Category: Outdoor
Getting outside in Door County is a must! While you can always explore a trail or lake shore on your own, the calendar is dotted with guided hikes, wildlife tours, bird watching treks, and cross-country skiing meetups. Find a group bicycle ride, a naturalist session, or paddleboard tour and explore Door County’s natural wonders.
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15th Annual Festival of Nature: May 25-28
There is still time to register for the 15th annual Festival of Nature held Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28, at the The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor. This year’s festival features more than 60 programs, including birding, mushroom classes, hiking and paddling experiences. Explore Door County and celebrate its precious species, rare habitats, and natural […]
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Whitefish Dunes State Park Celebrates 50 Years
The Friends of Whitefish Dunes will host a 50th anniversary event on July 14, 11 am to 1:30 pm, that celebrates the park and honors those who have worked on behalf of the park since 1967. Live music will be performed by Last Man Standing bluegrass band. Artists Lynn Gilchrist, Barbara Shakal and Mac Schueppert […]
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Eye On the Night Sky: Saturn at Opposition
by Tom Minahan If you have looked at the night sky anytime this spring, you may have noticed a bright “star” rising in the east after the Sun has set. This is the ringed planet Saturn. Its current location in the heavens is a bit west of the constellation Sagittarius, the Teapot. Because Saturn moves […]
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Door to Nature: Our Two Cuckoo Species
A bird that is usually heard more than it is seen thrilled us on a Saturday early morning Ridges bird outing many years ago, first with its song and then with its shy appearance in a small tree. It was the black-billed cuckoo, referred to for many years in some parts of the country as […]
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Smokey Bear Visits Peninsula State Park
Smokey Bear is stopping by Peninsula State Park to make sure folks are following fire safety rules on May 26, 4 –6 pm, as they check in at Park Headquarters. Then on May 28 families have another chance to shake paws when Smokey stops by the Nature Center from 1 to 2 pm. Kids will […]
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Land Trust Releases Public Hike Dates
The Door County Land Trust is sponsoring a series of “Explore the Door” public hikes held throughout 2017. “A Walk Among the Hemlocks” is a hike scheduled for June 15, 3-5 pm, at 5340 Lake Lane, Sturgeon Bay. This one-mile guided walk will be through easy terrain in a boreal-like forest nestled between the sandy […]
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County Hosts Open Houses for John Miles County Park Planning
The Door County Parks and Land Use Services Departments are in the process of developing a recreational plan for the John Miles County Park (previously “Door County Fair Park”). Open house meetings have been scheduled to tour the grounds, present information regarding the planning process, and gather input from participants. All meetings will start at […]
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Memorial Day Weekend Hikes at Crossroads Relocated
On the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the Collins Learning Center at Crossroads of Big Creek will be closed so people can participate in the Door County Festival of Nature and the Master Gardener Plant Sale. The profits of the plant sale help underwrite the Master Gardener Lecture Series which brings color to […]
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Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament 2017 Results
The 27th annual Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament was held May 19 & 20 in the water around Sturgeon Bay. This year’s winners are Dave Bennett and Mark Libitka with a total weight of smallmouth bass of 50.85 pounds. The Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament (SBOBT) holds two tournaments throughout the year, both hosted in […]
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Gills Rock Maritime Museum Opens May 26
The Door County Maritime Museum at Gills Rock will open May 26-28 for Memorial Day weekend. The museum will open daily for the season on June 3 and remain open through Oct. 15. The museum traces the area’s commercial fishing tradition and features a shipwreck and a scuba diving exhibit, including artifacts brought up from […]
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Solid Cherry Crop Expected in Door County
Door County’s cherry crop should be solid in 2017, according to Matt Stasiak, supervisor at the Peninsular Agricultural Research Station in Sturgeon Bay. “We don’t expect a bumper crop in 2017, but it should be good,” Stasiak said. “We had a couple of freeze events May 7 and 8 that reduced the crop a little […]
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Maifest, Vintage Market and More Weekend Plans
The county is waking up after its winter-long slumber. Join us in celebrating Memorial Day as well as getting outside and enjoying everything spring. Friday, May 26 Egg Harbor Farmers Market Farmers market season has begun! Head over to Egg Harbor to pick up locally grown produce, handcrafted items during the first market of the […]
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Weather Wizard: Dreamin’ of the ‘Bootle Bumtrinket’
The Bootle Bumtrinket is the name of the boat that I’ve never owned but always wanted. The name has been extracted from a favorite book of mine, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, and I thought the name to be most glorious when I first mouthed it over a decade ago. The Bootle […]
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Integrated Approach to Pest Management
The whole concept of pest management took a turn in the mid-1950s. Up to that time, pest management mostly relied on synthetic chemicals, but there was a growing awareness of potential environmental and health concerns as well as problems with pests becoming resistant to pesticides. From there the idea of a multi-faceted approach to pest […]
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Commentary: Learning the Lessons From the Planet
By Jonathan Foley Originally published at bioGraphic.com. Reprinted with permission. For most of my adult life, I have been a teacher of sorts, first as a university professor and now as the director of a science museum. While the students and settings have changed, the job has remained the same – to share the wonders […]
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Docent-Led Hikes at The Clearing Reveal Long History
The Clearing Folk School is once again pleased to offer free, docent-led hikes covering the 81-year history, folklore and landscape of the school and its 128-acre property. These interpretive hiking tours will visit the historic buildings and campus, which are on the National and State Historic Registers, led by our volunteer docents. The approximate two-hour […]
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Board Aims to Improve Water Flow of Fish Creek
At the second and final Gibraltar Plan Commission meeting regarding the state of water flow in Fish Creek (the actual creek, not the community), researchers and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff offered more details on the challenges in the creek, both past and present. “It’s important for us to be paying attention and stewarding […]
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The Blessing of the Fleet: Baileys Harbor Celebrates
May marks the beginning of the sport fishing season and Baileys Harbor will celebrate its past, present and future safe and successful fishing out of the only port on Lake Michigan in northern Door County. For more information, visit baileysharbor.doorcounty.com. Saturday, May 20 Town Marina 10am – 4pm: Guided Range Light tours 11:30am: Parade of […]
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Preventing Lyme Disease with Tips for Ticks
Imagine, if you will, an animal born in the woods of Door County that, after hatching from an egg, must have blood to survive, and it does not care where it comes from – amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals are all fair game for this insatiable blood sucker. Once it has found its victim, the […]
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Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament May 18 – 21
The Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament hosts the first of its two large annual tournaments May 18 – 21. The spring tournament, the 27th annual, is limited to 200 two-person teams and is headquartered at Wave Pointe Marina and Resort in Little Sturgeon Bay. The second tournament is held the weekend after Labor Day and […]