Siren, WI

Siren is the county seat of Burnett County, Wisconsin, surrounded by the Town of Siren and a chain of lakes including Big Doctor, Clam, Crooked, Fish, and Long Lakes. Ojibwe people and French fur traders were early inhabitants of the region; Swedish immigrants began settling around the future village in the 1880s. Forest, water, and northwoods roads still give Siren its shape.

The Gandy Dancer State Trail follows a former rail corridor through Siren, carrying walkers, cyclists, snowmobiles, and ATV riders as it crosses Burnett County toward Minnesota. The village's county offices, schools, businesses, cabins, and lake homes serve both residents and people passing through for fishing and recreation. In summer the lakes bring fishing boats and visiting families; in winter the same roads serve snowmobile traffic and residents heading into town. Siren is a Wisconsin northwoods center where several lakes sit close to the town grid, and a railroad right-of-way has become one of the area's most useful outdoor routes.