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!

 

parksstatemap

Goal: To hike at least one trail in every Wisconsin state park.

Progress: 38/51

Wisconsin State Parks and Forests:

Hiked there, done that…

Amnicon Falls
Aztalan
Big Bay
Big Foot

Blue Mound
Brunet Island
Buckhorn

Council Grounds
Governor Dodge
Governor Nelson
Harrington Beach

Hartman Creek
High Cliff
Interstate
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
Rock Island
Rocky Arbor
Tower Hill
Whitefish Dunes
Wildcat Mountain
Willow River
Wyalusing
Yellowstone Lake

Left to Explore…

  • Belmont Mound
  • Copper Culture
  • Copper Falls
  • Cross Plains
  • Devils Lake
  • Governor Thompson
  • Heritage Hill
  • Kinnickinnic
  • Lakeshore
  • Lizard Mound
  • Lost Dauphin
  • Newport
  • Straight Lake

Bonus Hikes!

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

  • Cherokee Marsh North Unit – City of Madison park
  • Black River State Forest
  • Brule River State Forest
  • Capital Springs State Recreation Area
  • Chippewa Moraine State Recreation Area
  • 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
  • Richard Bong State Recreation Area
  • Lake Geneva’s Shore Path
  • Horicon Marsh, Wisconsin
  • Porcupine Mountains, Upper Peninsula, Michigan