The first Active Trails Burnett County Challenge concluded in October, 2014 with a celebration at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area. Carrie Ferguson of Danbury, Wisconsin, won the grand prize of a $350 gift certificate for a new bike from Cyclova XC in St. Croix Falls. The Challenge ran from August 1 through October 10 and invited residents to learn about recreational opportunities in Burnett County and
to get active outdoors. Participants tracked their progress through the Active Trails Passport and submitted postcards to be eligible for prizes. The Challenge brought together local businesses, organizations, and the public to celebrate the outdoors. It helped to promote or sponsor 40 programs that were free to the public and captured the attention of over 2,300 community members.
“It’s been very rewarding to hear from people who spent more time exercising outdoors because of the Challenge. We hope that there is now a greater appreciation of the tremendous opportunities for outdoor recreation available in Burnett County. We have a national park – the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway -, thousands of acres within the Governor Knowles State Forest and Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, and a state trail—the Gandy Dancer,” said Chris Stein, superintendent of the Riveway. Local sponsors for the Challenge included: Bending Branches, the Burnett Dairy Cheese Store, Burnett County Farmers’ Market, Chuck’s Garage, Darrell’s Hardware Hank, FitNat, Grantsburg Fitness Center, Grantsburg Golf Course, Moose Mulligan’s, Quiznos, Siren Anytime Fitness, Siren Subway, Wake-Up Call Coffee House, Wayne’s Foods, and Webster Ace Hardware. This project was made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Foundation through the generous support of Coca-Cola, the Coca-Cola Foundation, DISNEY, and the Scrooby Foundation.
