The Rascal Trail

The Rascal Trail is a journey across Wisconsin inspired by Sterling North’s Rascal — and every journey leads to Edgerton. The Sterling North Home & Museum, where Sterling raised Rascal in 1918, is the heart of the trail.

Follow Rascal from Sterling North’s childhood home to the worlds of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Frank Lloyd Wright, from cranes and conservation to the Great Lakes.

The Rascal Trail is a nonprofit cultural tourism project of the Japan America Society of Wisconsin (JASWI) and the Sterling North Society. The full trail map includes 14 stops across Wisconsin, planned as a journey of about 12 days. Its invitation is simple: slow down, be curious like Rascal, and reflect.

Visit RascalTrail.org   See the trail map   日本語

Why Rascal is beloved in Japan

In 1977, Nippon Animation turned Rascal into a 52-episode animated series, Araiguma Rascal. For generations of Japanese families, it is more than a childhood memory — and many travel to Wisconsin to see where the real Rascal lived. In 2008, the Sterling North Society brought an exhibition to Okazaki, Japan, which drew more than 50,000 visitors. Building bridges between cultures has always been part of our mission.

The core trail

1. Milwaukee — Wisconsin’s largest city and the natural arrival point. Start at the lakefront Milwaukee Art Museum, then explore the Milwaukee Public Market, the Riverwalk, and Discovery World.
2. Edgerton — the heart of the trail. Fictionalized as “Brailsford Junction” in the book, this is where eleven-year-old Sterling North adopted Rascal in 1918. Begin at the Sterling North Home & Museum. About 1 hour 20 minutes west of Milwaukee.
3. Madison — Wisconsin’s capital city and cultural heart, about 35 minutes north of Edgerton. Visit the State Capitol, stroll State Street, and stop at the Memorial Union on Lake Mendota.

Rascal’s Edgerton

At the museum, you can stand in the rooms where Rascal watched Sterling build a canoe in the living room, stole sugar lumps from the kitchen table, and slept beside him at night. Then explore the town that inspired the book:

• The Methodist Church, next door to the museum, where Poe the Crow lived in the steeple.
• The Train Depot at 20 S. Main Street, now The Coffee Depot.
• Sterling’s school at 112 Swift Street.
• Race Track Park on the west end of town — a picnic spot mentioned in Rascal.
• Highway F, “Rascal Road,” to Indianford and the Rock River dam, Sterling’s favorite fishing spot, where he and Rascal sat.
• Lake Koshkonong, where Sterling was born in a farmhouse on the shore in 1906.

See all the sights around Edgerton, with maps →

Trail extensions

Beyond the core trail, the Rascal Trail continues to other Wisconsin places connected to Rascal’s spirit of nature and curiosity:

• Cranes, Contemplation, and Conservation
• Ice Age National Scenic Trail
• Laura Ingalls Wilder — Little House in the Big Woods
• Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio
• Three Lakes — the Northwoods chapter
• Superior and the Great Lakes
• Kikkoman in Jefferson
• Jack Dawson’s Wisconsin

Details for every stop are on RascalTrail.org.

Plan your visit to the museum

Hours, admission & directions →