Clio tours bring Vilas County history to life — right on your phone

If you’ve ever stumbled across an old resort, a weathered barn, or a curious local landmark and wondered about its story, there’s a new way to find out.

Clio tours bring Vilas County’s rich history straight to residents’ and visitors’ smartphones for free, turning everyday walks, back-road drives, and even bike rides or paddling trips into fun, educational adventures.

Working “like a local historian in your pocket,” Clio uses GPS to guide users to nearby sites and, through a mix of text, photos, and audio, offers an authentic and convenient way to explore the past.

“We’re telling our story in a way that moves us into the 21st century — providing access, deliverables, and opportunities for people to view our heritage destinations from afar online or up close on their cell phones as they visit a Clio destination,” said Jim Bokern of the Manitowish Waters Historical Society.

Clio, a national website and app highlighting thousands of historical and cultural sites, is available in the North Woods thanks to local enthusiasts like Bokern, a longtime history teacher, and area historical societies.

“We’ve been working for some time to build an archive of tours,” said Karen Sailer, development director at the Eagle River Historical Society (ERHS). “You can search tours by topic or by location. And the great thing is, there’s audio available, so you can put in your earbuds, put your phone in your pocket, and just listen and go.”

“It’s a very unique way for people to actually get out in their own communities, or even someone else’s community, and learn more about it,” added Vito Bortolotti, ERHS executive director. “We’re obviously focused in museums, but it’s taking the museum out of the museum a little bit.”

Clio takes root up north

Back in 2016, the Northern Wisconsin Heritage Council was formed as a collaborative effort among local historical societies in Northern Wisconsin, with the goal of sharing resources and addressing common challenges.

“As we grew and spread out, one of our members brought the idea of Clio tours to us,” said Sailer. “This is an academically based program from the University of Missouri with scholarly requirements, which align not only with our missions but also with the goals and principles of the state historical society.

“Last year’s keynote address at the conference asked, ‘What are we going to do about fake history?’ Everyone thinks, ‘Well, it’s on the internet. It must be true.’”

She explained that Clio tours require formal citations and the use of primary sources. “We feel that we have authentic stories to share and that people can rely on what we tell them as fact-based,” she said.

“We’re evidentiary historians,” echoed Bokern. “Clio is run by academics. It’s not a social media place where people make unfounded claims.”

By locals, for locals

The project is community-driven, with content curated by historical societies, museums, and local experts.

“Each community is in charge of their own content,” said Bokern. “I’m one of the biggest content developers, but I’m developing content around my community and different projects that I’m involved in. But folks like Chris Tews (from the Land O’ Lakes Historical Society) develop content and we put it up for her.”

In Eagle River, there are tours about the Croatian community Velebit, the Eagle River Stadium and Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame, the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Depot, and Everett Resort.

Bokern, through the Manitowish Waters Historical Society, has created many interactive Clio tours, from a popular pub crawl highlighting social establishments to a comprehensive kayak/canoe trip down the Manitowish River and surrounding lakes guided by both nature and cultural insights.

He also recently customized a bike tour for a group he led, sending them a link where they could look at photos at each of the destinations on their own phones. “The people we had on the bike tour thought it was the best thing since sliced bread,” he said.

Heritage tourism

That aligns with what Bortolotti said about a larger movement happening across Wisconsin, with heritage tourism — the concept of traveling to places of historical or cultural interest — growing in popularity.

“Heritage tourism has really been exploding across the state,” said Bortolotti. “Even just in the North Woods, Manitowish Waters and Three Lakes have boat tours and we have a downtown walking tour. So people want to get out and experience this stuff.”

“I think people are tired of being mindlessly entertained,” said Sailer when asked why she thinks it’s been such a large growth area for tourism. “Real life is often just as fascinating, if not more fascinating, than the stuff that’s made up. The stories we have in our archives and displays, you would think they’re not real, but we have documentation.”

While entertaining, the tours also have the potential to provide a broader economic boost by drawing visitors off the beaten path, as well as by preserving local history through digital storytelling, offering flexibility and cost-effectiveness that traditional methods like physical signage lack.

“It’s an amazing cost savings because when heritage groups, historical societies, museums put up signage, it’s so much money on the front end,” said Bokern. “They always deteriorate and you can’t edit them once you put them up.”

The digital tours also have educational value for schools and libraries. “It’s empowering educators,” Bokern said. “This gives kids easy access to appropriate historic information made by local communities. This isn’t exported from some faraway place. This is all grassroots, good stuff that the communities embrace.”

Spreading the word

Getting more community members to not only embrace the project but simply become aware of it is currently the biggest challenge. “We have a real usage gap or learning gap in digital media for heritage tourism. And that’s what we’re trying to close and link our communities together,” said Bokern.

To help with marketing, Sailer plans to apply for a Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) Grant through Travel Wisconsin. “I feel like history is alive and well up here — we just want to see it deepened and out to more consumers,” said Sailer.

More content is currently underway, with Bokern hoping to develop a 20-stop pontoon Clio tour on the Eagle River chain, and Sailer open to having locals contribute stories or historical research. “We teach people research and writing skills to help create more tours,” she said.

How to access

Clio tours are available in Boulder Junction, Eagle River, Land O’ Lakes, Manitowish Waters, Presque Isle, and Three Lakes. To explore tours, visit nwiheritage.org and look for your area under the Communities tab. Users can also download the Clio app from the App Store on iPhones or Google Play on Android devices. For more information, contact your local historical society.