Friends of Rib Mountain

06/07/2026

We had a great birding hike yesterday on the Homestead Trails. Thanks so much to Myles, Andy, Chucky and Brian of the Wausau Bird Club for your expertise and your extraordinary eyes and ears! It was a beautiful day and we had a fabulous birding experience. We heard or saw 20 varieties:
Baltimore Oriole
Wood thrush
Red-eyed vireo
Chickadee
Least flycatcher
Eastern wood peewee
Robin
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Black throated green warbler
Northern house wren
Morning warbler
Black and white warbler
Scarlet tanager
Broad-winged hawk
Mallards (yes- on the pond in the quarry)
Turkey vultures
Veery
Morning doves
Cedar waxwings
Pileated woodpecker

05/31/2026

Some amazing volunteers pulled a bunch of garlic mustard today in the Park. It is a highly invasive w**d, and if left unchecked would crowd out wildflowers and other local plants. Be careful, hikers, and clean and check your shoes and boots before hiking in public places. And it was a gorgeous day!

04/29/2026

Are you ready to get outdoors?

Do you want to support Rib Mountain State Park?

Consider volunteering to help on one or more days to help control the highly invasive Garlic Mustard at Rib Mountain State Park on Saturday May 16th and Saturday May 30th from 9am-noon.

Volunteers can meet at the Ampitheater Parking lot and should bring work or garden gloves, water, and appropriate shoes for hiking of trail on rocky/uneven terrain. Tick repellent is also a great idea. Park officials and or Friends of Rib Mountain State Park will cover proper plant ID and distribute maps of garlic mustard patch locations.

Volunteer daily park passes will be provided to anyone who doesn’t have a park sticker.

If you have questions please feel free to call the park office at 715-842-2522

Hope to see you at the Park
Christopher Ecke- Friends of Rib Mountain State Park.

04/17/2026

We share this here with FORM because it is definitely a close cousin to our mission.

Sounds really interesting!

Join us for a fun evening raising funds to keep Marathon County Parks awesome for everyone to enjoy with the Wild & Scenic Film Festival!

04/05/2026

https://www.wsaw.com/2026/04/04/loons-land-need-help/?shem=dsdf,sharefoc,agadiscoversdl,,sh/x/discover/m1/4

Loons on land are stranded loons. What you can do to help.

02/28/2026

As we move closer to March, the thaw begins… and with warmer days comes more opportunities to get outside and explore. 🌲☀️

With that return to recreation, it’s a perfect time to refresh ourselves on Leave No Trace principles.

Be a good steward of the land:
🗑️ Dispose of trash in proper receptacles
🎒 Pack out what you pack in
👀 Be mindful of your surroundings
🌿 Protect the natural spaces we all share

Every small action helps preserve Wisconsin’s parks, forests, trails, and recreation areas for the millions who visit each year.

Let’s do our part — and leave it better than we found it.

www.fwsp.org

02/17/2026

We had a fabulous time at the candlelight snowshoe hike on Saturday. Plenty of snow and warm temperatures too!

02/13/2026

The Snow conditions are fabulous at Rib Mountain State Park! A big shout out to Roger Lang, Friends Member and Volunteer for getting our grooming snowmobile back up and running! Thanks to Roger, the Friends Groomed snow shoe trail is in spectacular condition.

Come out this weekend and take advantage of the great snow, nice weather, and for evening fun, join the Friends Saturday evening for our Candle light snowshoe hike from 6-8pm!

Christopher Ecke
Friends of Rib Mountain State Park-Board Member

01/10/2026

SNOWSHOE HIKE CANCELED Sorry we had to cancel tonight's candlelight snowshoe hike. The recent rain and thawing has made the trails very icy and dangerous. Please join us on February 14 for our next scheduled candlelight snowshoe hike. 6-8 p.m. Bring your friends!

01/07/2026

Dear Friends of Rib Mountain State Park: We have received questions around this week's temporary Park Road and adjacent walking path closure and wanted to provide some clarity.

Per Park Unit Superintendent Bayli Christorf,
A timber harvest is ongoing at Rib Mountain. The main park road and walking path along the road will be temporarily closed from 6am- 6pm Tues- Thursday, Jan 6th-8th, 2026 for hazard tree removal. Other hiking trails in the park will remain open.

This closure will not impact the upcoming Candlelight snowshoe hike on Saturday. We hope to see you there.

Christopher Ecke
Friends of Rib Mountain State Park