshoe and volleyball courts and a ball diamond.
A sled dog training trail is kept open most of the winter. Ice fishing is a favorite winter sport.
How to Get There
Richard Bong State Recreation Area is 8 miles southeast of Burlington, Wisconsin, on State Highway 142. The entrance is a little less than a mile west of State Highway 75.
For more information ask
Richard Bong State Recreation Area
26313 Burlington Rd.
Kansasville WI 53139
(262) 878-5600
(262) 878-5615 Fax
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/specific/bong/index.html
Richard Bong State Recreation Area
Fun for All Seasons
How to Get There
Maps ?
Once designated to be a jet fighter base, Richard Bong State Recreation Area is fittingly named after Maj. Richard I. Bong, a Poplar, Wisconsin, native who was America's leading air ace during World War II. The project was abandoned three days before concrete was to be poured for a 12,500-foot runway. Local citizens had the foresight to protect this open space for future generations. In 1974 the state bought the land and it became the state's first recreation area.
A recreation area differs from a state park or forest in that it offers additional activities not traditionally found in state parks. Appropriate to its name, Bong offers an area where visitors may fly hang gliders, ultra-light aircraft, hot air balloons, and model airplanes and rockets. Bong also has spaces to train both hunting and sled dogs, train falcons, ride an ATV trail, go land sailing, horseback riding, and hunt in season. All activities are kept separate from each other through special use zones.
The recreation area encompasses 4,537 acres of rolling grassland, wetlands and scattered woodland. Richard Bong State Recreation Area is open year-round and has 41.1 miles of trails including:
16.3 miles of hiking trails
1.6 miles of interpretive nature trails
10.3 miles of off-road bike trails
17.7 miles of horse trails
14.7 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails
10.3 miles of trails for snowshoeing
11.6 miles of snowmobile trails
7.1 miles of all-terrain vehicle trails
A new boardwalk enables people with disabilities to get a close-up view of the wildlife area.
It features signs about the wildlife you're likely to see.
There are two regular campgrounds with a total of 217 campsites, 54 of them with electric hookups. Six group campsites can accommodate 150 campers.
There is a permanent naturalist on duty at Richard Bong Recreation Area, and a variety of nature education programs are offered year-round. The Molinaro Visitor Center has displays and exhibits about the history of Bong, plant and animal life, and other features. A slide/tape program is presented in the visitor center auditorium, and two self-guided nature trails wind through grasslands and woodlands.
The recreation area has a boat launch (electric motors only) and an accessible fishing pier and shore locations for fishing for panfish. There is a 240-foot beach with a bath house.
Other accessible facilities include an urban fishing pond, three hunting blinds, and three campsites. All picnic areas have accessible picnic tables. Buildings and most shelters are accessible as well.
Fun for all seasons
Spring is a transition time at the recreation area. Spring is the premier birding time. The earliest migrants?red-winged blackbirds?show up the end of February, but new winged visitors arrive throughout the spring: grackles, cowbirds, meadowlarks, killdeer, snipe, bluebirds, ducks, and swallows each one in progression. Ducks and geese begin to nest in the area's wetlands in March and April, and warblers pass through in May. Yellow-headed blackbirds, bobolink, and upland plovers are among the uncommon species seen here.
Spring is also the time when the air is filled with song -- chorus frogs, coyotes, song sparrows, cardinals, snipe and others. The first green appears as the new leaves of spring wildflower show themselves. It?s a great time to bring the binoculars and hike the trails in search of the first signs of spring.
If the weather permits there are plenty of activities to do at Richard Bong State Recreation Area during the spring. It?s often windy, so it is a great place to bring a kite, with plenty of open space to fly it.
In the summer, the recreation area offers swimming at a sand beach, fishing, and picnicking at four different picnic areas. There are horseshoe and volleyball courts and a ball diamond.
A sled dog training trail is kept open most of the winter. Ice fishing is a favorite winter sport.
How to Get There
Richard Bong State Recreation Area is 8 miles southeast of Burlington, Wisconsin, on State Highway 142. The entrance is a little less than a mile west of State Highway 75.
For more information ask
Richard Bong State Recreation Area
26313 Burlington Rd.
Kansasville WI 53139
(262) 878-5600
(262) 878-5615 Fax
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks/specific/bong/index.html