Fall is here and the weather has been great to get outdoors.
As we continue to feature Our Town Black River Falls,
Sarah stokes shows us where you can go to camp, hunt, hike, ATV or canoe.

The list of activities seems to be endless at the Black River State forest, it is a wow, no matter what you want to do.

In this week's Wandering Wisconsin, we show you around a place where you can climb to the treetops, see rare birds and butterflies, do all kinds of camping and where you can ride for miles.

When you're exploring this forest, you can go as fast, or as slow as you please, because with all this land, you won't run out of places to roam.

"Our state forest is 68,000 acres it's been around since 1957. We have a little bit of everything for people, says Peter Bakken. He's the State Forest Superintendent, and he says he never gets bored here.

"A lot of people think you have to go up to the northwoods to see a lot of these things and actually central Wisconsin is one of the wildest areas in the entire state," Bakken said.

Bakken says if you drive it enough, you'll see wolves, he says bear live here and so do endangered species like the Kirtland Warbler and the Karner Blue Butterfly.

"The property has barrens vegetation on it. Barrens, pine and oak barrens. It's a globally imperiled ecosystem, one of the rarest in the world and this property is one of the best places in the world to preserve that ecosystem," he added.

He says a great way to check out this ecosystem is by canoe.

Bakken says, "this really has outstanding scenery if you're canoeing. Particularly on steep cliffs by canoe or kayak."

He says when it snows, people put away the paddles and get out the skis. "Our cross country ski trails are considered one of the very best in the state," Bakken added.

But if ATV riding is more your speed, Bakken says you'll be in good company as 500 riders show up every weekend.

"People can ride over 230 miles of ATV trails and never run out of places to ride here," he said.

And if you're looking for a fall color drive, there are plenty of reds, yellows and oranges to admire or you can go with the flow at the flowage or down by the river.

"We also have the Black River ecosystem, a very high quality river."

And I saved the biggest surprise for last. A sky-high hike sure to please.

"You can't go wrong, come to Castle Mound Nature trail, it's a wonderful 2 mile hike," he said.

Photographer Duane Wolter and I took the hike, climbing the hill through the mossy rocks and towering pines, where around the corner of a boulder you'll find a ladder to the top of the world, and at the top of that, an extraordinary view, even on a hazy day.

"Sometimes people who have lived in the area for a long time will come and they'll hike up this trail behind me. They'll go up to the top of castle mound which is the namesake of this part of the state forest and they'll see this fantastic view where you can see for miles and they'll see wow, I never knew this was here I've lived here 25 years and I never knew there was this view," Bakken recalls.

Depending on what you want to do there, you may need a state forest pass, but hiking and scenic drives are free.

Click here to learn more about the forest.