Horicon Marsh - Horicon

For the longest time I drove past this area, daunted by the immense size of the marsh.  Even with all of the nice road signs you still didn't know if you were going to have a nice dry hike. It is a marsh after all.  If you were to have a staring contest with this marsh, the marsh would win. Back in the good ole days you didn't have a nature center with nice trail maps and bathrooms or a place to warm your bones. Fast forwarding a decade or two and it seems that there is finally a proper visitors center; a warm place to share the history, buy trinkets, and to relax and regroup. And yes, a bathroom.

Ledge View Nature Center - Chilton

 (Calumet Cty).

There are a lot of ways of getting to the Ledge View Nature Center, and you are best googling this from your location. Excellent interactive activities. I really enjoyed the indoor bat room, and the bee hive exhibit.  It is exactly what our little family needed and the only downside is the travel time.  For me it's a serious Road Trip.

Chilton is such a cute little town. I had serious considerations of moving there.


One special draw to this place are the caves: Cave tours start in April and end in November. These are underground caves and a change of (warm) clothes is recommended as well. A guided public tour is offered most weekends and some weekdays through the summer.  The only access to the caves is on a naturalist-guided tour during a scheduled visit. Because the public tour size is limited, reservations are recommended. 


Wheretofind: Travel time from Oshkosh is about an hour.  Take Hwy 41 North to Hwy 10/114 east through Menasha to Hwy 57 South in Hilbert to Chilton. Take Cty G South just over a mile, entrance is on Short Rd.  Travel time from Fond du Lac is about a 1/2 hour, basically take Hwy 151 North to HHH in Calumetville to Hwy G North to Short Road in Chilton, full street address is W2348 Short Rd, Chilton, WI 53014 ph:  920-849-7094
Hours:8-4:30 weekdays, 10-4:30 weekends


What to expect: Good hiking maps, variable terrain, sightseeing tower (same as Parnell), route to water filled quarry. Across from the parking lot there is a pasture and depending on the time of day you can expect to see cows grazing (fence is electrified,I think) and will approach you for some pulled grass.

Petrifying Springs County Park - Kenosha

Petrifying Springs County Park
Originally uploaded by WheretogoWisconsin

Kenosha (Kenosha County)

Spent part of my weekend in Racine/Milw for a reunion, and in all the years I have been coming to visit in Racine, I've never had a chance to stop here. Due to a lack of mosquito spray and time constraints, I did not spend much time there. I will have to return in fall for a more thorough exploration.

*ahem*
There are a few restored buildings that were of some historical note for the area and also includes an Old Indian Trail at Hawthorn Hollow, which traverses just to the east of where the historical buildings are now located, is on the map of a government survey made in 1835 by engineers Mullet, Brink, Hathaway, Lyons, and Silby (cited from Hawthorne History page)

This is no camping at this park (some county parks do, only Horicon/Dodge CountyLedge comes to mind at this moment) But there is a county run 18-hole golf course, which I believe is accessed from Cty Hwy A (or 7th Street). It is also home of Hawthorn Hollow Nature Center, 880 Green Bay Road (Hwy 31) in Kenosha. NOTE: Google nabbed the hawthornhallow.org as an origin of malware and blocked my access to it. since then I've removed the link.


Because I do not know of any incidents that happened in the past with lone hikers, I insist that you travel with someone. I mention this only because of the parks proximity to the university, and they seem to attract wierdos.

What I really enjoyed was a high 'come hither' quality created by bridges, stairs, shelters and quaint buildings.

Where to find: Petrifying Springs Park is located between the cities of Kenosha and Racine, just East of Highway 31 (Green Bay Road) with park entrances on either County Road A or County Road JR. There are signs at the entrances.

What to expect: Plenty of available parking, trails of varying difficulty, bathrooms!, very well cared for grounds, unique bridges and rentable shelters and plenty of picnic areas. As mentioned on Kenosha County Park's website, this park, along with Fox River, Silver Lake, Old Settlers and Brighton Dale Parks are open from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m; and is locked up by the sheriff's dept. The golf courses are open from about March through November, weather permitting. To contact call (262) 857-1869.

1000 Islands Environmental Center - Kaukauna

1000 Islands
Originally uploaded by WheretogoWisconsin

Kaukauna (Outagamie Cty)

The title of this really should be 'Looking for those #@$%! Pelicans' and my search has taken me to KAK-Kawna. I have to laugh when I say that town's name; sounds like someone's choking. Who knows what the town's real name was.

Anyhoo....the Fox River has overrun her banks as you can clearly see at the 1000 Islands Environmental Center due to last weeks storm, the very same storm that days before ripped through a boy scout camp in Iowa. The riverbank trails are the wooded plank type (seen in other pics), and several of those trails were blocked off.

Unfortunately, that barricade didn't stop me, though I have no real desire to gamble my life I couldn't help but try see why the trail was closed. If it didn't stop me imagine a couple of kids or drunken college students.

My review of this park was somewhat handicapped due to the amount of mud I had to navigate when hiking the upper woods portion of the park, which lie across the highway. However, there was much more activity on the main section, experiences which have imprinted itself upon my memory of this place. Like this fawn, for instance. He/she scampered towards me, bleating. I could go on, explaining every detail, but I grieve that it will not be able to convey the wonder I felt. It was a rare occurrance and I believed I was honored by its grace.

HOW TO FIND: The nature center is found on Dodge Street, tucked between the baseball and football park. The easiest way to take Hwy 41 North all the way round Appleton, Little Chute, to Cty J exit. You are coming into Kaukauna from the north on Hwy 55 and this will turn into Lawe, which you will follow into town, over the bridge and when you see Dodge, turn Left and watch for the sports park. You can also come up from Hwy 57, taking Cty Hwy Z west, which turns into Dodge in Kaukauna. Easy Peazy.

What to expect: A better review. Frankly I did not stay long enough to go into the nature center itself. This park has some nice winding trails along the Fox River. There are connecting trails from the main section to the upper wooded one. There is an eagle's nest there somewhere.

Oh, and there's Pelicans.

Nature Centers/Wildlife Preserves

I'm torn as to whether to make this two separate posts. Ah, I'll edit it later if I need to.

I have a few of my own:

Ledge View Nature Center, Chilton (Calumet Cty).There are a lot of ways of getting there,so you are best googling this from your location. Excellent interactive activities. I really enjoyed the indoor bat room, and the bee hive exhibit. One special draw to this place are the caving tours.

What to expect: Good hiking maps, variable terrain, sightseeing tower (same as Parnell), route to water filled quarry. Across from the parking lot there is a pasture and depending on the time of day you can expect to see cows grazing (fence is electrified,I think) and will approach you for some pulled grass.

Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve, Appleton (Outagamie Cty). Relatively large site. Hiking trails, interactive nature center.

What to expect: Pleasant walking experience for suburbanites looking for a quick getaway, boring for those who are looking for a challenge.