Wow...This is the exact conversation my wife and I had on the way "up north" today. She always said it was anywhere north of Stevens Point, and I always said Wausau. But we actually agreed on the way up this time, "Up North" Wisconsin is as soon as you see the white picket signs pointing sideways on the highway to tell you where to turn for certain resorts. when you see those, you are up north.

Carson City

Well since Janesville is way down south in Wisconsin wouldn't anywhere north of Janesville be 'up north'? Just think all those folks in IL think WI is up north .....so..really...anywhere can be up north...it's all in one's perspective and location....of course I generally say I'm going north when I go to see friends in Richland County....

PB594 - Highway 51 ends it's route North in Hurley, as I'm sure you know. 51 ends it's route South in New Orleans. "WHERE 51 ENDS AND THE FUN BEGINS" is true in both directions. I'll take either one, it's what's in between two that I'm not so sure about.

I never thought I'd be living at the very "top" of Wisconsin but Bayfield is a place everyone should visit! I used to consider Hayward "up north" when I lived in Milton. Up here we don't hear people talk about going up north, because we ARE!

Doesn't 51 go practically to Lake Superior? (at least to Hurley I believe). There's isn't much "north" north of that. I remember when I was a kid I considered anything north of the Dells "up north", now I wouldn't consider anything south Hwy. 29 up north. Once the logging road network significantly increases, you're "up north".

Kenora, Dryden, and Thunder Bay are starting to get up there

WHERE 51 ENDS AND THE FUN BEGINS!

When I moved from Fond du Lac to Janesville, my friends thought I was nuts (maybe I was). Some of them probably still think that Janesville is in Illinois. {:>)
Fondy is not "up North" but Janesville is certainley "down South".

Up north for me is the Rhinelander...Three Lakes area. Exactly where I'm headed this afternoon!

I live north of Eagle River and just south of Land O Lakes which is on the border of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.............THAT IS UP NORTH. We are north of Minocqua, Rhinelander and all the rest. I am from Janesville and still have plenty of family there, so I visit often..... it is a 4 1/2 hour trip to get there. I swear I could put my car of auto-pilot and just go as I do it pretty often. This is a resort area and we get lots of people who love to go UP NORTH for the fishing and snowmobiling, Eagle River is the snowmobiling capital of the world. Fall is just a great time to be here. You should all go REALLY UP NORTH sometime instead of just a little bit.

Growing up, when we went "up north" it was to visit relatives in Rhinelander. But, having been born and raised in WI, I'm used to folks using "up north" to mean pretty much anything north of Madison or so.

So, if I live "down south" why is it so damn cold in the winter?

People: There is no "down north." North is toward the North Pole from where you are. South is toward the South Pole from where you are. We live in Wisconsin, which is almost as north as it gets in the U.S. Hard to think of Janesville as "down south" when there's such an Alabama, Mississippi or Texas.

Sheesh

When I saw the article title I thought it was about the use of "up", as in why is it "up north" instead of "down north". Obviously the maps in this country have north pointing up, but I wonder if in the southern hemisphere you see maps with south pointing up? It's completely arbitrary after all, and I suppose we wanted to be on top of the world.

For that matter, what does the topography of Wisconsin look like? Maybe "up north" should be where the elevation increases, kind of like upper vs. lower Egypt (which always messed me up because upper Egypt is to the south).

Anyway, to me anyplace further north than what you routinely drive to (which for me would be Madison) is "up north". I had no idea there was actually a tourist slogan for up north, or northwoods for that matter. I guess that shows how often I go "up north".

I went to college in Eau Claire and there are a lot of companies there that have the word "Northwoods" in the name. However, to me, I tend to think of "up north" as anything north of US Highway 8. Which is roughly Rice Lake to Tomahawk to Rhinelander.

Superior is "Up North" in Wisconsin.......Duluth and north is Minnesota. For me Douglas, Bayfield ,Iron and Ashland Counties qualify as up north

Eau Claire is in West-Central Wisconsin not up North!! Up North is beyond Duluth into Hibbing/Chisholm Minnesota.

Okay, I really am not sure what "Up North" is in Wisconsin. My line of travelling north in Wisconsin? It goes from Lacrosse to Madison to Milwaukee. I understand it is all beautiful, but now I am partial to Prairie du Chien and the rural farmland of "Down South."

When I travel? It is to the Bible Belt (Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) or west--It has to be west of the Mississippi River to be considered west though.

The city motto of Portage is "Where the North Begins"

You have to go past the Dells to be "up north".

i thought it was spelled/pronounced 'up nort', yeah hey??

Up north for me is north of Hwy 29, AKA the Smith and Wesson line if you're in the Crandon area.

To me, anything past the Dells is up north.

when we were little "up north" was prairie du chien now... no wonder i still cant follow directions LOL

I was just in Spooner earlier this week and I have always referred to it as "Up North". I was wondering the same question on our way home, as we listened to the radio. It's seems the radio stations refer to themselves as being in the "Northwoods" for a few hours south of Spooner. To me, Black River Falls is when it really starts to get pretty, but of course the entire state is beautiful, but I have a thing for pine trees. I lived in Wausau for a year and never thought of it as being "Up North". When you're driving home from Spooner and you stop at a rest area and take a look at one of the maps on the wall of the building and see how much farther you have to drive to get home, it's definitely "Up North" hahaha :) Yep, Spooner is "Up North" to me :) I want to go back :(

To me, Portage is the "gateway" to being "up north". That's what my parents told us kids when we were young and going up to the Minocqua area camping. And yes, By the way, I've been to the Paul Bunyan breakfast shanty. Great meals and cheap too!

:) kind of funny. I live near in Janesville and do say "up north" when we are headed to our hunting property in Hancock, WI (north of Portage).
as stated- it's all relative- to me the Dells are "up north" from where I live.

So, then where would Up North be from Eau Claire?

Haha, yes Ryan, I got that in college at EC, too. Re: your question, I say no...you're just going "north" not "up north." IMO, for what it's worth :)

I had this experience when I graduated high school and was heading to Eau Claire. A friend of mine was from Medford and I told her I was going to the Northwoods for college. She vehemently corrected me, saying that Eau Claire was not the Northwoods.

It's not completely the Northwoods, but it's definitely close. So, Up North would be points north of Eau Claire.

But going off that definition, would you still be going Up North if you were going to Chippewa Falls from Eau Claire? (For all of the southerners, it's a 15-20 minute drive north, depending on how fast you're going).