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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Wild Ones Leads Wildflower Guided Walk
The woodlands of the peninsula are a showplace of ephemeral wildflowers at this time of spring when the foliage of trees does not yet provide shade. An excellent woodland remnant on the west side of Sturgeon Bay provides easy access to view natural groupings of eight to nine species of wildflowers. The woods are known […]
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Registration Open for Sept. 23 Hey Hey 5k
The Hey Hey 5k, presented by Door County Brewing Co., returns to Baileys Harbor on Sept. 23. Registration is now open. This race is all about having fun in classic Door County style. Runners get an awesome race shirt, free Hey Hey 5k pint glass and the first fill in the glass free from Door […]
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Rollins Breaks Half Marathon Age Group Record at Door County Race
The hills of the Door County Half Marathon course proved no match for the legs of Nancy Rollins at the 10th edition of the race in Peninsula State Park May 6. Rollins set an unofficial record for women in the 70 – 74 age group, crossing the finish line in 1:47:18 to top the previous […]
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Saving Our Shores: Dan Diederich, Diederich Farms
While some farmers are getting a bad rap for expansion, some are taking an active role in being a part of the solution to clean water instead of the problem. Dan Diederich of the century-old Diederich Farms LLC in De Pere thinks farms need to be active in finding solutions to help both the watershed […]
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Saving Our Shores: Gallagher Continues Save the Bay Initiative
“Dead zone” was an oft-used term by area media the summer of 2013 when scientists announced that Green Bay had developed hypoxia in an area approximately eight miles northeast of the city of Green Bay and extending more than 30 miles. The bay, which represents seven percent of the surface area of Lake Michigan, receives […]
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Door to Nature: Flowers of the Buttercup Family
Editor’s note: While Roy Lukes died at the age of 86 on June 26, 2016, his nature articles will continue to live on in Door County Living with the help of Roy’s wife, Charlotte, who has agreed to continue providing work from Roy’s extensive archives. For that reason, the article includes both their names. […]
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Joel Gunnlaugsson: Washington Island’s Advocate and Everyman
Joel Gunnlaugsson sat at his living room table explaining his frustrating love for the island he calls home. But the Washington Island native spoke softly, like talking about his own four children as he told his youngest boy not to hang on the drawers in the kitchen beneath endless stacks of folded clothes. It’s a […]
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Editor’s Note: Nothing But Bluebirds All Day Long
Normally I have no truck with all those SAD sacks suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Seems to me like a pathetic excuse made by weaklings who have to take a winter vacation in warmer climes because all the grayness makes them feel icky. Maybe even a little woozy. Shine a light, I say. But this […]
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Door to Nature: Trailing Arbutus
Search the world over and you will find only two species of trailing arbutus, one in Japan and the other in North America. Botanists, in their search for appropriate scientific names for flowers, chose Epigaea repens (ep-i-JEE-a REE-pens) for this favorite of favorites. Epigaea is Greek meaning “upon the earth,” while repens means “running on […]
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Experience the Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding Industry
The 2017 Sturgeon Bay Rotary Shipyard Tours will be held May 6. On this day, guests are invited to experience an insider’s view of the shipbuilding industry in Sturgeon Bay. For more than a century this industry has been critical to Door County’s economy. The shipbuilders of Sturgeon Bay have designed, built and repaired vessels—commercial, […]
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Poverty Island Restoration Seeking Friends Group
The future of Poverty Island was discussed in a conference call last week. The call was hosted by Carol Grundman, a Milwaukee-based realty specialist with the Bureau of Land Management. While Poverty Island is located a little less than six miles off the shore of Michigan’s Garden Peninsula, the conference call attracted a number of […]
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New Duty for the Kevin C. Kane: NYC Fireboat Being Converted In Baileys Harbor
Mike Cole had been keeping his eyes on a retired New York City fireboat that was offered for sale in a marine periodical for about 18 months when he finally bit. “A guy bought it from the city at auction,” said Cole. “I contacted him and he wanted a lot for it. Apparently, nobody wanted […]
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Cana Island Lighthouse Open for the Season
Cana Island Lighthouse opened for the Door County summer season on May 1. One of Door County’s premier tourist attractions, it will be open through Oct. 29. Visitors can travel back in time and explore one of Door County’s most popular lighthouses that’s been standing for just short of 150 years. They can investigate the […]
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7 Tips for Cycling Safely in Door County
Door County’s quality roads and scenic vistas lure cyclists from throughout the Midwest. A good grasp of the rules of the road for cyclists and drivers will help you enjoy them safely as you share high-speed back roads and distracting stretches of scenic beauty. Always ride in the direction of traffic. For one, it’s […]
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Crossroads Holds Family “Tree Day”
A “tree-mendous” Family Day is scheduled for May 6, 2 – 3:30 pm, at Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay. Crossroads jokes that Earth Day lasts a month there. So does Arbor Day, so they will offer hands-on activities for learners of all ages, rain or shine, to introduce the tremendous value of trees. […]
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The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor is holding a number of events in early May. On May 6, 11 am – 12 pm, learn about Wisconsin’s reptiles and amphibians during an exciting and educational presentation by the Madison Area Herpetological Society. The presentation will cover many of the commonly encountered reptile and amphibian species, as […]
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Saving Our Shores: Kevin Kiehnau, Organic Valley
Kevin Kiehnau knows both sides of the water pollution story. The Sevastopol native went from being a conventional dairy farmer in 1979 to becoming certified organic in 1994. Now he manages farms across five states for Organic Valley. He knows farmers are stubborn when they have been using certain practices for decades. “It’s really hard […]
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Saving Our Shores: John Jacobs, Green Valley Dairy
For John Jacobs, a first-generation farmer in Krakow, Wisconsin, farming is all about achieving balance. “Nutrients need to be in balance in the soil, in the cattle and in the people,” he said. “You only get one chance a year and I’m not going to live forever. I want this stuff to happen now. I […]
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An Artistic New Life for An Old Door County Tree
On April 22, millions of seeds and tree saplings were given a chance at life through plantings across the nation in honor of Earth Day. But in one small corner of the Door Peninsula, it was a towering old tree that was given its own special recognition. Hidden among a Liberty Grove forest thick with […]
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In Wake of Kayaking Deaths, Expert Outlines Kayak Safety Tips
With the unfortunate and unnecessary deaths of two men while kayaking off Cave Point on April 28, it seemed appropriate to talk with professional paddler Tim Pflieger of Door County Adventure Center about kayaking safety in the challenging waters of Lake Michigan. “A tragedy like this brings to the forefront the personal choice you have […]