Wisconsin was the first state to set aside public land for a state park in 1900. Over the decades, the Wisconsin State Park System added 49 others, which now cover more than 155,000 acres. But only one of them was supposed to be a United States Air Force base. That makes Richard Bong State Recreation Area a unique spot for hiking and camping in the Badger State.
In between Chicago and Milwaukee, two of the largest cities in the Midwest, you’ll find Kansasville. Originally, this land, covered with a blend of prairies, forests, and wetlands, was hunting grounds for the Potawatomi, Menomonee, and Ojibwa peoples. That untouched landscape began changing in the early 19th century when English settlers started clearing the land for farms. They, too, were in for big changes, though. In the 1950s, the United States government bought their farmland to build a fighter jet base, named after Wisconsin native Major Richard Bong, during the Cold War. The Department of Defense halted the project just days before its runway was to be completed.
After the military base in Southeast Wisconsin was closed, people in Kansasville, now home to fewer than 3,000 people, fought to protect the deserted land. First, in the 1960s, Wisconsin took it over to make it a wildlife area. Then, in 1974, it expanded into a nature preserve and recreation space. Richard Bong State Recreation Area now covers more than 4,500 acres and attracts more than 325,000 visitors each year.
Trails in Richard Bong State Recreation Area
Richard Bong State Recreation Area is one of the 10 state parks for endless outdoor fun around Rockford, Illinois. When you arrive, you’ll pass the entrance station to find the Molinaro Visitor Center and Vern Wolf Lake. You can learn about the history and nature of the state park in the visitor center. It features a solarium with rotating exhibits and an outdoor Nature Explore Classroom for kids. The Visitor Center Nature Trail heads south from there. The 0.7-mile trail winds through grassland and a prairie en route to a boardwalk overlooking the 150-acre lake. That’s where you’ll find a swimming beach, a boat ramp for canoes, kayaks, and vessels with electric motors, and a fishing pier to cast for panfish and northern pike…