Last March, the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad agreed to abandon about 3 miles of tracks in Dane County extending south from the Wisconsin River, at Sauk City, to a DNR parking lot adjacent to Highway 78.
In October of 2023, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi announced that $11 million for the Walking Iron Rails-to-Trails conversion project would be included in the County’s 2024 budget. Dane County will take over the corridor and begin the conversion next spring. This new rails-to-trail corridor project will connect the Great Sauk State Trail via the Wisconsin Recreational River Bridge, one of the state’s 2023 “wins” also listed on the Bike Fed website. Completion of both projects is expected by late-2025.