Trout Brook: The Willow River You Haven't Seen
It’s the middle of a heat wave. The air is thick, the pavement is radiating, and even an easy morning run feels like wading through soup. If you’re anything like me, this is exactly the kind of week that makes you start daydreaming about October.
Cool mornings. Trails covered in color. That first breath of air that actually feels good in your lungs. Fall racing season is coming, and it’s bringing you back to a part of Willow River State Park most runners have never set foot on.
Not Willow, Round Two
A lot of you have run the Willow 10 & 20 Miler in the spring, and I’ve heard the same question a few times already: “Is Trout Brook basically Willow, but in the fall?”
No. Different race, different course.
Yes, Trout Brook happens at Willow River State Park, the same park that hosts Willow in May. But that’s where the similarities stop. Willow uses the park’s wide, rolling trails. Trout Brook does the opposite. This course leaves those trails behind and drops into the single-track most park visitors never find.
Expect tight lines through the trees. Real climbs. A stair section that will test your legs on the way up and your quads on the way down. And partway through, a waterfall that will make you stop and take it in, whether you planned to or not.
This is a technical course. If you’re comfortable picking your way through roots and rock, reading terrain on the fly, and working for every mile instead of cruising it, Trout Brook is built for you.
I’ll admit I’m a little biased when it comes to this park. Willow River is five miles from my front door; it’s where I do most of my own training miles, and we’re lucky enough to host two events there every year. Getting to send you into a corner of it that most park visitors never see is one of my favorite parts of putting this race together.
Why October Is Worth the Wait
Picture this instead of today’s heat index: 8:00 a.m., temperatures in the 40s or low 50s, and the maples along the Willow River lit up orange and red. The single-track is soft underfoot from the first fallen leaves. Your breath shows in the air at the start line. By the time you hit the aid station at mile 4.2, you’re not thinking about the heat at all. You’re just running.
That’s the trade the fall calendar makes with you. The trails get harder. The weather gets better. Somehow it balances out.
Trout Brook runs Saturday, October 10, 2026, at Willow River State Park in Hudson, WI.
If you’ve been circling the date on your calendar since the heat wave started, this is your sign to make it official.
See you in October, when the trails are fast, the air is cool, and the part of the park most people never find is waiting for you to look.