If a trek up a faraway mountain won’t fit on your summer to-do list, maybe you can still find time to hike to Wisconsin’s highest point.

That journey would take you up Timm’s Hill in Price County, which stands at nearly 1,952 feet above sea level, according to the State Cartographer’s Office.

Timm’s Hill is nestled in woodlands of north central Wisconsin, just off County Road RR in Ogema. At the summit, hikers can climb an observation tower that offers 30-mile views of the surrounding area, according to Travel Wisconsin.

Highpoint Guide, a website with information on peaks across the country, says Timm’s Hill was named after Timothy Gahan, a late-1800s logger. Gahan often set up camp near the woods surrounding the hill, which now make up Timm’s Hill County Park.

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What to know if you’re visiting Timm’s Hill

Timm’s Hill County Park is open year-round. The park gate is open 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. approximately May through October, and winter parking is available at the intersection of Ring School Road and County Road RR, the Price County website says.

The park has a boat landing and fishing pier, along with picnic shelters and hiking trails. The 10-mile Timm’s Hill National Ice Ace Trail is accessible for hiking, biking and horseback riding and intersects with the statewide Ice Age Trail, which spans over 1,000 miles.

How does Wisconsin’s highest point compare to other states

Timm’s Hill, at 1,952 feet, ranks as the 39th-highest high point among the 50 states, according to Highpoint Guide.

Minnesota and Michigan both rank just above Wisconsin, though Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio all have high points below 1,700 feet. The highest point anywhere in the United States is Alaska’s Mount McKinley, formerly known as Denali, at 20,320 feet.

In Wisconsin, Price County is one of six counties in north central Wisconsin with points above 1,900 feet. Powder Hill and Holy Hill have the highest elevations in the southeastern part of the state at just above 1,300 feet.

The Lake Michigan shoreline boasts the lowest elevation in Wisconsin at just 579 feet above sea level, according to the State Cartographers Office.

RANDALL, Wis. – Two people are in critical condition after a motorcycle crash on the Illinois/Wisconsin state line, according to officials.

Around 3:28 p.m. on Sunday, crews responded to the 12500 block of Fox River Road for reports of a motorcycle crash.

Officials found two people lying in the road. One individual had sustained a significant head injury and was reportedly not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. The victim was transported by helicopter to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in critical condition.

The second victim was transported to Froedtert South Pleasant Prairie in critical but stable condition.

Kenosha County Major Crash Assistance Team is investigating the incident.

The public are reminded to wear helmets while riding motorcycles and urged to use caution during the ongoing road construction in that area.

MADISON – Well, this was different.

“And better,” said Alexander Pendleton of Shorewood, Wis.

We stood May 17 on Bascom Hill on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and took in the sight.

The grassy space is famous for hosting gatherings, sometimes even pranks by students. One of the most well-known was the Sept. 4, 1979 placement of about 1,000 plastic pink flamingos on the sloping terrain.

But this day Bascom was graced by something more natural.

The hill was peppered with dozens of wild turkey decoys. Hens. Toms. Preeners. Strutters. Feeders.

A crowd of people, volunteers, biologists, conservation organization staff and curious onlookers, reveled in the scene.

I think I even saw a satisfied smile crease the face of Pres. Abraham Lincoln, the statue that overlooks the hill.

Everybody knew this was no joke. This was a gathering with meaning.

“The most successful wildlife reintroduction in state history,” said Pendleton, accompanied by his wife Terese. “What an achievement.”

The May 17 event on Bascom, and a subsequent luncheon and program in UW Memorial Union, was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the reintroduction of wild turkeys to Wisconsin.

The National Wild Turkey Federation was the primary sponsor of the events. Department of Natural Resources staff, both current and retired, also took part.

Significantly, former DNR employees Ron Nicklaus and Jon Nelson were on hand. Nicklaus was the leader of field operations of the 1976 turkey reintroduction and helped release the first 29 birds near Romance in Vernon County. Nelson was hired as a field technician about three months after the first birds arrived and worked on the turkey project for 10 years.

“Nobody really knew how it would go,” Nicklaus said. “And if anyone tries to tell you they knew it would be so successful and over so much of the state, they are lying. It’s been incredible.”

Wild turkeys were native to Wisconsin but the species was depleted through the 1800s by removal of vast areas of timber and high, unregulated turkey harvests by market and subsistence hunters.

By 1860 the birds were rare, and in 1881 the last wild turkey in the state’s original flock was killed near Darlington, according to the Department of Natural Resources’ document “Ecology of Wild Turkeys in Wisconsin.”

Efforts through the early to mid-1900s to bring the species back, mostly through stocking game farm birds, largely failed.

But by the 1970s the DNR had seen what worked in other states and put a plan together for Wisconsin.It was based on transferring wild turkeys obtained in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri into suitable habitat. In Wisconsin, the best wild turkey habitat was in the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin.

The plan also relied on an agreement between state agencies. The Wisconsin DNR would exchange three ruffed grouse for each wild turkey provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

That proved trickier than it may seem. Nicklaus, who was tasked with capturing the grouse, had to bend and even break some rules to get it done.

“The grouse were tough to trap, and then of course you had to check the traps at least once a day, even on weekends and holidays,” Nicklaus said. “So we worked every day to get it done.”

Eventually enough grouse had been captured to convince the Missouri biologists to collect some wild turkeys for the trade.