Anyone who's whiled away time in northwestern Wisconsin can tell you to leave extra room to explore this neck of the woods in your holiday budget: there's a lot to do. Eau Claire sits comfortably along the Eau Claire River and the Chippewa, a medium-sized college town with strong-ties to the lumber industry, and serves well as a base for exploring the region.

Some of the sights in Eau Claire are related to this woodsy past, like the Paul Bunyan Logging Camp, a recreation of ? no surprise here ? a turn of the century logging camp, housed in Carson Park. Surrounded on three sides by Half Moon Lake, visitors can enjoy a walk in the park along with history museums and rides on an old steam powered locomotive (Chippewa Valley Railroad).

Day-trip out of town to see the old Dells Mill and museum, Amish arts and crafts in Augusta, and catch if you can a performance at the grandiose sandstone theater, the Mabel Tainter Memorial, in Menomonie. Leave free the better part of a day to steer on for Chippewa Falls north of Eau Claire, home to the Leinenkugel Brewery and lovely historic buildings. Take a trip from start of production to foamy finish at the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co, and sample some Chippewa water (claimed to be America's purest), between stops at other attractions of interest.

Visitors looking to spend a little time walking off a few pints of "Leinie's" have options to choose from, like the Chippewa River Valley Trail running from Eau Claire to Menomonie, or the 15 mile Red Cedar Trail linking Menomonie with the Dunville Wildlife Area.

Eau Claire is 151 miles south of Superior and 12 miles from Chippewa Falls.