HAYWARD WISCONSIN

This community of 2,100 on Wisconsin’s heavily forested and lake-bejeweled northwest fringe takes its fun seriously. And the word has gotten out: thousands of visitors flock here each year for Hayward’s renowned festivals, including the grueling Subaru American Birkebeiner, which draws 9,000 cross country ski marathoners from 20 countries and finishes in a power sprint up Main Street to wild applause. The Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival is a popular off-road bicycle event that unleashes 2,500 riders who race along autumn-tinged trails in the Chequamegon National Forest.

Old-style sports enthusiasts make pilgrimages to Hayward’s National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum, the world’s largest fishing museum, with the added attraction of a gigantic 4½-story tall, ½-city-block long walk-through muskellunge, the “Shrine to Anglers,” whose gaping jaws create a toothy observation platform. Four other buildings house a mind-boggling display of lures, rods, reels, outboard motors, boats, and gear aplenty.

Visitors inspired to explore local waters will find fishing guides at Hayward Fly Fishing Co. downtown, and outfitters can arrange canoe and tubing trips down the beautiful Namekagon River.

Wisconsin’s logging heritage comes alive at Hayward’s rip-roaring lumberjack shows and the thrill-packed annual Lumberjack World Championships, which attract an international crowd of log-rolling, axe-wielding lumberjacks and jills each July.

Native Americans constitute approximately 8 percent of Hayward’s population. Their Honor The Earth Pow-Wow is one of America’s biggest, drawing nearly 10,000 participants and spectators each summer.

Hayward’s outdoor adventures tend to produce hearty appetites. The city boasts two brewpubs: the laid-back Angry Minnow, and Main Street’s HookStone Winery makes and sells by the glass or bottle. West Hayward Dairy, a local institution since 1951, has tempting concoctions like Campfire S’mores ice cream. Barbeque fans shouldn’t miss the Original Famous Dave’s, where ribs and live blues are served up at Grand Pines Resort on Hayward’s Round Lake.

Overnight accommodations in the Hayward area range from the posh McCormick House, located in an 1887 Victorian mansion decorated with designer furnishings, to the rustic log cabin comforts of Ross’ Teal Lake Lodge. The Telemark Resort in nearby Cable caters to the high-energy crowd, with on-site skiing, snowboarding, biking, hiking, and more.

Hayward is a small city with a big personality, an evolving brew of flannel and fishing Northwoods tradition and café culture, with an invigorating shot of extreme sports thrown in.