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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.

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • Rotary Club Shipyard Tour. Jim Lundstrom.

    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, […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • Cana Island Lighthouse. Door County Maritime Museum.

    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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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. […]

  • Ridges Hosts Nature Events

    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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • The EAA to Host Young-Eagles Rally at Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport

    Area youngsters, ages 8 to 17, will have a chance to take to the skies on May 20 as Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Warbirds Squadron hosts a Young Eagles Rally at the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport. The rally is part of the EAA Young Eagles Program, created to interest young people in aviation. “Free airplane rides are […]

  • Crossroads Continues to Celebrate 2017 Earth Week

    Celebrations continue at Crossroads at Big Creek during Celebrate Earth Week 2017. In collaboration with the Climate Change Coalition of Door County, the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network, the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Crossroads will celebrate both Arbor Day and the Niagara Escarpment. Naturally, Crossroads will plant trees on Arbor […]

  • Door to Nature: National Arbor Day

    I’m not sure what motivated my dad to be a tree planter and to enjoy trees so much, and perhaps he didn’t know either. But he still had a genuine love of trees to his 90th year of life. There were three trees on the original home property in Kewaunee which he planted about 1935 […]

  • Eye On the Night Sky: The August Sky in May

    by John J. Beck At 3 am on May 25 (assuming clear skies) we can see the same part of the sky as we would from the same location on Aug. 15 at 9:25 pm. How does that work? First some basics. The earth rotates on its axis 360 degrees in 24 hours, and the […]

  • DCAC Offers Four-Day Confidence Camp

    Camp Confidence, a four-day camp, will be offered by the Door County Adventure Center in two sessions for campers. The first session is July 10-13 and is an overnight camp for ages 12 to 16. July 17-20 is a day camp for kids ages 8 to 11. Both camps focus on self-confidence, leadership development, problem […]

  • Users Concerned by Loss of Programming, Maintenance at State Parks

    As Wisconsin’s state parks system transitions to life without state tax support, park enthusiasts are increasingly concerned about diminishing services, educational programming, and safety, even as user fees rise. Users, volunteers, partners, and former Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff said the effects from years of funding cuts, staff shortages, and maintenance neglect have accelerated […]