Cooks Run is 121.56 acres of forest, wetland and cold water, next to the Ottawa National Forest and just off US-2.
The property packs several kinds of country into a small space. Open sedge wetlands and tamarack lie along the stream, upland hardwood forest covers the higher ground, and stands of spruce and cedar shade the water. Beavers have been at work for years. The old rearing-station roads and ditches wind through all of it.
That variety is what makes it worth visiting in every season: color in the fall, snow cover for snowshoeing, birds and wildflowers in spring, and cold water to fish all summer.
White Water Associates mapped the stream and its surroundings in 2024. Alongside the water findings on The Stream page, they described the land around it and recommended protecting the wetland and the forest along the stream from disturbance, including forest harvest.
In plain terms: this is real woods and wetland, close to the highway, and our job is to let people in without wearing it out.
It adds no warm water to the stream, and it shelters frogs, turtles and wetland birds. The report says it should be protected from disturbance.
The trees shade the water and feed it fallen wood and leaves. The report calls this corridor critical to the stream’s health.
The report calls the old roads an excellent base for a walking trail system, and notes the high ground along the diversion ditch could become an easy path.
The island loop is only the start. The old two-track roads and berms already reach most of the property, and our site map sketches proposed trails through the northwest and western woods for hiking and snowshoeing, a longer loop on the east side that could also take mountain bikes, and an interpretive path along the diversion ditch.
Different ground suits different uses. Firm upland hardwood forest is good for hiking and biking and for snowshoeing in winter. Wet ground can be crossed with boardwalks and footbridges or avoided. A possible connection to the Ottawa National Forest trail network is a longer-term idea. Any route will be laid out with Iron County and volunteers, away from the most sensitive wetland and stream-bank areas.
See the proposed site map on The Future page, and tell us which trails you would use.
If you have hiked, hunted, fished or snowshoed at Cooks Run, we would like to hear what you know about the trails and the ground. Write to us at info@friendsofcooksrun.org.