While precious summer hours are slowly ticking away, fall-like weather may be nice enough to get outside on the weekends for weeks yet. In case you weren’t paying attention, fall returns on Sept. 22.
Everyone strives to make the most of the summer. Maybe you’ve already visited the beach, the lake, the cabin, the water parks and the carnivals.
Are waterfalls on your list? What about caves? If they aren’t, maybe they should be, because although northeast Wisconsin doesn’t have a lock on those things, it is a great place to take them in, thanks to its geological history and the landscape forged by time, water and monstrous sheets of ice.
Here are some favorite spots to take in waterfalls and caves around Wisconsin:
Ledge View Nature Center features caves, trails and a lookout tower
Ledge View Nature Center, W2348 Short Road, Chilton, is a 105-acre Calumet County park and nature center. The center is a 40-minute drive about 30 miles west of Manitowoc.
Ledge View is part of the Niagara Escarpment, a geological land formation that has been described as a “wrinkle” in the landscape that runs from southeastern Wisconsin to New York. Ledge View features cave tours, trails through woodlands and prairie, dolomite ledges and an inactive quarry. Visitors will want to climb the 60-foot observation tower to get a bird’s-eye view of the landscape.
A large renovation project closed the center’s building, programs and displays over the summer. But the grounds and trails are open, said Louise Marum, a naturalist supervisor with Calumet County Parks.
Cave tours are available on most Saturdays in September and October. People interested in exploring the caves need to register for tours. To sign up and learn more about times and other tour possibilities, call 920-849-1471 or visit the center’s website: ledgeviewnaturecenter.org.
Ledge View also consults with the Wisconsin Speleological Society in its cave programming. For more information about the group and caves to explore across the state, visit wisconsincaves.org.
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park boasts several open and accessible caves
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park is 75 acres located on the West Twin River north of Maribel at 15401 Manitowoc County R. It’s about 20 miles north of Manitowoc, a 20-minute drive. The property is pockmarked with caves that formed through glacier activity, according to the park’s website.
The Maribel caves are also part of the Niagara Escarpment. At Maribel, the “glaciers wore down the land surface exposing an underlying solid mass of rock called Niagara Dolomite,” according to the park’s website. Through the years, the rock decomposed and small caves and openings formed from the pressure of a variety of forces, including water runoff, carbonic acid and changing temperatures.
Volunteer groups, including the Wisconsin Speleological Society, have worked to excavate silt from the caves and preserve them. The park is open year-round, but access to many of the caves is limited to times when people can participate in escorted tours. Tours are held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every third Sunday of the month May through October. The groups ask for a $5 donation.
There also are several caves open year round for self-guided tours. For more information and a listing of the caves, visit maribelcaves.com.
Cave Point County Park is an iconic Door County destination
Cave Point County Park has been attracting visitors to its rough and rugged bit of Lake Michigan coastline since 1943, according to the Destination Door County website. The allure comes from the dolomite/limestone ledges that have been battered by waves for centuries.
About a million people a year visit the popular Door County park. Most view the caves carved out by the water from a distance. But intrepid — and skilled — scuba divers and kayakers can explore the caves and underwater caverns. Several kayak guides offer tours of Cave Point, and a public launch is available a mile north of Cave Point for $5 at Schauer Park in Jacksonport.
Cave Point is about 58 miles northeast of Green Bay, a drive of about an hour and 40 minutes (so add that to your drive to Green Bay). It is the only known county park to be located within a state park, Whitefish Dunes State Park, which was created in 1967.
Fonferek’s Glen features 30-foot waterfalls, prairie field
Fonferek’s Glen Conservancy Area is a “geological gem (that) features a 30-foot waterfall, dolomite cliffs, and stone archway,” according to the Brown County Parks Department website.
The park also features a 30-acre farm field that’s been planted with native trees and prairie plants, according to the website.
Admission is free at Fonferek’s Glen, 2825 Dutchman Road, Ledgeview. It’s about a 35-minute drive of 34 miles from Manitowoc. The park, trails and the parking lot are open from 8 a.m. to dusk.
There is a gate that automatically closes at sunset, so visitors need to get their cars out of the lot to avoid being shut in. “No parking is allowed on surrounding streets, so if the parking lot is full, please plan to visit another day,” according to the website.
Wequiock Falls is a beautiful place with rich history
Wequiock Falls is another Brown County park. In the spring and other times of high water, Wequiock Creek cascades over layered rocks of the Niagara Escarpment. The park is located at 3426 Bay Settlement Road, in the town of Scott, a 45-minute, 45-mile drive from Manitowoc.
The park is one of Brown County’s smallest, and it contains a large ravine that includes the falls. Later in the summer, the waterfall usually slows to a trickle as the the stream’s flow weakens from drier weather trends.
The park also features a monument to early French-Canadian explorer Jean Nicolet, thought to be the first European to set foot in Wisconsin. Wequiock Falls is also home to the Red Banks historical marker. That sign commemorates the place on the Lake Michigan shore, about a mile west of the park, where Nicolet may have landed. However, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, “the exact location where Nicolet landed in Wisconsin is unknown.”
Marinette County calls itself the ‘Waterfall Capital of Wisconsin’
For people willing to drive a little further, there are 15 waterfalls in Marinette County, leading people to call it the “Waterfalls Capital of Wisconsin.”
One popular destination is Dave’s Falls County Park, W7902 County Park Road in Amberg, which features the upper and lower falls alongside unique rock formations. It’s about a 110 miles north of Manitowoc, a drive of 1 hour, 45 minutes.
Waterfalls hunters get two for one at Twelve Foot Falls Park, N17116 Twelve Foot Falls Road in Pembine. Both Twelve Foot Falls and Eight Foot Falls are found on the north branch of the Pike River there. It’s about 125 miles north of Manitowoc, a two-hour drive.
For a full list of the Marinette County waterfalls and driving directions, visit www.marinettecountywi.gov/departments/parks/outdoor-recreation/waterfalls/.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Caves & waterfalls offer thrilling geologic adventures a short drive from Manitowoc
Reporting by Keith Uhlig, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
