Blue Highway Lodge: a road less traveled
Tucked away just West of Hillsboro, Wisconsin in Vernon County, lies yet another of Wisconsin’s Driftless area’s treasures, the Blue Highway Lodge.
First, the name. When my wife came across this place and told me I should check it out for a possible story idea, I wondered why is blue highway in the name? Well, I would soon find out after sitting down with owners Nathan Toth and Karri Bartlett (pictured above).
Nathan explained their place is “off the beaten path”. A phrase the two have sort of coined as their motto. “Our name blue highway, comes from the book Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. The opening passage of the book makes reference to highway maps of old main roads where back roads were shown in blue. Alluding that they are the best place to lose yourself, are off the beaten path, and toward the road less traveled.”
The couple purchased the lodge that sits on a beautiful 40-acre wooded parcel in November of 2020 and officially opened for business in February of 2021 at the peak of the pandemic. The previous owners exclusively catered to motorcyclists. Today, the bulk of Nate and Karri’s clientele remain motorcyclists but they welcome non-cyclists as well.
The lodge was previously open only during the riding season, now they’re open year-round, increasing the amount of business they see. In addition, the last couple years, the lodge was only open on weekends and now they are open 365 days.
The lodge features 6 cabins each with a king bed and a shelter for those coming by motorcycle, and a 2-bedroom guest house dubbed the ‘Farm House’. All are nestled in a majestic hardwood forest.
What would a place in the Driftless area be without a few animals to go along with the scenery right? Well, Nate and Karri have that covered. Nate shared, “So, when we bought the place, there was a Highland Scottish steer and his name was Ferdinand. He was about 18 years old and his horns were about seven-foot tip to tip, he was big boy. He was too big and too old to move so he came with the property. Ferdinand was kind of the mascot of the place. Everybody remembered Ferdinand because, to all the returning guests, he was just big and memorable and super friendly. He was kind of a big dog and would come when you called him. He liked those scratches.”
Sadly, Ferdinand passed away in April of 2021, but the following month Nate and Karri welcomed a new Highland they named Tank. Tank needed a friend, and this past Spring they introduced Tank to his new pal and fellow Highland Dozer.
During the Highland saga, the couple added chickens, 2 Alpacas, and eventually some goats to their animal repertoire. Karri noted a lot of their guests are from bigger cities and just don't get to interact with farm animals very often. “There's a bit of Agri-tourism too, it draws people in, and even if they didn't come here for that, they enjoy it.”
Now, you may be wondering about the Wisconsin state bird, the mosquito, and if they pose a problem at the lodge. Well, let’s just say the chickens earn their keep. “Chickens also do a good job of bug control. Chickens are little monsters. They eat everything. That's one nice thing,” Nate said. Karri added, “We were just talking about this earlier today, we don't really have mosquitoes out here, we don't have all the nuisance bugs. Between the chickens, the bats, and the lack of standing water, the bugs are controlled really well.”
As for future growth the couple said they have a lot of ideas, but are just taking it a day at a time. “We’ve got to figure out what we're able to support from a labor standpoint and from a cost standpoint. We may put in a couple of RV sites campsites in like a year or two.” Karri chimed in saying, “more staying with like a glamping theme, having the big canvas bell tents where you have more of a permanent campsite, so you can camp without having to do all the work setting up a tent and everything.”
As for amenities? Nate and Karri have pulled out all the stops. “So, the intent is, it's still set up for bikers, it's still very biker friendly. Knowing that they travel very light, our goal is that they have everything that they need here. The cabins have the full kitchenette, there's grills, grilling utensils, all your linens, all that kind of stuff. And hair dryers, a lot of people ask about the hair dryers. It's funny. Like I don't use them, so I never even think about it. We even provide hammocks. The whole goal is just to be able to just come in and relax and have no worries. A lot of people will cook up in the party pavilion. We can sleep 17 here, we're small enough that you can easily rent out the whole place and a lot of groups do that with friends or family groups,” Karri said. She also stressed each cabin has its own fire pit.
If you like to take a relaxing quiet stroll in the woods, Blue Highway Lodge has a third of a mile to walk if you take all three loops of trails.
Open for their first winter this year, Karri said it was quiet, but are working on expanding activities for those that like to get away during the colder months. “We’re working on expanding that a little bit more. There's snowshoeing and basically silent sports around here. We didn't get enough snow last year for snowmobiling. If we had snowmobiling then that would be great. There is a good trail network and good clubs around here that maintain them, but I think the trails were open for 24 hours last year. There's good hiking, snowshoeing, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve and Wildcat Mountain State Park close by, but really a lot of who stayed with us last winter, were people who just wanted to come and cozy up in a cabin with a fireplace and just relax and have some quiet,” Karri said smiling.
Nate and Karri said they get a lot of people from the city, and some folks that are pretty local who just wanted to get away from their kids and have a little break.
Probably the biggest thing Nate and Karri sell at the lodge is something they say cannot really be advertised, and that's quiet. “It is quiet here,” Karri said. “Everybody that comes here says that, like it's so quiet here. Yeah. And I think that is a big part of it, too. Like it's hard to advertise. It’s really chill and quiet. I think people are drawn to some of the big touristy areas where there's tons to do. I think what makes this place different, is that it's tucked away, it's super quiet, it's mostly adults that stay with us. Sometimes we do get families that stay in the guest house. We've been campers and I don't think we've ever stayed somewhere as quiet as this because it's usually a campground that's busy.”
One benefit of being located in the Driftless is the lack of light noise and the ability to see the spectacular night sky. Bordered by Amish farms helps keep down light and noise at night. Dark skies initiatives in their corridor are as Nate and Karri put it, “pretty awesome”. They were quick to point out the stars are incredible. “When people get here, they're like, ‘this is the thing you didn't know you needed until you have it’, you know?”
Nate and Karri want to work towards being more sustainable energy-wise installing solar panels. Right now, they are working more on insulation and other efficiencies.
The couple are proud of their website that now allows you to see real time availability and book a stay immediately. For those that like to keep a connection to the outside world, they do have Wi-Fi throughout the property.
Nate and Karri said they have had to learn a new area (the Driftless) while encouraging others to come to this area. They feel they are getting more integrated into the community getting more involved, making donations to different charity groups and events. Karri serves on the Board of Directors of the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and she shared that the chamber is working hard on getting more people into the area. “That's all been about how to get people into this community, because I feel like once you're here, you'll love it. The people who do come, they extend their stays and they book their stay for next year before they leave. I think once people discover this region, they love it. We just need to get more people to this region without compromising what makes it great here. So, a fine line for sure. But this area has a lot to offer. Just in the natural beauty, just in the road, I mean, just driving around. People love the Amish stores, the natural beauty of the area, it's nice,” Karri said.
Visit the Blue Highway Lodge on Facebook or on the web.
“On the old highway maps of America, the main routes were red and the back roads blue. Now even the colors are changing. But in those brevities just before dawn and a little after dusk – times neither day nor night – the old roads return to the sky some of its color. Then, in truth, they carry a mysterious cast of blue, and it’s that time when the pull of the blue highway is strongest, when the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.”
– William Least Heat-Moon
