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WI 80 Richland Center

WI 80 Richland Center is 39.4 miles of loop riding through Richland County in Wisconsin — The Dells Region, the baraboo hills, the lower wisconsin river and the ridge roads between reedsburg and spring green. Moving time is about 52 minutes; allow 75 with stops — a half morning. It is scored CS-5, Technical: 82 corners, 198° of turning per mile, 1,819 feet of climbing. The roads it uses, in the order you ride them, are in the app.

Curviness
CS-5Technical · 2.08/mi
Distance
39.4 mi52 min riding
Corners
8264% sharp · Tight
Climbing
1,819 ft46 ft/mi · Steep
Shape
LoopHalf morning
Roads
75% back road25% state or US route
Traffic
Not countedno state counts on these roads
Speed limit
Unpostedno posted limits recorded
Open this route in the app

About this road

One of the more technical and twisty routes in the Dells Region set, this segment of WI 80 delivers high corner density through the hills around Richland Center. The town was the birthplace of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1867; markers still note the connection. The surrounding country is part of the deeply dissected Driftless edge, and the roads follow the land closely enough to produce continuous direction change. Riding the geometry and then reflecting on Wright’s early landscape influences adds a quiet layer to the physical effort. Services are available in Richland Center; the surrounding miles quickly become rural and engaging. A strong choice for riders who want geometric intensity together with a tangible link to one of America’s most important architectural figures. Tight roads around Richland Center, real climbing, and a hometown story worth knowing.

How it rides

82 corners over 39.4 miles — 2.08 a mile, and 198° of turning for every mile ridden. That scores CS-5, Technical on the five-point curviness scale. 64% of those corners are sharp ones, and the road reads as tight.

What it climbs

The road climbs 1,819 feet in total, 46 feet per mile, between 696 and 1,103 feet — 407 feet of relief. The longest single climb is 276 feet over 1.5 miles, and the steepest grade on it is 7.6%. For this country that is steep.

Surface, speed and traffic

Paved end to end. 75% of it is back road rather than highway, the other 25% state or US route. No posted speed limits are recorded for these roads. State traffic counts cover only 6% of these miles, too little to put a number on, which is itself a fair sign of how quiet they are.

Where to stop

1 of the towns on this road has somewhere to stop — 2 fuel, 5 food, 1 bars.

Longest stretch without fuel: 34.3 miles. Worth knowing before you set off if your tank is small.

Listed alphabetically, and chosen by us rather than rated by anybody. The order you reach them, and the mile each one sits at, are in the app.

Turn-by-turn directions and the spoken guidance are in the app. Every figure on this page is measured from the route itself — corner counts and gradients from the road geometry, elevation from NASA SRTM, traffic from the state transport department where counts exist.

Nearby roads