Day One
Distance: 3.6 miles

The trailhead for the Nebo Trail is well posted along Wilderness Park Drive and in the parking area is a gate across the trail and post No. 7 with a display map. This overnight trek begins by following the Nebo Trail south to post No. 16, reached at Mile 2.4. For a full description see Nebo Trail-Swamp Line Loop.

Nebo Trail ends at a junction where posts No. 15 and No. 16 are located adjacent to each other. Post No. 16 marks the beginning of the O’Neal Lake Trail which is more of a foot path than a two-track and begins in a rolling terrain. Within a mile you spot O’Neal Lake through the trees. At Mile 3.6 is the posted spur to the walk-in campsite.

It’s a 200-yard walk to this delightful spot at the end of the point. From the middle of the site are views of both the main body of O’Neal Lake and the quiet back bay that is dotted with lily pads and frequented by waterfowl. The simple amenities include a fire ring with two crude benches, a backcountry toilet and a bear pole to hang your food. There is no source of drinking water so boil or filter what you consume from the lake.

Day Two
Distance: 9.4 miles

From the campsite spur O’Neal Lake Trail continues west skirting a vast wetland to the north and low ridges to the south. It is marked by orange blazes indicating its use as a snowmobile route in the winter. Most of the trail is dry but there can be wet areas in the spring and early summer.

You can’t see the lake until Mile 4.5 when you pop out at an open sandy area and can spot post No. 18 on the far site. The post marks the dam that created O’Neal Lake, a reservoir that was created for the benefit of waterfowl. A foot bridge leads across the small dam to a parking area, an unimproved launch site for hand-carried boats and a forest road that heads west. Follow the forest road and in 0.3 miles it will swings sharply to the south and becomes Ellis Road. At this curve O’Neal Lake Trail, still marked as a snowmobile route, continues west along an old two-track.

Within a half mile the trail veers north (right) off the two-track at a junction posted with a snowmobile sign. O’Neal Lake Trail ends at post No. 19, a major T-junction reached at Mile 8.1 with a gate. The loop continues by heading east on Sturgeon Bay Trail, passing some interesting wetlands. In less than a mile it crosses Big Sucker Creek on a cement bridge. Take time to study the creek - often brook trout are darting back and forth.

Post No. 20 is reached at Mile 9.1 and marks where Old South Boundary Trail heads east and Swamp Line Road heads north back toward civilization, i.e. the heated restrooms and water faucets of the park’s Pines Campground. Within 2 miles you pass a sign designating the area you just passed through as Big Stone Creek Wilderness and then just before the campground entrance, is post No. 1, a major trailhead in the park.

From this point there are several ways to return to the Nebo Trailhead including following Big Stone Creek, the park road and Wilkenhs Trail. The most scenic route, however, is Red Pine Trail picked up at post No. 3 after skirting the north end of Goose Pond. Red Pine is an interpretive trail that treads the crest of a forested dune and passes some stumps that are remnants of logging operations from the late 1800s. Within 1.2 miles the trail brings you back to Nebo Trail, just a half mile south of where you left your vehicle.