Fat Tire Biking at Newport

Photo by Casey St. Henry.

Everyone knows about the hiking, skiing and snowshoeing opportunities throughout Door County, but did you know there is more than two miles of trail for fat tire winter biking at Newport State Park?

“Right now there’s too much snow,” said Park Manager Michelle Hefty on Jan. 23. “We’re hoping to get it groomed Friday or Saturday.”

The fat tire bike trail, which can also accommodate snowshoers, can be accessed from the first parking lot near the park office. The route comprises the Monarch Trail and part of the Rowleys Bay Trail.

Hefty said there have not been a lot of people riding their fat tire bikes on the trail, but it just opened last year at the request of a biker who was looking for a place to ride.

Newport State Park has four designated snowshoe trails and about 10 miles of cross-country ski trails.

“Conditions are excellent right now,” Hefty said of the ski trails.

Nor Door Sports & Cyclery in Sister Bay rents Surly Pugsley Fat Tire bikes, which were designed “to go where so-called all-terrain bikes flounder.”