The Burma Road County Forest is five miles west of the City of Mosinee on State Highway 153. The off ramp from I-39 is also the ramp for the Central Wisconsin Airport, and you’ll know when to exit when you sniff the strong odors from the mill of Wausau Papers. Stay on 153 across the Wisconsin River bridge (where you’ll see the paper mill) and into the downtown of the small city of Mosinee. Follow the signs as 153 makes two corners through town and then heads straight west. The large Copps Grocery Store is your signal to watch the odometer and start counting five miles.

A sign marks the turnoff for a short gravel entrance, but it isn’t angled for cars to see. Look to the North for a small brown sign that reads “Burma Road ATV Trail” and turn onto the gravel road for the short trip to the parking lot.

The farm fields from the trip are suddenly miles away as a dense deciduous forest blankets the area. A sturdy loading ramp makes rolling an ATV off a truck a cinch, and large signs at the trailhead clearly point out the rules.

The forest unit is 1,480 acres and 11 miles of trails wind through it. “There are other trails that are not designated, so people need to stay off of those,” said Jon Daniels, chief ranger and snowmobile/ATV coordinator for Marathon County. “There are a couple mud holes or play areas that people can frequent. They’re not anything that was improved or developed, they’re just a couple areas that we haven’t filled. Some people like those types of features.”

The roads the ATVs drive on are improved logging roads, and riders need to be alert for large logging equipment that could be sitting in the middle of a trail. “It could be actively logged at any time of the year,” said Daniels. “Typically, thought, that happens in the fall.” The trails are closed during the month of April due to typically wet conditions, and also in October and November due to hunting seasons.”

The trails are as wide as 12 feet and the tightly-packed dirt trails are not plagued by deep tire trenches. Lucky riders will see a whitetail deer or two, and Daniels said the county forest has abundant wildlife of several kinds. Things that are typically common to Central Wisconsin,” he said, “Some bear. There’s a good wild turkey population. There are no streams to speak of, there are a number of creeks.”

Riders who also enjoy camping can do it there for free. One must only contact the Marathon County Parks Department at 715-261-1550 to receive a camp pass.

“We don’t actually have a campground,” Daniels explained. “The interior of the forest unit is not open for camping. Only by parking areas.” The second parking lot is off of Burma Road at the area’s north end. Burma Road connects to County Hwy B, which angles back to Mosinee along a NW/SE route. A lovely park sits on B along the Wisconsin River at the NW edge of Mosinee.

For those who go for the night life or the motorcycle scene, a bar called the Eagle II Saloon sits two miles east of the ATV area along Highway 153. The Eagle II hosts live music several times a month with no cover charge.

Smaller shops beckon visitors in Mosinee, but larger chain stores dot several business districts of the city of Wausau, just a few miles to the north on I-39. The Cedar Creek Factory Stores sit across from the tall towers of the region’s largest power plant. Further north Rib Mountain juts noticeably upward from the area’s flat landscape. The village of Rib Mountain hosts a Best Buy and Sam’s Club and numerous other stores.

Rib Mountain itself is a destination worth visiting. It isn’t Wisconsin’s highest point, but it does protrude further above the surrounding land than any other point in Wisconsin. A state park occupies the top of the hill and offers quiet camping and hikes with stellar views. A solid look-out tower gives one of the best views in the Midwest.