Richard Bong State Recreation Area is a 4,515-acre (1,827 ha) unit of the state park system of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located in the town of Brighton, in Kenosha County. This managed prairie contains 8.3 miles (13 km) of mountain bike trails. Other recreational activities include high power rocketry, dogsledding, falconry, ATV sports, land sailing, horseback riding, hunting, camping with amenities, including ultralight aviation. There is a wildlife preserve where great egrets, sandhill cranes, and great blue herons are known to nest.
The park is on land once intended for the Richard Bong Air Force Base, whose namesake is World War II veteran aviator Maj. Richard Ira Bong. Part of what was intended to be the 12,500-foot (3,800 m) main airstrip is still visible from aerial photos of the site.
Largely due to its name's coincidental allusions to marijuana use, Bong Recreation Area is a frequent target of sign theft. This has led to the manufacturing of T-shirts and sweatshirts bearing the highway exit sign.
The Richard Bong SRA is one of the centerpieces of the proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.
Famous quotes containing the words richard, state, recreation and/or area:
“Stay on the beach. The natives over there are cannibals. They eat liars with the same enthusiasm as they eat honest men.”
—Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Captain Nemo (James Mason)
““Hear me,” he said to the white commander. “I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. Our chiefs are dead; the little children are freezing. My people have no blankets, no food. From where the sun stands, I will fight no more forever.””
—For the State of Montana, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Playing snooker gives you firm hands and helps to build up character. It is the ideal recreation for dedicated nuns.”
—Archbishop Luigi Barito (b. 1922)
“During the Civil War the area became a refuge for service- dodging Texans, and gangs of bushwhackers, as they were called, hid in its fastnesses. Conscript details of the Confederate Army hunted the fugitives and occasional skirmishes resulted.”
—Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)