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'''Petrifying Springs County Park Trails- Kenosha, Wisconsin'''
[[Image:Photo_WI_Kenosha_Petrifying_Springs 01.jpg|right|Petrifying Springs County Park Trails]][[Image:Photo_WI_Kenosha_Petrifying_Springs 02.jpg|right|Petrifying Springs County Park Trails]]
Petrifying Springs Park (also known as Petrified Springs or just "Pets") is part of the Kenosha County Park System. The Park has a variety of trails suitable for Hiking, Mountain Biking, and Cross Country Skiing. The scenic park follows the winding Pike River (actually more of a stream than a river) resulting in some interesting trails. The trails cover areas in the main park, the golf course, and on some adjacent land owned by the University of Wisconsin - Parkside. This section of the [[WI Kenosha Pike River|Pike River]] is extremely shallow most of the time so don't bother bringing your canoe or kayak unless you like paddling gravel (I have heard that some whitewater kayakers run this section during rare high water conditions). 

*'''Terrain / Scenery:''' Scenic park with wooded ravine running along the Pike River.
*'''Fees / Permits:''' None
*'''Trail Conditions:''' Rugged, natural surfaced hiking trails. Click [[Talk:WI_Kenosha_Petrifying_Springs_Park_Trails|Discussion Tab]] to view post updated trail conditions.
*'''Trail Markings:''' Unmarked
*'''Official Web Page:''' None
*'''Getting There:''' Petrifying Springs Park is located between the cities of Kenosha and Racine, just East of Highway 31 (Green Bay Road) with park entrances on either County Road A or County Road JR. There are signs at the entrances. [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=petrifying+springs+park,+kenosha,+wi&ie=UTF8&ll=42.650785,-87.866035&spn=0.02219,0.040169&z=15 Google Maps link to Petrifying Springs Park]. You can also get to Pets via the new (as of 2008) paved bike path (brown on the map below) that runs east to the [[WI_Kenosha_Area_Bike_Paths|North Shore Bike Trail]]and within blocks of the [[WI_Kenosha_Lakefront|Lakefront Bike Trails]]. 

The trails can be accessed from numerous locations throughout the park. The majority of the hiking and biking trails follow along both sides of the Pike River. The primary ski trails follow routes around the golf course. These trails are not marked and there are no maps in the park. Some of the trails along the river contain some very steep hills. 

'''Park Road Closure Notes:''' When the [[WI Kenosha Pike River|Pike River]] water level is high, you should expect that part of the park road running through the park will be closed. The river crosses under the park road three times; the 2nd crossing is just a drain tunnel under the road (rather than a bridge) and the river will overflow the road here at high water levels. There is a dip in the road here that was actually designed to allow the river to flow over; a rather unique situation. 

In '''winter''', the park road north of County Road A is closed,as is the road that runs north/south through part of the golf course. 

==Hiking==

You can hike any of the trails in the park. There is no hiking allowed on the golf course but there are several trails that run right along the perimeter of the golf course that can be hiked. The main hiking trails (shown Red on the map) follow the Pike River and can be rather rugged in areas with some short steep sections. In many places along the river you may find several trails running parallel to each other. 

In the main portion (western area) of the park, the high trail (the one that runs highest up the bank) will tend to be easiest while the low trails or mid trails will often have steep sections or collapsed sections along the river. There are many footbridges in the main portion of the park crossing the river that provide access to the trails on the other side. 

The trails in the Northeast section of the park (this is actually land belonging to UW Parkside) follow the river and a series of small ravines north of the river. These trails can be very confusing since there are many intersections and side trails that crisscross this 
area. Though I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get most of the trails mapped, you will find additional unmapped trails here and there.  Your safest bet here is to follow the trail that runs along the river and use this as your starting point to explore the other trails. A compass or GPS may be useful to keep you from walking around in circles in the web of trails here. This group of trails is popular with area mountain bikers so be prepared for mixed trail use. There are no footbridges crossing the Pike River in this section of the park and the places where the trail crosses the many small creeks may or may not have crude bridges in place (use at your own risk, these bridges are placed here by some trail users and often get run off after a significant rain).

Note: a short section of the trail located along the southeast border of the golf course has been closed (this is the area where the golf course runs right up against the river not allowing enough room for a separate hiking/biking trail). 

The main trails North of County Road A (shown in Yellow on the map) are wider and covered with wood chips. These are easy trails designed as horse trails, but they do not get much horse traffic since they are rather short in distance (actually I've never seen horses on these trails). There are also some narrower hiking trails (shown in Red on the map)north of CR A that can be hiked in combination with the wider trails.


[[Image:Map WI Kenosha Petrifying Springs.png|top|Map of Petrifying Springs Park Hiking, Mountain Biking, and Cross-country Ski Trails]]


Below is another version of the map with a topographic map as the background. This should give you a better idea of the topography here.

[[Image:Map WI Kenosha Petrifying Springs Topo.png|top|Topographic map of Petrifying Springs Park Hiking, Mountain Biking, and Cross-country Ski Trails]]


==Mountain Biking:==

All hiking trails in the park (Red or Yellow on the map) can be used as mountain bike trails. These trails have become popular with local mountain bikers because the area is full of small ravines and gullies that make for some seriously steep hills and other technical riding features. For the most part, the trails shown in Red are single track with some areas having very steep technical sections. There may also be downed trees across the trail that will test your bike skills (though recently someone came through a cut several of these off the trail). These trails are used for mountain biking but were not "designed" for mountain biking and subsequently you may find some of the hills are beyond the skill level of casual mountain bikers (very steep sections with roots and rocks and ruts and trees and very little run out at the bottoms).  Most of the really steep sections are actually side trails and therefore can easily be easily avoided. I've marked some of the short steep sections on my map with a black line on the red trail. 

There is no one "best route" through these trails, you really need to just invest some time and ride everything. You'll find that there is something interesting to ride in virtually every little corner of this trail system. 

The large trail area east of the golf course (this is actually land belonging to UW Parkside) is very popular with mountain bikers. There are no footbridges crossing the Pike River in this section of the park and the places where the trail crosses the many small creeks and gullies may or may not have crude bridges in place (use at your own risk, these bridges are placed here by some trail users and often get run off after a significant rain). These trails tend hold water longer than most and some small sections are always wet due to the many springs in the area. '''Please avoid biking these trails during wet periods.'''  During mid to late summer, some sections of trail can become overgrown with some really nasty flesh eating plants. This is only on small sections of trails, but it can be rather painful if you're not prepared.

These trails can be very confusing since there are many intersections and side trails that crisscross this area. Though I've spent quite a bit of time trying to get most of the trails mapped, you will find additional unmapped trails here and there. However, since there are not that many total miles of trails here you will eventually find your way around. Most of the unmapped trails are either parallel runs that break off the trail and then later reconnect, shortcuts between sections of trail, or small loops that take advantage of the ravines.  There is a continuous trail along the riverbank that is pretty easy to follow (and is a relatively easy ride except for a creek crossing here and there). The other trails can all be accessed from the river trail. As long as you know where you are in reference to the river (or the road or the golf course), you should be OK. It wouldn't be a bad idea to carry a compass or GPS though. The University of Wisconsin - Parkside has created a biking map of this section of trails. To Download the map go to [http://www.uwp.edu/map/ UW-Parkside Campus Map Page] and click on the "UW-P Trail Map" link. Their map also shows these trails as directional (running counter clockwise). Be aware that their map and my map do not exactly match up; I think this should give you some idea of how confusing these trails can be. 

Note: a short section of the trail located along the southeast border of the golf course may be closed (this is the area where the golf course runs right up against the river not allowing enough room for a separate hiking/biking trail). 

The trails just west of the golf course (between the golf course and the river) have a lot of technical sections. The golf course is the high ground here and there is a ridgeline (actually the top of a very wide section of ravine) that runs along the edge of the golf course. The trail runs along the top of this ridgeline (right along a fence in some sections) and has numerous connected trails running down the side of the ravine. There are also numerous gullies created by water draining off of the golf course that cross the trail. 

The trails in the main (western) portion of the park that run along the southwest side of the river are also worth a ride though you can expect to run into quite a few pedestrians on these trails. Most of these trails are pretty easy, but there are some technical sections and some really steep stuff that are not actually part of the trail (they're more of collapsed sections of the ravine) that I would never consider running on a bike but I'm sure there are those out there that would. 

There are also some fun trails located in the wooded area in the center of the golf course. You can access these from the park road that runs through the golf course. Just make sure you don't ride onto the golf course. 

If you ride every section of trail (marked red or yellow on my map)in the park (this will require that some trails are ridden more than once to access other sections)you can maybe put on a total of around 10 or 12 miles. Since a lot of those miles are technical trail, that's actually a hell of a lot of trail for a little county park. Plus, you will undoubtedly find some sections that you will want to ride several times. 

Bikes are '''not''' allowed on the golf course and there are sections of the trail that run right along the edge of the golf course. You may see some "no bikes" signs. As long as you stay on the trails along the river, you are OK (I think?). However, the section of trail located along the Southeast edge of the Golf course may be closed. This is the section that ran right on the edge of the golf course since the river eroded away the old trail. Looks like the parks department intentionally piled a whole lot of brush and logs there to block access. You may also encounter side trails that run very near or right up to the golf course; always be very careful when you are riding near the golf course and avoid doing anything stupid that would give the park's dept. a reason to close these trails.  

Bikes are also '''not''' permitted on the Parkside Cross Country trails on the South side of County Road JR (for any of you poachers out there that would be tempted to ride these trails, be aware that they are wide cross-country running/ski trails and would not be of interest to serious mountain bikers anyway).

Though this isn't an enormous trail system and is a bit tricky to navigate, this is some of the best technical singletrack in the area. I'm hoping these trails don't become too popular with mountain bikers because the steep sections will likely quickly deteriorate with heavy use. Please avoid biking on these trails in muddy conditions, try to not annoy other trail users, and stay off the golf course, and hopefully we will be able to keep these trails open to bikes. 

Local mountain bikers may also want to check out [[IL_Lake_County_Zion_Beulah_Park_Trails|Beulah Park]] in Zion (about 15 miles south). It's a smaller trail system than Pets and doesn't have quite as much of the real steep stuff but it does have some nice technical single-track.

==Cross-Country Skiing:==

They used to groom trails for cross country skiing in the park, but due to budget cuts in recent years the grooming has been discontinued (that's what happens when everyone votes the politicians that promise to cut taxes).  The primary cross country ski trails (shown in Orange on map) are on the golf course; skiers continue to ski in roughly the same path as was previously groomed so you can usually just follow the tracks of other skiers. This is mostly gently rolling terrain, but there are a few hills. These trails connect up with the North trails (shown in Yellow on map) which are also popular with skiers. You will also see ski tracks along the edge of the main park road (I don't show these on the map but you can figure it out easy enough). If you're more adventurous you can also ski on the hiking trails (shown in Red on the map) but be aware some of these trails are very narrow and have steep sections with large roots that can be difficult to ski even under good snow conditions (which we rarely have). You'll also encounter downed trees and creek crossings in the eastern hiking trails.

The [[WI Kenosha Parkside Trails|Parkside Cross Country Ski Trails]] on the other side of County Road JR are groomed by volunteers and make for some good skiing. When you combine the ungroomed Petrifying Springs trails with the groomed Parkside trails, you get quite a few miles of diverse skiing for a local trail system. See [[WI Kenosha Parkside Trails|Parkside Cross Country Ski Trails Page]] for more information on the Parkside trails ski trails.





==Related Links:==

*[[WI Kenosha Parkside Trails|Parkside Cross Country Ski Trails]]

*[[WI Kenosha Pike River|Pike River]]

*[[IL_Lake_County_Zion_Beulah_Park_Trails|Beulah Park]]  More technical singletrack about 15 miles south of Pets. 

*[[WI Kenosha|More Kenosha Area Trails]]

*[[WI_Racine|Racine Area Trails]]






'''This page is authored and maintained by [[User:Dave|Dave Piasecki]]'''