Eagle is a small Wisconsin village with a better claim to history than its size suggests, because just outside it, in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, lies Old World Wisconsin, an open-air museum where historic farm buildings from across the state have been moved and rebuilt. German, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish and other immigrant farmsteads stand among the fields, each with its own style of house and barn, and costumed staff work the land in the manner of the nineteenth century. It is an unusual and absorbing place, and a reminder of how many different peoples settled this part of the Midwest.
The land itself is the Kettle Moraine, the great band of glacial hills that runs through eastern Wisconsin. Here the countryside is a series of low ridges and hollows, with oak woods, meadows and small marshy lakes in the depressions. The soil is stony and the hills are steep enough to have defeated the early farmers in places, and the forest has reclaimed them. The Ice Age Trail passes through the state forest nearby, and walkers can follow it for long distances, past kettle ponds and gravel ridges.
The riding is just what the landscape promises. The roads through the forest and farmland are gently winding, with a good surface and generally light traffic, passing woodland, fields and the occasional lake, and the hills give a rhythm to the ride, with short climbs and easy descents. East Troy, a few kilometres away, is the next significant place, with an old square and a few places to eat. Summer weekends are busy with riders and cyclists, and the better times are midweek and the shoulder seasons. Deer are a real hazard at dusk, so keep your speed down in the woods.
Eagle has a couple of small shops and places to eat, and fuel is available in the larger villages nearby, though it is best to fill up in East Troy or Mukwonago, which is the nearest town of any size. The museum is open seasonally, usually from spring to autumn, so check before you go, and allow a few hours if you want to see the whole site. Autumn is the best time for the colour, and a visit on a quiet weekday gives you the land much as it was.