-
Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password. If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?
-
Beginning April 1st, and running through April 30th, there is a new 2024 BMW MOA Election discussion area within The Club section of the forum. Within this forum area is also a sticky post that provides the ground rules for participating in the Election forum area. Also, the candidates statements are provided. Please read before joining the conversation, because the rules are very specific to maintain civility.
The Election forum is here: Election Forum
2007 International Rally Tours
- Thread starter DARKCLOUD
- Start date
Blanding's Turtle
Legal Status in Wisconsin: Threatened
A road presents a major hazard, but even worse the loss of wet-lands - with adjacent territory - provide the stable environment needed for the well-being of the Blanding's turtle. Without this stable environment, the future of this and many other species is threatened.
I helped this turtle cross the roadway.
Typical Vermont Photo
(photographed in western Wisconsin)
Inside of the red circle
Wisconsin Best Motorcycle Road Riding
The Coulee Region
Southwestern Wisconsin is known as the Driftless Area, some nicknamed The Coulee Region. Early European settlers derived the name Coulee Region from the French word "couler," which means "to flow." The term is now usually used when referring only to the hilly parts of the region, while Driftless Zone may imply flatter areas. Unlike the rest of the state, it is characterized by steep hills and narrow valleys. The contrast is due to the wanderings of errant ice during the glacial ages, when the other two-thirds of the state was planed and scraped into more level submission. The land bergs never quite made it to the southwest. As a result, the more spectacular and gentle-handled effects of water and wind erosion are there for you to enjoy.
Western Wisconsin
5 Buck Biker Camp
Last edited:
Rustic Road # 73
Gravel
Featuring the "High Bridge"
one lane
Gravel/wood surfaced
Rail Road bridge
Rustic Road # 73
Purposes of the original Yellowstone Trail Association
First and foremost, they wanted to get a route built from ÔÇ£Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound.ÔÇØ
Second, they wanted to attract tourists to the Yellowstone National Park, thus benefitting member towns along the route.
In 1912, a group of small town businessmen in South Dakota undertook an ambitious project to create a useful automobile route, the Yellowstone Trail, across America. This was at a time when roads weren't marked, there were few maps and slippery mud was the usual road surface. The Yellowstone Trail Association located a route, motivated road improvements, produced maps and folders to guide the traveler, and promoted tourism along its length. It became a leader in stimulating tourist travel to the Northwest and motivating good roads across America. The Lincoln Highway Association, formed in 1913 by industrialists, created a similar route across the U. S., but used big organizational and public relation budgets.
Today, almost all of the route of the Yellowstone Trail is on slower, less traveled roads. Some sections of the Trail, especially in the West, have remained little changed and are a delight to visit.
The Yellowstone Trail was the first transcontinental automobile highway in the United States through the northern tier of states from Washington through Massachusetts. Yet too few people are aware of its existence or its social, political and economic effects on either the local communities or the nation.
This transcontinental route was conceived by J.W. Parmley of Ipswitch, SD, in 1912. The automobile was just becoming popular but intercity roads were plagued with sand, potholes and mud. Bicyclists of the previous decade, organized as the Wheelmen and counting thousands as members, had been pushing state and federal governments for years for roads. Yet, in 1912, there were few good, all weather roads, no useful long distant roads and no government marked routes.
The Yellowstone Trail developed in parallel with the nationwide effort to improve roads. The burden of financing roads gradually moved from the local landowner and township up the levels of government until the federal government, the states, the counties and the townships shared the cost. The burgeoning number of autos resulted in a demand for roads to drive them on, first for pleasure and then for crucial societal purposes: for doctors to get to patients, for farm products to get to the railroads, and for military purposes.
The Yellowstone Trail Association was formed in October 1912 and was active until 1930.
Usually, roads near railways were selected, and frequently were routed through towns on the street adjacent to the railroad station. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in particular, was selected because it went were the founders of the Trail wanted the Trail to go. The railroads had already selected the most efficient routes and local roads already existed near the railways, so as one reads the history of the Yellowstone Trail, one reads the history of the Milwaukee Road.
In 1918 Wisconsin became the first state to number its highways and in 1926 the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) established and numbered interstate routes (US route numbers), selecting the best roads in each state which could be connected to provide a rational network of "federal" highways. With the numbering of roads, the need for names decreased. And the need for colored markers to mark the named roads ceased. Then came the Depression. Merchants could no longer afford to pay dues to a road association. State maps replaced the need for associations. The Yellowstone Trail and all other named trails lost their allure to the modern Highway 12, or 29, or 10. Its major influence died in 1929-30 with the original Yellowstone Trail Association.
Through all of this, the Yellowstone Trail Association persisted, acting much as the AAA does today. They published maps and brochures and set up tents along busy places on the Trail to hand out these materials. People telephoned the Trail Association before they planned a trip to see what roads were passable. This route is truly a piece of history and a national treasure.
The Yellowstone Trail hugs Lake Michigan on Hwy 32 through Milwaukee, following Hwy 145, 175, 45 through West Bend and Fond Du Lac area.The Trail then follows Hwy 110 and 10 to connect to 29 crossing the State to Minnesota. By no means is it a Route 66, but still a piece of history
Similar threads
