Progress

Time and time again I’ve heard that Wisconsin doesn’t have any good hiking. After all, how could it possibly have a trail worth your time when it doesn’t have any mountains, or canyons, or oceans? Well, I’m here to prove to you that it does. (I’m here to prove that it has a trail worth your time, not that it has mountains or oceans, because, spoiler alert, it doesn’t.) Anyway, I stand by the natural beauty of the state. I’m not saying that Wisconsin has the absolute best hiking around, because that’s not true either. Especially since I don’t believe that any one location could be the best. What I’m saying is simple. Wisconsin has natural beauty that makes it unique and worth exploring.

To showcase the natural beauty of the state, and to prove the naysayers wrong, I have a goal and this page to track it. My goal is to visit every state park and forest in Wisconsin. My goal is not to hike every inch of every trail in every park, because that would be madness, but instead to visit them all and get a feel for what they have to offer, the highlights, the scenery, what the park is all about. It is my hope that you find some inspiration and inspire me in return. Let’s hike!

Wisconsin State Parks and Forests:

(Note: There seems to be disagreement online about an extensive park list. This list is a combination of a few different lists that I will revise as I go.)

Hiked there, done that…

Amnicon Falls
Aztalan
Big Bay
Black River State Forest
Blue Mound
Brule River State Forest
Brunet Island
Buckhorn
Capitol Springs State Recreation Area
Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area
Council Grounds
Governor Dodge
Governor Nelson
Harrington Beach
Hartman Creek
High Cliff
Kohler-Andrae
Lake Kegonsa
Lake Wissota
Merrick
Mill Bluff
Mirror Lake
Natural Bridge
Nelson Dewey
New Glarus Woods
Pattison
Peninsula
Perrot
Point Beach
Potawatomi
Rib Mountain
Roche-A-Cri
Rocky Arbor
Tower Hill
Wildcat Mountain
Willow River
Wyalusing
Yellowstone Lake

Left to Explore…

• Belmont Mound
• Big Foot Beach
• Copper Culture
• Copper Falls
• Cross Plains
• Devils Lake
• Governor Thompson
• Heritage Hill
• Interstate
• Kinnickinnic
• Lakeshore
• Lost Dauphin
• Newport
• Richard Bong
• Rock Island
• Straight Lake
• Whitefish Dunes

Bonus Hikes!

(not managed by the Wisconsin DNR – county parks, other state’s parks, etc.)

• Cherokee Marsh North Unit – City of Madison park
• Mt. Hollywood Trail, Griffith Park – City of LA, CA
• Bidwell Park – City of Chico, CA
• Waihe’e Ridge Trail – Wailuku, HI
  
• Chapel Gorge Trail – Wisconsin Dells
• Donald County Park, Dane County, Wisconsin
• Magnolia Bluff County Park, Rock County, Wisconsin
• Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan
• Hoffman Hills State Recreation Area
• Kettle Moraine – Northern Unit