A visit to Iron River, Wisconsin

(As always, click on a photo for a larger view)

We always make a trip through northern Wisconsin about the fifth of October. This is peak fall color time in the north country. This Sunday might not have been the best display but it was very pretty.

We set out from the Gordon/Solon Springs area northbound, crossing the Brule river and heading for Iron River. Why Iron River? Well, Iron River holds the best pie shop in Northern Wisconsin.

We headed north on US 53 to county B and turned east toward Lake Nebagamon. To the right side of the road we noted several clusters of Maples with great color. I looped back for a closer look and found this pretty red tree framed by green leaves near the road.



While taking the picture, I was startled by a honking noise coming from the field. I glanced around and found a pair of trumpeter swans talking about the pretty colors too.



These beautiful birds stand almost four feet tall! We were glad we stopped.

Back in the car we continued past Lake Nebagamon, crossed the historic Brule River, and then turned north on Wisconsin 27 to US 2 at the town of Brule. The Brule river is sometimes known as the river of presidents since it has been fished by U.S. presidents Grant, Cleveland, Coolidge, Hoover, and Eisenhower.

A few miles East of the town of Brule on US 2 is the town of Iron River. No, not the Michigan ski town of Iron River, this is a smaller and less notable Iron River. But it does have two very nice attractions. The first is Orchards cafe and pie shop featuring homemade pies by Sue. There is a real Sue and she makes fantastic apple and blueberry pies. No it isn't quite Betty's pies on the North Shore in the 1950s, but it is very good pie.


And as long as you have stopped, go across the highway to the antique shop. This is by far one of the nicest antique stores and certainly the finest used book store in northwest Wisconsin. We were disappointed twice though on this visit. First, we noticed that the store is for sale as we stopped for our pie. Second, when we finished the pie and headed across the road, the store was already closed! Hope we can get back before all the stock is sold out.