Category: Vacation Ideas

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Explore the Northwoods in Vilas and Oneida county trails

If you stay for longer than a week with us, you may get an itch to hike, bike, or paddle in the plentiful open land nearby.

Paddling near Minocqua, WI

You choose—a no-motor route through a chain of lakes, some white water, or a large lake with public or private land. Within a 30-minute drive, you can find dozens of boat landings to match your experience level and interest. Here are some to get you started:

Vilas county waterways

The Flambeau River offers the full range of turbulence—from Class I rapids to Class V. It’s further from us—around an hour away.

Nine Mile Tavern Outfitter if you’d prefer to rent equipment

Biking near Minocqua, WI

Bearskin Trail day trip

We enjoy walking this trail from Bearskin Trailhead Park, in downtown Minocqua. To bike, look for the Rantz parking lot on this trail map, allowing you to pick up the trail directly from our place. You just cross Highway 51 (obviously be quick!) and bike south to Blue Lake Road. If you can bike 10-miles to Goodnow, WI, we’ve heard great things about the Silver Birch Supper Club. Of course, that’s 10-miles back home!

Vilas County day trip

The huge network of paved trails through Vilas County offers many itineraries to spend a day out on your bike. This trail map can help. The M&N parking lot is about 35-minute drive from our parking lot. We can vouch for the food at Aqualand Ale House in Boulder Junction, an 8-mile trip, and recommend you get a reservation. If you’re ready for a much longer ride into Manitowish Waters, try  Dixie’s.

Aqualand Ale House

Dixie’s

Planning a trip to the Northwoods?

Looking for a Minocqua rental where you can launch your kayak directly into the lake and enjoy hours of quiet water time? (And then, buzz into town for dinner?!) Check out our 2025 availability to book your stay.

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Ditch the car. Get to dinner via boat on the Minocqua chain!

Motoring across the lake to eat is a novel Northwoods activity for our family.  If you’re staying at Camp Kulisha for the first time, these three Lake Tomahawk restaurants are pretty close to our place. Depending on your energy level, you could paddle to the first on this list.

Lakeside Grill (Minocqua) for sandwiches, burgers and wraps. Closest place to fill up your gas tank.

Gaslight Tavern (Lake Tomahawk) for sit-down pan-Asian food. You’ll need to tie up your boat at the town launch and walk 5 minutes.

Lake Tomahawk Village Cafe (Lake Tomahawk) for classic Northwoods fare, including fish fry. Also accessible via the town boat launch.

Want to make a day of it?

If you’d like to stay out all day, you can reach these spots by boating through Mid Lake and into Lake Minocqua via the channel. These Minocqua restaurants on the water are casual enough that you can be in your swimming gear too.

Yacht Club (Minocqua) lively newly remodeled spot for cocktails, flatbreads, entrees and periodic live music.

The Boathouse (Minocqua) Walleye bites are a favorite for our family. Upstairs dining room has more expansive menu.

The Thirsty Whale (Minocqua) is a favorite cheese curd and beer spot! If you time it, you can watch the Minocqua Bats show from the deck.

Prefer a picnic?

There are plenty of places to throw down your pontoon anchor or pull up your canoe on shore to enjoy your own treats. If you want to make a plan in advance, this helpful map of Lake Tomahawk commissioned by our lake association shows state-owned shoreline. And, here some of our own Minocqua-specific host tips on food.

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4 ideas to unwind and recharge in your vacation rental

If you’ve got your VRBO or your rental cabin secured, now you can daydream about filling your days. If you’re frazzled by parenting, your career, or the doomscroll on your phone, a retreat mindset might be just the thing to help you plan.

Eat al fresco

Complicated food is hard to transport outdoors. Just by deciding to eat outside, I find that I simplify meal prep. I’m a foodie, for better or worse, so I have a few go-to ideas to feel nourished and pampered. For proteins: seafood or fish packed in oil, hard boiled eggs, cheese, or summer sausage. For fresh veggies: carrots, peppers, cucumbers, jicima, and cherry tomatoes. For starch: crackers, and a loaf of bread.

Nap in the afternoon

There’s satisfaction in accomplishing your to-do list, no doubt. I have hundreds of lists, and I won’t embarrass myself by sharing their titles. I stop noticing or celebrating the wins, though, if I don’t add rest to my agenda. At home, I’m getting better about a sleep routine that works for this stage of life. On vacation, I’m experimenting with naps. Here, there’s often a breeze off Lake Tomahawk—the perfect companion for a nap. I often take a book out to the hammock, to signal to the family to steer clear, and can snooze for 10 or 20 minutes. Once I shake off the half-dream, I’m a more playful family member. Those are the real gems of vacation, right? Being your happy, joyful self with the ones you love?

Try gentle movement 

I can’t empty my mind without movement. My thoughts leap and swing around on the mental jungle gym of tasks, responsibilities and worries. If I can move—whatever that means for me that day, I naturally vary my breathing patterns and, wham! I’m clear. In the Northwoods of Wisconsin,  that often means a paddle across the lake, a walk in the woods or a swim around our peninsula.

Find nature’s wisdom

I’m too squeamish to put frogs or bugs in a jar, but I love to gather beautiful seeds, rocks, and pinecones wherever I go. With age, I’ve learned to take only what I can use. More and more that means harvesting the simple metaphors on offer in the landscape or the weather. For instance, how fast a summer storm thunders in—it’s a great reminder that life circumstances will sometimes surprise me, bring on a deep chill, and then the sun will appear. Sometimes there will be a rainbow.

Share your ideas!

How do you reset? Vacation isn’t always right around the corner, so we need to slip in 5-minute tricks to keep ourselves regulated. Or, if you are wondering if we have something at our rental house to help you retreat, please email stay@campkulisha.com!