The Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest covers about 22,000 acres, and the Wisconsin DNR says most of it is open to hunting during established seasons. The DNR names only a few places where hunting is never allowed. Two of them sit within a short drive of Whitewater Lake, and from now until the snow arrives, that list does more to shape a walk in the forest than any trail map.
The timing makes it relevant this week. The Whitewater Lake and Pinewoods campgrounds are listed as available only from mid-May through mid-October, which puts both at the end of their season. Archery and crossbow deer season opened Sept. 12 and runs to Jan. 3, 2027. The regular gun season runs Nov. 21–29. The forest itself still keeps its normal hours, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. The roads and trailheads stay open, and the forest is shared with hunters for the next two and a half months.
What actually changes after mid-October
The water stays open. The DNR describes Whitewater Lake and Ottawa Lake as open year-round and lists boat launches at Ottawa Lake, Rice Lake and Whitewater Lake. Its page gives no seasonal launch closure. Ottawa Lake is the forest's only year-round campground, and the Horseriders' Campground runs through November. A vehicle admission sticker is still required for cars stopping in the Southern Unit, in October and every other month.
For walkers, the real change is the overlap with hunting. Archery season has been underway for more than a month. The gun season is the busiest stretch, and the deer calendar keeps going after Thanksgiving weekend. Statewide, a muzzleloader season runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 9, and a four-day antlerless-only hunt follows Dec. 10–13. During any firearm deer season, the DNR requires hunters to wear at least 50 percent blaze orange or blaze pink above the waist, and any head covering must be at least 50 percent blaze orange or pink. That rule is for hunters. It also explains why the forest looks so different in the last week of November.
The places the DNR keeps hunting-free
The Southern Unit's hunting page lists the exceptions. Hunting is not allowed in intensive-use areas such as parking lots, picnic areas, wildlife refuges and other posted special-use areas. It is also prohibited at Old World Wisconsin, the Paradise Springs Nature Trail, the Scuppernong Springs Nature Area, the Rice Lake Nature Trail, and within 100 yards of any campground, picnic area or posted special-use area.
Here are those named places, with what the DNR says each one offers:
| Place | What the DNR describes | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Rice Lake Nature Trail | A 0.5-mile walk with a small pond and a wildlife blind | Off Kettle Moraine Drive, just east of Hi-Lo Road |
| Paradise Springs Nature Trail | A paved path past the fieldstone spring house, the site of a former resort hotel, a dam and a trout holding tank, beside a catch-and-release trout pond | Trailhead with vault toilets and a reservable shelter |
| Scuppernong Springs Nature Area | Natural springs, historic foundations and a Native American campsite, with part of the trail in crushed limestone for universal access | On County Highway ZZ, across from the Ottawa Lake Recreation Area |
| Old World Wisconsin | Historic site where hunting is prohibited | Eagle |
The closest one to Whitewater Lake is Rice Lake. The Whitewater Lake Visitor Center and Campground is at W7796 Kettle Moraine Drive, and the Rice Lake Nature Trail starts off that same road, just east of Hi-Lo Road. At half a mile, it's a short loop, not an afternoon. Through late fall, it's one of the few marked trails on this end of the forest where the hunting rules don't apply.
Paradise Springs and Scuppernong Springs are the forest's two history walks. An older DNR brochure for Paradise Springs describes a flat, asphalt-covered half mile built to accommodate visitors with disabilities. The Scuppernong Springs brochure describes a half-mile self-guided loop past the springs and the remains of a marl works, a hotel, a trout pond, a sawmill and cranberry bogs. Both brochures are years old, so the current DNR hiking page is the better guide to conditions on the ground.
Everything outside that list depends on where the hunting boundaries fall. The DNR says many private parcels are scattered through the forest, and it publishes a Southern Unit hunting map. Copies are also available at Forest Headquarters and at the Ottawa Lake and Whitewater Lake visitor centers. The longer trails the DNR lists for the Southern Unit, including Emma Carlin, John Muir, the Nordic Trail and the Ice Age Trail, don't appear on the no-hunting list, so the map and the posted signs are where to check them.
The forest's own calendar, from Oct. 23 through Nov. 15
The DNR and its neighbors have scheduled the next several weeks around these same places, often on ground that stays off-limits to hunting.
- Friday–Saturday, Oct. 23–24, 5–9:30 p.m. Halloween Legends & Lore at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle. Advance registration is required. Old World Wisconsin is one of the places where the forest's hunting rules list hunting as prohibited.
- Sunday, Oct. 25, 7–9 p.m. A DNR night hike on the Ice Age Trail's Eagle Segment, about two miles over gently rolling hills. The group meets at the Ice Age Trail hunter's parking lot at the end of the road behind the junkyard on Hwy 59 in Eagle. The hike runs rain or shine, and flashlights are highly recommended.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. Trick-or-treating runs 4–6 p.m. in Eagle and 3:30–6 p.m. in Palmyra, according to WISN's 2026 trick-or-treat roundup.
- Sunday, Nov. 8, 6–8 p.m. A 1.5-mile DNR night hike that starts on the Ice Age Trail at Headquarters.
- Thursday, Nov. 12, 10 a.m.–noon. The DNR's Nature Journal Club meets at the DJ Mackie Picnic Area, with possible access to the Scuppernong hiking trails. Under the forest's rules, the area within 100 yards of a picnic area is closed to hunting.
- Sunday, Nov. 15, 6–8 p.m. The last DNR night hike on this list, on the paved half-mile Paradise Springs Nature Trail. The DNR describes it as stroller- and wheelchair-friendly.
The Nov. 15 hike is the last date on that list, and it's held on one of the named no-hunting trails. Six days later, the gun season opens.
The Oct. 25 and Nov. 8 hikes start on the Ice Age Trail, which the DNR doesn't list among the no-hunting areas. Both fall during archery season, before the firearm week. The Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit hosts both walks, and the DNR lists Katelyn Whitstone at 262-594-6200 as the event contact for the Oct. 25 hike.
After the walk, on the forest's edges
The two ends of the Southern Unit each have a place to eat that has posted current information. On the north end, Seven Oak Public House opened at 300 W Main St in Palmyra. Its site calls it a place where "gastropub meets Wisconsin supper club," with local wines and craft beers, a soft-launch menu with rotating specials, and grand opening details still to come. Seven Oak Public House posts its menus and online ordering on its website.
Also near Palmyra, Rushing Waters Fisheries invites visitors to its farm store.
Closer to Whitewater Lake, the La Grange General Store at W6098 Hwy 12 runs a deli and café with Backyard Bikes and takes sandwich orders online. In downtown Whitewater, Center Street Cafe lists Monday-through-Saturday hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is closed Sundays. That's worth knowing before planning around one of the Sunday night hikes.
What the end of gun season opens up
Nov. 29 closes the regular gun season, but the forest doesn't return to its summer pattern. The muzzleloader and antlerless hunts carry the deer calendar into mid-December, and archery season continues into January. Snow then sets the next limit. The DNR doesn't allow hiking on the Nordic trails once they're snow-covered. From now until those trails turn into ski routes, the Southern Unit's most predictable walking is on Rice Lake, Paradise Springs and Scuppernong Springs, where the DNR's rules have no hunting season at all.
Tricia has spent more than 26 years watching the Geneva Lake region move through its seasons, including this quieter stretch between the last campers and the first snow. If you're thinking about what a home near Whitewater Lake and the Kettle Moraine means year-round, Tricia Forbeck would be glad to talk it through. Request a private consultation with Tricia.
