MANITOWOC – Sure, a lazy day on the beach in summer is wonderful, but sometimes you want to get moving.
Here’s our list of great trails to hike and bike in Manitowoc County.
Mariners Trail
The Mariners Trail is a gem on Lake Michigan. The hard-surfaced recreational trail runs more than 5 miles along the lake and connects the cities of Manitowoc and Two Rivers.
You can find folks walking, biking, running and in-line skating on the trail while enjoying a cool lake breeze and the shoreline scenery.
The Friends of the Mariners Trail keeps the trail maintained. Volunteer gardeners plant and take care of flowers in the more than 50 flower beds along the trail.
Point Beach State Forest
Point Beach, 9400 County O, is not just a great place to camp and enjoy lake views on the beach, there’s also a variety of trails to lace up those hiking boots and get going.
The Wisconsin-owned forest just north of Two Rivers offers hikes in woodlands, prairie areas and sand dunes near Lake Michigan.
The Ridges Trail, which starts at the park’s lodge parking lot, has three connecting loops so you can hike varying distances: the Red Loop is 3 miles, the Red and Blue loops together are 5.5 miles, and the Red, Blue and Yellow loops are a combined 7-1/4 miles.
The Red Pine Trail begins at the parking lot west of County O, across from the forest entrance road. The trail is a bit more than 3 miles long. This trail is open to mountain bikes and hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter. Dogs are prohibited during ski season but permitted at other times of the year.
A self-guided nature trail is 0.5 miles long and is a great place to look for wildflowers, birds and animals as well as to learn how this interesting terrain was formed via self-guided signs.
Walla Hi County Park
You’ll find Walla Hi County Park about 4 miles east of Kiel at 18941 Mueller Road in southwestern Manitowoc County.
This 160-acre park features several hiking trails winding through the beautiful kettle moraine landscape.
Hikers and bikers can explore a variety of terrain, from heavily wooded areas to large open spaces.
The park also has several small springs flowing into streams for added beauty.
Devil’s River State Trail
This fairly new hiking and biking trail stretches 14 miles from Rockwood Road to the village of Denmark.
The trail can be accessed year-round for walking, running, bicycling, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. Dogs are allowed on the trail, but should be on a leash.
Views from the trail are great, especially when crossing over two steel trestle bridges, which cross the Devil’s River and a small tributary. Many different birds and wildlife can be seen along the trail.
The trailhead is at the intersection of Pine Street and Railroad Avenue in Denmark. In Manitowoc County, parking is available adjacent to the trail in Francis Creek near the city park/ball fields.
Cherney Maribel Caves County Park
This park (15401 County Road R, Maribel) occupies 75 acres on the West Twin River north of Maribel and the town of Cooperstown. It has a rugged cliff line paralleling the river that separates a wooded upland area from a wooded lowland adjacent to the river. The foot of the cliff line has small caves and openings in the rock layers.
More park trails are above the cliff line and portions of the open land have been planted in seedlings as part of a reforestation project. A staircase and trail system was constructed for greater accessibility to the scenic lowland area.
The Maribel Caves park is a significant geological area that was formed mostly be glacial activity. Through centuries of deposition and change, glaciers wore down the land service exposing an underlying solid mass of rock.
Although the nearby hotel and bottling plant stone buildings do not belong to the county park, the historic site can be viewed and photographed from the park property line.
Ice Age Trail
Speaking of glaciers, Manitowoc County includes 7.3 miles of the more than 1,000-mile state trail that follows the edge of the last continental glacier in Wisconsin.
Most of Ice Age Trail is paved and is a multi-purpose trail open for hikes, bikes, scooters and skateboards.
The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail entirely within Wisconsin. The trail is also one of 44 designated Wisconsin state trails and the only one specifically designated as a “State Scenic Trail.”
Woodland Dunes Nature Center & Preserve
Woodland Dunes, 3000 Hawthorne Ave. in Two Rivers, offers several hiking trails surrounded by woodlands, meadows and marshes.
All trails are relatively flat and easy to hike, ranging from a quarter mile to 2.5 miles long. There’s also a 2-mile portion of the Ice Age Trail within Dunes property.
Trails are open sunrise to sunset, and maps are available at the Nature Center office.
Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@usatodayco.com or call 920-606-2575.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Where to hike and bike in Manitowoc County this summer
Reporting by Patti Zarling, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter / Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Patti Zarling, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter | USA TODAY Network
