We've been kicking around the idea of acreage up north. Well, central to north.

What's a reasonable price range per acre in the 20-40 acre size?

Another one....

I see one of these "I want land up north" posts about every 6 months. No offense intended, but you're in a large group.

"Up North" will be $1000 per acre at a minimum. Can be as high as $2500 depending on location and land type. Located on a nice lake or a navigable river, up goes the price. In a "resort" area (Minocqua, Eagle River, Hayward, Park Falls, etc) it's on the higher end of that range. In the middle of nowhere (no "touristy" stuff), it's at the lower end.

When I moved up north in 1991 (Eagle River area), a nice hunting 40 could be had for $15-20K. Those days are long gone. We bid $25K on a tax foreclosed 50 acres 2 years ago. It was 45 acres of honest to goodness swampland, and 5 acres of buildable high land, with very limited access (had to cross a creek to get to the good part). But it's good hunting land. A 600lb bear was shot on it in 2009, I deer hunted it from 2013 to 2015 when it became property of Vilas County (open to the public), and it has potential. Best part...my hunting partner has 5 acres (with a cabin & pole barn) that borders it, his dad has 12 acres across the road on a lake, and it's less than a mile from home. We lost... it sold for $55K !!!!

http://www.eliasonrealty.com/real-estate/Greater-Northwoods-MLS/Land/search/?acres_min=20&acres_max=50&idx_sort=price_low

Thank you.

Your post mirrors what I'm getting from mostly web based research. It's hard to tell if the stuff I'm seeing is over priced because it's being marketed.
For example, if you're looking for a truck, piece of equipment, or animals online everything is priced as high as the market will bear. If you frequent an area and see stuff pop up with for sale signs on the road side, it's a different story.
I was hoping that there was a similar inside scoop that could cut brokers out of the loop in a land purchase.

We paid 16K for 7.5 acres with National forest boundary at the back three years ago.

I gave up my search for a piece of wooded land.  I've concluded that property that fits my description of what I want is the same as 99.9% of people with way more money than I got.  Thus the idea of a cabin up north is pretty much out of my league.

Any land I found for sale at a doable price was either an empty grassland or a swamp.  The 'maybe' properties got licked up for asking price before I was able to get a message to a realtor.

The good properties rarely (if ever) get put up for sale.

It depends on how far north you are referring to.  40 acres of wooded hunting land just went for around $3000/acre East of Suring and South of 64.

Just spent the past 6 months driving around northern Wisconsin looking at property.  What everybody else has said is dead on.  The farther north you go,  the better the pricing as long as you are away from the tourist areas.

You can find them closer to $1,000/acre, but you'll most likely have no trails or real open areas on the property.

That's a lot of time investment. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Ever consider just a few acres bordering public land? The deer hunting north of hwy 64 pretty much sucks no matter what land you are on...ya there are exceptions to every area or hunt but with a small parcel purchase your tax might cost less. I'm sitting on 2 acers with 300 feet on a wild river and public land on two sides...50 feet from the front door...for under 1K per year...shack included...just sayin..

To answer your first question, in many parts of northern Wisconsin you should be able to find a nice parcel for $1200-$1600 an acre. Add more for a cabin or waterfront.  It does take a lot of time and effort to find your "Goldilocks" parcel.   We looked off and on for a few years until we found ours.  We ended up with 31 acres on the Jump River with a newer cabin, generator, composting toilet, trails and food plot. We are also only a few miles from thousands of acres of public land and many rivers and lakes. In all fairness, I have to admit we stretched ourselves beyond our $60,000 budget but it is worth it.  If its your dream, keep looking.

When I was a kid there was a huge billboard sign between Merrill and Tomahawk on old Hwy 51 that advertised land for sale $99 an acre...
I practically begged my dad to buy 100 acres...$99 an acre adjusted for today... $2,400 an acre.

We just bought 1.5 acres on a really nice lake...not even gonna tell you what that cost.
50 miles west of Madison land is more like $3000+ an acre depending upon the land and spring water on it.

Yessir this is what to look for and state land to heck with federal land

Lol,  i probably should have specificed it was on my off days,  not 6 months straight of travelling every day.

we took over 4 yrs looking before we decided on the place we just go...good luck and don't settle for less...

We might be practically neighbors!

I've got nothing to add other then my parents wanted to buy a 5 acre parcel that border there property two years ago....it sold for asking price, 55k.

Take away is don't look near the bay in door county.

Why do you prefer state land over federal? As a deer hunter, I'd prefer just the opposite. The Nicolet-Chequamagon National Forests don't give a rat's ass if you leave a commercial non-damaging tree stand up for an entire deer season. State land requires "removal from the property" whenever it's not occupied. IOW, put it up every morning, take it down every night....and haul it out of the woods too. They find it, they take it, if you are not in it. Also heard they do the same for trail cameras. That sucks.

National forest doesn't give a hoot if you target shoot, either. Just stay away from campgrounds or boat landings etc, and don't leave anything behind.

There's deer in the fed forest?

I don't want them controlling my easement or dictating policy to me that's all recreating in it a different story. Yeah would hate to haul a tree stand around every time I wanted to hunt...for me state land is a better fit....

I've never looked seriously for hunting land, since I'm not in a position to afford it, but from what little I've seen, having access to the land is a big deal. A road, a driveway, or easement is required.

I've also seen those ads in WI outdoor news, and often wondered how good the property was for the prices.

Maybe if I win the powerball, I'll buy an entire northern county....

Yup there's still a few around that aren't a steaming pile of wolf shit. But more importantly, there's a huge population of bears to hunt.

I've been here 26 years, don't recall a single "controversy" about easements or policy (no Cliven Bundy's) ... the forest service around here ain't the BLM boogy man of the west. They're easier to get along with than the state forest nazis.

Watch Craigslist for land for sale by owner. Check local small town papers. Next time your up north stop in at a few small town bars and ask the locals. They know a heck of a lot more about what's up for sale then some dumba$$ realtor.

Cheap stuff is farther North than it used to be.  Once you cross the border a way, the price begins to fall back to the "reasonable" level.

Very true. I'll see "land for sale" ads in local Vilas County newspapers at decent prices per acre...and when you research it, it's actually located 50+ miles into the U.P. of MI. Not that that's such a bad thing. More isolated & remote up there, and that's what you're after anyway. But (gun) laws are a bit different, research them before buying.

Too late for me I'm in the middle of the State Forest now...guess I will need to dig out my old Oktoberfest camo Lederhosen

Got deer up the wazoo here too...not as many as our current home though...SW