Moraine State Park

Had a spectacular hike along the Glacier Ridge Trail (aka, the North Country Trail) at Moraine.  Not another soul on the trail for miles.   

I've always avoided Moraine as a hiking destination because I took a hike there about six years ago and found that the trail ran alongside a noisy public roadway.  That was in the far northeastern corner of the park, where the parkland is a narrow finger of woods projected into farmland and residential areas.  Now I know enough to research my hikes a little more carefully before setting off.  This one was way better. 

If you park near the gated Link Road (which is deceptively named, since it's a dead end that links exactly nothing), you could follow the old road to its end.  

There you'll see a pathway into the woods on the right.  It goes past three hiking shelters and up to a forested ridgeline.  There it joins up with the North Country Trail.  

The shelter village was a nice discovery.  I didn't know that overnighting was allowed anywhere at Moraine, aside from the cabins and group tenting areas.  

The North Country runs along the ridge for about two and a half miles before descending onto Mount Union Road, where I turned back.  The trail crosses the lane and continues.  There's obviously a lot more to discover at Moraine.  On the whole, I think the north shore of the lake offers more possibilities than the south.