Devil's Lake Quartzite, Door County Shores & Green Bay Trails

Devil's Lake is Wisconsin's most visited state park — and it earns the crowds. The 500-foot quartzite bluffs enclosing the lake were formed 1.5 billion years ago from ancient sea-floor sediment compressed and tilted by tectonic forces; the glaciers that covered most of Wisconsin stopped at Devil's Lake's south rim, which is why the basin holds a lake while the surrounding terrain is agricultural. The East Bluff Trail (2.5 miles) traverses the talus slope above the east shoreline with consistent views across the 360-acre lake.

A Baraboo institution with a broad American menu — burgers, wraps, and the fish fry that defines Wisconsin social life. Baraboo is the Circus World Museum town and the service hub for Devil's Lake; Banger's is the kind of place that feeds both the locals and the hikers without trying to be something it isn't.

The Balanced Rock Trail (1.2 miles round-trip) is the park's most technically demanding short hike — a boulder scramble up the west bluff's talus field to a quartzite formation perched improbably at the summit ridge. The West Bluff Trail above connects the main trails and gives the best photographic vantage on the lake's north end, with the 500-foot drop to the water visible through the trees.

The restaurant attached to Baraboo's Circus World Museum (the original 1884 Ringling Brothers winter quarters) is incidental to the museum but convenient for an evening stop — sandwiches, wraps, and the kind of casual food that suits an outdoor-activities day.

Potawatomi State Park sits on the Niagara Escarpment — the same limestone ridge that forms Niagara Falls — where it meets Green Bay at the base of the Door Peninsula. The observation tower (75 steps) provides the most sweeping view of Green Bay available from land, with the peninsula extending north and Green Bay's shipping channel visible below. The 3.5-mile Shore Trail follows the escarpment base through ancient forest.

Peninsula State Park occupies 3,776 acres on the Door Peninsula's Green Bay side, with 8 miles of Green Bay shoreline rising to 170-foot bluffs. Sven's Bluff (0.7 miles round-trip) is the most dramatic of the peninsula's overlooks — a quarried limestone ledge above the waters of Green Bay where the bluff face drops vertically to the water. The Eagle Trail below (3.6 miles) connects the bluffs to the shoreline.

The most dramatic shoreline formation in Door County — Lake Michigan's surge waves have carved a series of sea caves into the Niagara dolomite bedrock at the water line, producing a 0.25-mile stretch of grottoes, arches, and blow holes. In summer the caves are accessible by kayak; in winter the wave spray freezes into ice formations that attract ice climbers. The overlook trail above runs the full length of the cave section.

A Baileys Harbor institution serving Door County staples — the fish boil, cherry pie, whitefish chowder, and local craft beers from Door County Brewing Company. Baileys Harbor is the peninsula's quietest town; the Cornerstone's patio faces the harbor.

The highest sand dunes on Lake Michigan's Wisconsin shore — Old Baldy at 93 feet is accessible via a 2.8-mile round-trip trail through red and white pine forest. The park's Lake Michigan beach, formed in a protected bay between two dune spits, is one of the finest swimming beaches in Door County. The adjacent Clark Lake is a calmer alternative for families.